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Marketing is important to a business' success. Your first impression is often a result of your marketing department's work. Marketing has costs that other departments typically do not. In devising a marketing department budget, consider marketing approaches and forecast your incoming flow of business. Consider if you can offset marketing costs to clients or other departments. As you get started, determine if you have a fixed budget amount or need to estimate spending costs. A basic rule of thumb is to spend 1 percent to 10 percent of sales on your marketing budget.
Instructions
1. Tailor your marketing department budget total based on company size, location, direct marketing tactics, tools and supplies and level of necessary advertising needed in your area and industry. Capture this information in a marketing plan, a document that allows you a place to start thinking through your specific marketing costs.
2. Use a spreadsheet to document your annual marketing department budget. Create a column for expenses and another for dollar amount. List each expense per row and consider grouping costs together, such as administrative costs, advertising costs, printing costs and branding costs. If you have a set departmental dollar amount, list this at the top of your page and keep it in mind as you determine each expense.
3. Document the salaries of each employee in the marketing department on your spreadsheet. If you are a new or small business creating a new marketing budget, you may not have many lines to input. As you grow your department and get a handle on other direct costs, you can budget for more positions.
4. Estimate your in-house printing costs per page, postcard and brochure. Determine these costs based on your paper, ink, printer and copier costs, as well as the projected quantities needed for your communication materials. Include an expense for outsourcing large print jobs. Enter general printing costs on your budget spreadsheet based on your projected volume.
5. Enter marketing department expenses for hardware and software. Include costs for computers, word processing software, graphics software, photo editing software and licensing fees, if applicable. Many of these costs will be one-time only; however, you should factor in extra expenses for additional hard and software, should your department grow or have issues with your current computers.
6. Calculate any other direct marketing costs, such as postage for mailings, database lead lists, print, and radio and television advertising, trade show costs and travel and other various potential expenses, based off your marketing plan.
