Asking for more money for digital marketing can be a sticky situation. If you’re in digital marketing, you know that more businesses and individuals are migrating into the platforms. This means more ads are being run and there’s more competition than ever before. This is for all the VPs of marketing, marketing directors, and marketing managers who are going to ask their bosses for more money for digital marketing.
There are two important parts to asking for more budget for digital marketing:
First, show your boss the results you’ve seen with the current budget. Have you hit your goals? If not, have you identified exactly what the issue was and how to fix it?
You can’t just go in and blindly ask for more money. No one likes to be put in that situation and you’re almost always going to be met with resistance.
Instead, give your boss evidence that the budget he/she has already given you has been used in the best way possible. Present how it was used, where it was productive, where you’ve made changes, how you’ve pivoted when you needed to, and how your results compare to your goals.
Show that the current budget has somehow moved the company forward and I guarantee your boss will continue to fund those initiatives.
Now, if you want to try something new in digital marketing, that’s another story. Trying new things tends to be a hard sell to leadership because you have no data to back it up.
That’s why I’m such a believer in testing. Instead of asking for a lot more money, ask for a small amount to allow you to run some low-cost tests. Explain that you will monitor the new campaigns closely and adjust as needed.
Show your boss your plan – what you’ll be looking at in terms of KPIs, how you’re going to measure and track the campaign, how you’re going to decide if/when to make changes, etc. Once you secure more budget for small, low-cost tests, you can begin to escalate as the campaign proves successful.