An Expense
- You use last year’s marketing expenses as a starting place to determine your marketing budget when planning for a new year
- You cut back on marketing along with other business expenses when things need to be tightened
- You include salaries, customer service costs, and sales-related expenses
An Investment
- You know you need to spend money to make money
- You regularly put money into activities that you think will be worthwhile
- You know that sometimes there will not be a direct line between dollars spent and outcomes
A Machine
- You know precisely what inputs are needed to generate specific outputs
- You monitor the machine’s calibration and retool it as needed
- You are in control – you can turn the machine on and off, speed it up or slow it down
If you are struggling to create a marketing machine, it may be time to enlist professional guidance to make sure you are putting your resources to the best use possible.