Three Wise Words on Getting the Most out of Your Marketing Budget This Christmas

08/12/08

Getting the most from your marketing budget could be easier than you think, according to creative and marketing agency, Crafted Media. Co-founder and business development director, Brad Warwick gives us three pearls of wisdom for more Christmas cheer this year:

Tip one: Start thinking of your website as a powerful marketing tool to generate business enquiries and, where possible, sales.

“It may sound obvious to many people, but a recent survey we conducted showed that less than half (45%) of businesses surveyed use their website to generate online sales and/or enquiries,” said Warwick. “With budgets tighter than ever this Christmas, it is vital that you get the most out of your current resources.”

Tip two: Make your site visible

“It is no good having a fantastic website if no-one knows where to find it. Using search engines is an effective way of generating traffic to your site. You can also increase the quality as well as potentially the quantity of that traffic by employing search engine optmisation (SEO) or Pay Per Click (PPC) techniques.

“You don’t have to spend a lot of money on SEO or PPC campaigns to make a difference,” added Warwick. “Many of our clients find that they can actually reduce the amount of online advertising they spend and still increase the number of quality leads reaching their site.”

Tip three: Make sure your website is easy to use

“With over 40% of the UK population online*, there is a lot of competition for online sales. It is therefore very important to look at your website from the point of view of your customers. Keeping the information short, concise and up-to-date is vital if you want customers to have the confidence in your business.

“Similarly, if you want customers to buy directly from your site, you need to make sure that the process is as simple and fast as possible or people will get bored and move on to a competitor site that is easier to use,” concluded Warwick.