A Brighter Web | Grow your business with digital marketing

Creating an Effective Marketing Budget

Effecitve marketing requires an investment. For a business, this means creating and spending a marketing budget. But how much should you spend on marketing, and what return should you expect? There’s no one answer, so let’s examine the right approach.

Where do I start with my marketing budget?

• Figure out what you’ve spent to this point.
• Create a document to track everything and work with your accounting team.
• Develop an ideal budget for what you’d like to spend.
• Think big and work backward to what is realistic.

How much should I be spending on marketing?

• There’s no one right answer.
• It’s all about what’s most valuable to your business.
• This is much more than just advertising.

What categories should I consider?

• Marketing software/tech stack
• Content creation
• Advertising
• Networking events
• Sponsorships

How do I expand my marketing budget?

• Measure the ROI for what you’re seeing in return.
• Determine your most effective channels and increase there first.
• Look at the spend as an experiment—try something new and see if it works.
• Get your leadership’s buy-in so they understand the value.

Capitalizing on Networking Events for Marketing Growth

Digital marketing is useless without personal connections and word-of-mouth referrals. But is networking played out or ripe for you to take advantage of? It all depends on your approach. 

How does networking help my marketing?

• Get to know people in a more casual setting.
• Face and name recognition can be as important as brand recognition.
• Build a relationship with people before you begin selling.
• You might also meet people who can help your business.

What kind of events can I network at?

• Conferences
• Tradeshows
• Panel discussions
• Volunteer opportunities
• Business happy hours
• Lunch & learns

What are some networking best practices?

• Attend events where you know who the audience will be.
• Focus on in-depth conversations with a few people.
• Are business cards still worth bringing? Yes, if you have them.
  • Digital business cards are cool, but they break my process.
  • I like receiving cards more than giving them.
• Follow up with people after you meet them—connect on LinkedIn.

Is it worth sponsoring networking events?

• Take a look at the cost and see if it fits into your budget.
• Determine the why behind your reason for being a sponsor.
• The reason might be exposure or trying to get more leads.
• It’s also good to get visibility in your local community.

What about speaking at events?

• Are you comfortable with public speaking?
• Do you feel like you have something of value to provide?
• What topic do people care about that you can help them with?
• Reach out to a few events that are actively looking for speakers.

Should I plan my own networking event?

• We do quarterly micro-networking events.
• This is with people we already know and want to introduce to each other.
• It’s fun for us and fun for them—that’s the point.
• This helps us to deeper our relationships and say thank you to our fans.

Our 6 Least Favorite Marketing Channels

There are plenty of great and effective digital marketing channels, but there are just as many bad ones. Or at least good channels that tend to be used poorly by lazy marketers. These are our six least favorite marketing channels.

Robert’s 3 least favorite

• Direct mail: because it’s usually useless and hard to track.
• Billboards: because no one looks at them while they’re driving.
• Twitter: because it’s been officially run into the ground.

Mickey’s 3 least favorite

• Spam email: Email marketing can be great, but it too often isn’t.

• Bogus LinkedIn connections: Don’t connect with me if I don’t know who you are.
• Unsolicited text messages: Texting should be personal, so stop bothering me.

Building Your Business Marketing Stack

Technology can make marketing easier for your business. The various software tools your company uses for marketing combine to make a marketing stack. But what tools should you use and how do you build the right marketing stack?

What is a marketing stack?

The set of tools and technologies that you use to plan, execute, and measure your marketing efforts.

What are the different categories to consider?

• Website content management system (CMS)
• Domain name registrar, DNS, and Website host
• Customer relationship manager (CRM) database
• Email marketing platform
• Social media management
• Survey & feedback tool
• Graphic design software

How do you choose the right marketing software?

It’s the classic battle of “all in one” (like Zoho) or the best of each different piece.

I lean toward the best of each piece but certainly combine when I can.

How do you set a budget for your software?

In most cases, for a small business, time is a bigger issue than cost.

The cost for most of these tools doesn’t exceed perhaps $30/user/mo, but it can add up.

Do you need digital tools for everything?

YES! At least that’s our opinion.

The 7 Top Skills Every Marketer Must Have

We’ve talked about several skills marketers need in previous podcast episodes. Now, let’s bring it all together and give an overview of the seven most important skills we all need to hone. Which ones do you need to work on?

1. Planning: Just going out and “doing it” will likely end poorly. Get a strategy.
2. Writing: It’s the key to great communication and creating great content.
3. Consistency: Pushing hard on social media for a week won’t do much. Keep it up.
4. Learning: Marketing is always changing, so you must stay infinitely curious.
5. Testing: Some things work well, and some don’t. It’s vital to know the difference.
6. Analyzing data: Scale your marketing by uncovering the patterns in the data.
7. Acceptance: GA4 and AI are coming, like it or not. Know they’re coming and get to work, because hiding is fruitless. Be adaptable.

Related Podcast Episodes

• Why Writing is the Most Important Marketing Skill 
• Professional Development Made Simple For Digital Marketers 
• 10 Books Every Marketer Should Read 
• Preparing to Migrate to Google Analytics 4
• The Future of AI and Digital Marketing  

How Guest Contributions Can Extend Your Marketing Reach

Creating your own marketing channels is a valuable practice. However, you can reach new audiences and gain extra credibility by sharing your content on other people’s platforms. These guest contributions have their own pros and cons, which we’ll discuss here.

What do we mean by guest contributions?

• Sharing content on a platform that you don’t own.
• It’s like public relations (earned media), but it’s with other content creators.

