Budgeting for your 2011 digital marketing plan is never easy. Here are some steps can you take to make your budget planning a little easier this year:

  • Analyze 2010 goals and strategies. What were your 2010 goals and what tactics did you use to achieve them? Did they drive the expected results? Are there new strategies and tactics that need to be evaluated?
  • Link digital marketing to revenue. For your budget and plan to get approved, you have to demonstrate how digital marketing efforts tie to revenue. So, vet a budget based on projected tactical performance that aligns with your goals. This may sound obvious, but many marketing decisions are based on habit and reducing the time it takes to effect change, even if that means reducing revenue in the long-term.
  • Identify threats. Threats can come from various directions. Often they can occur when tactics are not integrated, sales and marketing are not coordinated, and performance is not measured or evaluated.

To defend against threats, reinforce the following:

  • Integrated plan. Integrated tactics often yield better results.
  • Analytics. A unified measurement tool that captures key performance indicators will let you know if you're on the right track or if it's time to consider new tactics.
  • Evaluation and Testing. We typically recommend setting aside 10% of your digital marketing budget for testing new hypotheses and emerging tactics that may yield better results.