Where You May Want to Spend Your Marketing Dollars

If you are a company moving into 2014 then you will most likely need to figure out a way to effectively advertise online or you may not exist in 2015 considering how fast the internet is growing as a form of advertising. Using only Google Adwords to advertise online may have worked in the past but with explosive growth in social media, Youtube, and other online marketing platforms, diversifying your marketing spend could be a stronger option than just using Google Adwords or one platform.  This is especially true if you are a larger company that should be building their national brand.
Here are some example marketing profiles for a typical business by revenue:

0 – 1 million dollars in revenue (numbers are based on monthly spend):

• 100-3000 dollars a month on Google Search:
• 50-2000 dollars on Facebook advertising:
• 0-200 dollars on Twitter advertising:
• 0-200 dollars on Linkedin advertising:

Total Average Monthly Spend:
1000 dollars per month
Total Average Annual Spend:
12000 dollars, a little less than 2% of a 500k in revenue company.
These numbers all depend on what type of company you are. If you are a B2B service provider or your average customer is worth over 100 dollars in profit than you will most likely want to spend a good amount of money on Google Search. If you are a restaurant or retailer with low average customer value than you should look to social platforms to build up your brand in which you can share news and updates to drive repeat customers.  Companies with lower average customer value thrive on repeat customers, and social media is the perfect outlet for such businesses.  I would stay away from Google display, Youtube and the Bing & Yahoo Search Network if you are a smaller company.  You need a great video and a larger brand to be successful on Google Display or Youtube and being successful on Google search and the Bing & Yahoo Network is a tough task for a smaller business with a smaller budget.

1 – 5 million dollars in revenue: (monthly spend ranges by platform)

• 500-10000 dollars on Google Search:
• 100-1000 dollars on Bing & Yahoo Search:
• 200-5000 dollars on Facebook advertising:
• 100-1000 dollars on Twitter advertising:
• 50-500 dollars on Linkedin advertising:
• 0-500 on Youtube advertising:
• 0-500 on Google Display Network advertising:

Total Average Monthly Spend:
5000 dollars per month
Total Average Annual Spend:
60000 dollars, about 2% of a 2.5 million dollar in revenue company.
The numbers range for all revenue sizes because each platforms benefits depend on what type of company you are. At this stage I would focus more heavily on social media advertising and building the brand through impressions and increasing the value of your social media pages.  This is also a good time to start ramping up campaigns that have high ROI, so if one particular platform is really building value for your company, than this is the time to narrow in on that platform and up the spend.

6 – 25 million dollars in revenue: (monthly spend ranges by platform)

• 3000-30000 dollars on Google Search:
• 200-5000 dollars on Bing & Yahoo Search:
• 1000-10000 dollars on Facebook advertising:
• 200-2000 dollars on Twitter advertising:
• 100-2000 dollars on Linkedin advertising:
• 100-2000 on Youtube advertising:
• 100-2000 on Google Display Network advertising:

At this point you should be advertising on all the major platforms, even if it is just a small amount.  If you do not have a video for Youtube than I don’t know what to tell you. Its 2014 and every company generating over 6 million in revenue should be able to invest a few thousand dollars into a quality video.  This is the time to really start building strong campaigns on Google, Facebook and the other platforms that might have the most benefit to your particular company and industry so that you can be confident your advertising dollars are driving solid growth for your company.
Total Average Monthly Spend:
25000 dollars per month
Total Average Annual Spend:
300,000 dollars, about 2.5% of a 12 million dollar in revenue company.

26 – 200 million dollars in revenue: (monthly spend ranges by platform)

• 10000-100000 dollars on Google Search:
• 5000-50000 dollars on Bing & Yahoo Search:
• 5000-50000 dollars on Facebook advertising:
• 1000-10000 dollars on Twitter advertising:
• 1000-10000 dollars on Linkedin advertising:
• 1000-10000 on Youtube advertising:
• 1000-10000 on Google Display Network advertising:

This is the time to really be exploring the intracacies of the platforms that you are advertising on and utilizing all of their different features.  At this point you could be using all of Google’s advertising services such as their remarketing services that display your ad when a user has visited your website.  I have seen 25 million dollar companies that will spend 500,000 dollars on Facebook advertising because it simply was having that big an effect on their brand so do not be afraid to spend the big bucks on a platform that will grow your business. With that being said it may not be the right fit for every company so really nailing down the platforms that work for your company will help you grow to the next level.
Total Average Monthly Spend:
166,000 dollars per month
Total Average Annual Spend:
2 million dollars, about 2% of a 100 million dollar in revenue company.

200 million – 1 billion in revenue: (monthly spend ranges by platform)

• 50000-500000 dollars on Google Search:
• 5000-100000 dollars on Bing & Yahoo Search:
• 10000-200000 dollars on Facebook advertising:
• 200-2000 dollars on Twitter advertising:
• 100-2000 dollars on Linkedin advertising:
• 100-2000 on Youtube advertising:
• 100-2000 on Google Display Network advertising:

A company of this size should not just be focusing on delivering a high ROI from the direct traffic but also focus on the overall branding and value that is created from all of the impressions generated from advertising across platforms.  The % of overall revenue should be a bit lower because companies of this size can afford to spend money on more expensive platforms like Radio, print, or even television.
Total Average Monthly Spend:
625000 dollars per month
Total Average Annual Spend:
7.5 million dollars, about 1.5% of a 500 million dollar in revenue company.

1 billion plus in revenue: (monthly spend ranges by platform)

• 50000-1 million dollars on Google Search:
• 200-5000 dollars on Bing & Yahoo Search:
• 500-10000 dollars on Facebook advertising:
• 200-2000 dollars on Twitter advertising:
• 100-2000 dollars on Linkedin advertising:
• 100-2000 on Youtube advertising:
• 100-2000 on Google Display Network advertising:

Companies over 1 billion dollars in revenue are often times the leader or one of the top companies in their industry. A business generating over 1 billion dollars in revenue should have enough money to dominate search and social platforms in their industry in order to be well known across the world as one of the leaders for what they do. With a budget in the millions per month, a company of this size can be in the minds of any potential customer if they are looking for that particular good or service online.  With a budget in the millions per month and the ability to diversify accross platforms, a company of this size will most likely reach millions if not billions of users.
Total Average Monthly Spend:
2.5 million dollars per month
Total Average Annual Spend:
30 million dollars, about 1% of a 3 billion dollar in revenue company.