As a marketer, you probably don’t lack creative ideas. What you lack is a huge sum of money you can spend to make those ideas reality. With an increased budget, you can do your job better, plain and simple. So if you’re preparing to ask your boss for an addition to your marketing budget, follow these tips.
7 Tips to Get an Increase on your Marketing Budget
Treat your Boss like a Client
Think about asking for a budget increase in terms of the sales process. By pretending your boss is a client to whom you’re selling, you can develop a pitch that offers solutions to his or her problems. Whether they want to bring in more customers or build brand awareness, a tailor-made pitch shows that you understand your boss’ goals.
Socialize the Pitch Strategy
Before you pitch a new budget to your boss, make sure the whole marketing team understands exactly what the objective is. By opening the idea for others to expand upon and constructively criticize, you can plan for any objections your boss might have against the pitch.
Not to mention, the more people you have on-board and supporting the budget proposal, the more likely it is that your boss will agree.
Let the Marketing Success Facts be Known
Don’t count on your boss to trust at face-value how successful your new marketing strategy will be—prove it with facts, statistics and case studies.
For example, your boss might not believe in the potential of social media marketing, and therefore may be reluctant to spend money on it. Showing him or her the fact that Facebook desktop ads and mobile ads have 8.1 times and 9.1 times higher click-through rates than traditional web ads, respectively, might work to change their mind.
Put Forth Confidence during the Budget Proposal
The best way to close a sale of any kind is to be confident. If you don’t seem absolutely certain that an increase in your marketing budget will drive results, your boss won’t be assured either. One of the best ways to be confident is to know your proposal inside and out, so you can answer difficult questions easily without being sidetracked.
Use the Same Language as Your Boss
Don’t get tripped up by complicated marketing jargon. If your boss isn’t extremely marketing-savvy, avoid tossing around terms like “split testing” and “link building” without explaining them. Your boss wants to understand the results that will derive from a boosted marketing budget, not learn unnecessary words.
Add Value with Graphics and Visuals
Creating charts that feature thoroughly-researched data and projected results allows your boss to visualize your argument. Especially if your proposal is statistic-heavy, graphics and charts keep things from getting too boring.
Defend your Budget Proposal
Anticipate that your boss will have objections to your idea. One of their main goals is probably to save money wherever possible, so they may be skeptical about allocating more cash to the marketing team. Be ready to answer questions like:
- “Is this budget increase really worth it?”
- “Can you prove to me how you will use the money to drive more results?”
- “How much money do you need?”
- “Do you really need that much?”
Be sure to respectfully defend your proposal, but don’t get too sassy. You don’t want a simple proposal to put a strain on the relationship between you and your boss!
If your boss doesn’t eagerly agree to approve your marketing budget, don’t get discouraged. Even if they’re not on-board at first, a little bit of reflection on your proposal may lead them to accept it and grant you the money you need.
