If you’re wondering what your marketing budget should be, you’re not alone. This is the million-dollar question: How can we be sure we are spending the right amount of money on the right types of marketing tactics?

Many say it’s an art, not a science. Others argue that there is a clear equation that can help you calculate precisely how much you spend on marketing and where. In truth, it’s a little bit of both. With a little thought, a little math, a little data, and a little creativity, it is possible to have a good idea of how much to invest in marketing for the highest possible return.

In terms of “return,” I have a strong financial view. Simply put, the role of marketing is to create leads and business opportunities. You should always return to this metric. And the key to ROI marketing is to not only determine your marketing budget, but to consistently build revenue. Your ROI always needs to link back to actual sales.

Return on Investment Marketing

ROI marketing is a measurement tool. It measures how much profit you make on a given marketing investment. To figure out the return on your investment, you need to identify a few figures to plug into your ROI formulas. As long as you are consistent, you can define your terms however you choose:

• Cost of goods sold (COGS): The actual cost to produce your product (or provide your service)
• Marketing investment: Media cost or production cost
• Revenue: Your total revenue or your gross or net profit

Components of ROI Marketing

There are six key components of ROI marketing:

1. Lifetime customer value.

   Once you know this, you can begin to figure out how much you should expect to spend on new customer acquisition. To calculate the lifetime value of a customer, you need to identify the following variables: average annual revenue per customer, average gross profit margin (before any marketing expense), cost of capital, and average number of years per customer.

2. Target acquisition cost per customer cost.

   Look at your company data. Take the total cost of your marketing budget and divide by the number of customers you won with this investment. This is your historic acquisition price.

3. Marketing budget.

   Divide your target revenue by the average customer revenue. Then multiply this number by the target acquisition price. Once you have your ROI goal and overall annual revenue goal, calculate your targeted marketing spend.

4. Customer acquisition goals.

   Use the by-product of your calculations to make some informed decisions as to which marketing strategy will be most successful in helping you to achieve your goals.

5. Clear marketing ROI goals.

   Once you have established your ROI threshold, stick to it. If a marketing initiative isn’t hitting the threshold, cut it. Put your marketing dollars where you know they will have a greater impact.

6. Monitoring ROI.

   Measure, measure, and measure again. Use your results to continuously improve your campaigns and maximize your marketing dollars.

ROI Marketing: More Than Measurement

How you choose to track marketing spend and calculate ROI marketing will vary for every business. But it’s important that you make the effort to add some rigor to your marketing activities. Even if your calculations aren’t exact, they can still show clear trends to help you understand which marketing activities are getting real results and which aren’t. And again, results mean sales.

With a small business, you can’t afford to waste funds on marketing with low ROI. But calculating the best marketing spend isn’t just about managing your costs; it’s also about making sure that you are using your limited money to get the best ROI. You don’t want to miss any opportunities to help your business to acquire customers and earn revenue.

Ultimately, ROI marketing is more than a measure, it’s also a philosophy. But you can’t implement ROI marketing without making a larger organizational change. This is no small task.

Some early-stage startups with limited funding might view marketing as a low priority; an unnecessary cost. In fact, marketing is not just an outlay of capital. It’s an investment back into your company — not a drain on it. ROI marketing helps you to justify your investments, supporting the old adage that you need money to make money.

David Ehrenberg is the founder and CEO of Early Growth Financial Services, an outsourced financial services firm that provides early-stage companies with day-to-day transactional accounting, CFO service, tax, and valuation services and support. He’s a financial expert and startup mentor whose passion is helping businesses focus on what they do best. Follow David @EarlyGrowthFS on Twitter. A version of this post originally appeared on the author’s blog.

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