What kind of content or platforms can you contribute to?

• Blogs
• Podcasts
• YouTube channels
• Social accounts

What are the benefits to contributing as a guest?

• You don’t have to build your own platform.
• You don’t have to promote the content.
• You can focus on creating great content.
• You gain credibility
• You reach a new audience

What are the downsides?

• There are ton of spammers reaching out to platforms
• Many of them are protective of their platforms
• It takes legwork to do right

How do you get started with guest contributing?

• Find the right platforms (hint: it’s where your ideal audience is)
• Make a list based on types of platforms (blog vs podcast, etc.) and PRIORITIZE
• Consume their content: read their blog or listen to the podcast
• Reach out to a FEW platforms to ask about contributing—especially those looking for contributors Search for sites with the keywords “write for” or “guests”
• Learn what kind of content they’re looking for

B2B vs B2C: Why They’re More Similar Than You Think

Marketing has no shortage of acronyms, and B2B and B2C are two of the most important. These represent two large business categories, however, they’re not as different as you might think. Listen in as we compare and contrast these two types of companies (plus a few more).

What are the biggest differences between B2B & B2C marketing?

• In case of acronym confusion, “business to business” and “business to consumer”.
• B2B would be the company trying to sell cups to Starbucks.
• B2C is Starbucks marketing to consumers.

Why is it helpful to distinguish between the two?

• They’re in a very different state.
• B2B generally has specific goals, budgets and timelines.
• B2C is often more spontaneous. You may have a budget, like for a new laptop, but often it’s low-ticket items.

How are these similar?

• At the end of the day, they’re all humans.
• If we’re “working with Starbucks”, it’s not a faceless company. We might be working with Jennifer or Steve, not with “Starbucks”.

Why do we focus more on B2B?

• It’s a different area of expertise, and simply what we’ve chosen.
• We know how to make a difference for B2B firms.
• Solid B2C marketing is crucial (see: every TV ad), but is a very different approach.

Are there other options beyond B2B & B2C?

• D2C - Direct to Consumer, like Warby Parker
• C2C - Customer to Customer, like Etsy
• B2G - Business to Government, like some construction firms
• B2E - Business to Employee, like some online insurance companies.
• Probably many others as well.

Maximize Customer Testimonials and Case Studies For Your Business

Customer testimonials and case studies are everywhere within marketing. But what’s the difference between these two things, and how can your business use them? Let’s unpack how to maximize your customer stories.

What’s the difference between testimonials and case studies?

• Testimonials are direct quotes from your customers, clients, or vendors.
• Case studies are more in-depth examinations of a specific project with a client.
• Testimonials are better to be short; case studies can be longer.

Why are both important in marketing?

• People trust others more than what businesses say about themselves.
• Keep in mind, that even testimonials can be skewed and biased.
• Offer a range of reviews—balance the good and the bad.
• Some brands have used negative feedback to set themselves apart. (eg. Liquid Death)

Where can you use each one?

• Testimonials can be shared fairly widely.
  • In blog posts
  • On web pages
  • On social media
  • In videos
  • Within case studies
• Their short nature means they’re more flexible.
• Case studies are better off on your website—as a landing page or downloadable PDF.
• You can point all of these other marketing channels back to the case study.

How can you source testimonials?

• Ask clients directly - be sure to get permission either way!
• Online reviews
• Customer surveys
• Social comments
• Email responses
• Anywhere your ideal customers connect with you

What format should your case study take?

• About the client
• Their problem
• How they found you
• What you did for them
• The results

A Special 50th Podcast Episode!

We did it—we made 50 episodes of the podcast! Since most podcasts never make it past episode 3, we figured this was a time to reflect back on what we’ve learned so far and how we made it this far. Thank you for being a listener of the Brighter Web Podcast! 

Most listened-to episodes

• Getting Found Online with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Keeping Up With Key Business Metrics
• Keeping Your Email Marketing Legit
• 5 Parts of a Clear Business Messaging Strategy
• 10 Things You Need to Do Before Launching a Website

Some of our favorite episodes

• Why we never send cold emails
• Keeping your email marketing legit
• Why should you bother with website accessibility?

Other stuff we talk about

• What we've learned
• Our process for making the show
• Why we did the podcast

A Deep Discussion about Dealing with Digital Distractions

Buzz, buzz, buzz. No, it’s not a bee, but it’s equally as distracting—it’s another digital notification that’s pulling you away from your other priorities. Dealing with digital distractions is a daily dedication, but one we all must definitely deal with.

What are digital distractions?

• Pings
• Rings
• Beeps
• Buzzes
• The constant stream of notifications that break our concentration

What are some examples?

• Email notifications
• Slack pings
• Text messages
• Phone calls
• Status updates
• Social media notifications
• App badges
• News alerts
• Amber alerts

Why are these problematic?

• They break our focus and keep us in shallow work
• People can’t really multi-task like we think we can
• It keeps us pulled toward the urgent rather than the important
• They’re major time wasters

When should we be wary of distractions?

• During meetings
• During important work blocks
• Before bed
• During meal times
• When spending time with people who matter

Why does this matter in marketing?

• Because we’re competing for people’s attention with these distractions
• Because often these distractions are also marketing messages

How do we deal with digital distractions?

• Go on Focus mode (in a Mac)
• Turn off certain notifications
• Schedule time to check email and social accounts
• Set up timers for certain time-wasting apps
• Leave your phone in another room
• Take regular tech-free breaks during the day
• reMarkable, Kindle Scribe, clarity breaks
• Keep a “mind like water” so you can clear your head a bit more