As the ‘Great’ British summer draws to a close, those of you responsible for marketing know it as the season of budgets!
So, you're primed and ready to go – you know what you want to do and why, but you also need to get (and this is where we often face the biggest ‘challenge’) budget sign off ‘from above’ – be it an owner, a director, a board of directors, a CMO, CEO – whomever!
Recent years have seen belts tighten, budgets face great scrutiny and results examined in greater detail. In brief, you need to have all of your ducks in a row, be able to make your case and put your plans into action.
How exactly do you do that?!
As with all great marketing initiatives it’s a case of ‘know your customer’ – in this instance, the person (or people) that will ultimately say yes or no. You need to speak their language, focus on their pain points and translate your proposal into a proposition that shows them how you will support them.
6 Tips For Budget Sign Off
1. Understand your overall company objectives
Sometimes it isn’t simply a case of ‘show me the money’, a company may have plans for, as well as increased sales or improved margins, but broader objectives such as, increased market share, increased brand awareness, improved customer retention. By designing a strategy (and therefore a budget too) that recognises key initiatives, you have a greater chance of success.
2. Construct a winning business case
Often, those who need to ‘buy in’ to your proposal are interested in data – sceptics can often be persuaded by a strong, logical argument, supported by facts and figures. Demonstrate how your plan will look in terms of key metrics, timelines and targets.
3. Create an outline for success
As well as securing the ‘go, go’ instruction on your budget it is equally essential that, in advance of implementation, you agree universally what ‘success’ will look like. In line with #2, your proposal should also include a scorecard of agreed key metrics – a lack of clarity here (and regular reporting of the agreed statistics) can lead to scepticism and disillusionment further down the line.
4. Speak their language
It is essential that #2 and #3 are presented not only in a means that is consistent with desired company outcomes but also one that communicates in terms that are both recognised and tangible. You need to develop your budget in line with return on investment, cost per acquisition and volume.
5. Be better than the competition!
It’s often a highly competitive arena – the marketing department won’t be the only department looking for support and sign off. You need to ensure that you make your proposal in a lucid, succinct and professional manner. Make sure that information presented is based in fact, that you know what your numbers are and where they come from and which contingencies you have in place, should you need to amend for any reason.
6. Maintain trust
Budgets aren’t a one-off exercise. You’ll need to go through it all again next year (possibly sooner if a business need arises). You need to keep your ‘customers’ on board – there is no point agreeing reporting metrics if you then fail to feedback on them – good, bad or ugly. Use failures to learn and readjust, use successes to refine and hone. All of which ought to build on your credibility and reliability for when you have go into the breach again next time!
