Successful marketing begins with a rock-solid strategy. Your company’s goals, how might you achieve them, your marketing plan, creative and – of course – finances are all essential elements. But whether you’re planning for the 12 months ahead or implementing shorter projects throughout the year, even the best-laid plans will fall short without a well-considered budget. Setting the right marketing budget can be a minefield. Sharing notes with our Liberti group partner, The FD Centre, we’ve compiled a list of five budgeting pitfalls to avoid at all costs.

We’ve already looked at lead generation (and how it’s not the be all and end all of marketing) and big ideas (which are useless without informed predictions to back them up). In the latest instalment of Marketing Mythbusters we’re looking at one of the biggest misconceptions around - Return on Investment. To put it bluntly: too many business leaders believe marketing is nothing but a cost, an expense that doesn’t pay off in real terms.

If you don’t have effective marketing, do you have a business? How will you ensure growth? Secure leads? Build brand awareness? How will you hold on to your existing customers, or bring new ones through the door? Without a full and joined-up marketing strategy, businesses struggle to make sales – and eventually, to exist altogether.

No profit? No business. That’s why ROI – Return on Investment – forms the backbone of successful business leadership. Marketing ROI, on the other hand, remains a problem for some. It’s easy to lose sight of what your marketing spend is actually doing for you. Marketing consultants and agencies often lean on ‘vanity stats’ to justify their work, like Facebook views or being followed by X number of influential individuals on social media.

We originally wrote this post way back in 2016, a lifetime in social media years. Since then, LinkedIn has been acquired by Microsoft and the platform has undergone some significant changes. It’s time for a fresh look at what’s changed.