understanding your internet marketing budget

you and your staff begin to brainstorm and layout ideas for next year's fiscal marketing budget. what worked last year? what didn't work? what do we want to try this year? all of these questions are necessary when determining where to spend your internet marketing and advertising budget.

recently, we have had a few larger companies approach us about media planning for the next year. while we are an interactive (digital) agency, we will not always preach online advertising for every situation. because the nature of the web has become so powerful, clients are beginning to mold their marketing and advertising spend around the internet and work backwards from there. and there are also the companies that have built their company from the ground up based on repeat and referral based business. those companies are looking to expand their marketing efforts.

so what questions should my marketing team address when preparing an effective internet marketing budget for the upcoming fiscal year:

what has worked in the past?
it seems simple, but addressing what has provided the company with a positive roi (return on investment) will go along way in building other areas that need improvement. if ppc advertising worked for your company last year, raise that budget and continue to optimize it for increased business leads.

what new methods of internet advertising should we try?
education must come first when attempting new forms of online advertising, including rich media. learn as much as you can before you attempt to dive into a new form of advertising. one way is to research your competitor's web presence and what forms of online media they utilize. this will help you understand if your company's demographic and target market are using that form of advertising.

should seo (search engine optimization) be considered advertising?
it is hard to determine whether optimizing your site for the search engines is advertising, but there is little doubt this improves your presence and marketing online. if you make it easier for people to find you on the search engines, your market reach online has increased. i would say don't include it in your advertising budget, but definitely part of your marketing efforts to build your presence online.

how much of this can i do myself?
surprisingly, several programs online make it easy for the consumer to start advertising online. however, it becomes a whole another task to organize or manage these outlets. first, organize what has worked in the past, what you would like to try, what your demographic is looking for and then approach an internet marketing firm, similar to FGI, for organizing, buying and managing your online advertising ventures.

remember the key is not price of the advertisement, but roi. what works, based on leads or sales, divided by the original cost. if it's positive, build from that and move forward.