Marketing budget for a website promotion

[Zono]

Hello All
i am writing a business plan and need to provide an budget for marketing and I believe I have to show source as well.Since the business would be an online business most advertising will be online based.

The site is an accommodation booking site for short to medium term stays.

i have contacted a number of digital marketing companies for quotes but A: they are quoting way too much or B: they not getting back to me.

I will be looking into
Social media
gumtree
PPC
google ads

What other options are there and how do i come up with a reasonable budget for this?

Many thanks

 

[Alan]

A: they are quoting way too much

How do you know it is way too much?

You can use SEM Rush to look at competitors estimated spend, e.g. AirBnB comes out at $104,000 per month on paid search , approx £60,000 per month and agency fees would be around £7,500 on that account

holidayhomes uk are spending a more frugal $16,000 ( £10,000 ) per month on PPC and agency fees might be as low as £1,000 a month

 

[Shopclicks]

i have contacted a number of digital marketing companies for quotes but A: they are quoting way too much

I think you answered your own question.

The budget for this will not be 'reasonable'.

Is there a gap in the market that hasn't been covered by a hundred other booking sites?

 

[ethical PR]

Don't make the mistake of thinking because your business is online most of your marketing will be too. Plenty of purely online companies such as BNB advertise through broadcast and print media, promotions, outdoor advertising, PR etc.

What do you call a reasonable budget?

Surely the point is if you invest £100,000 in marketing and generative a £1/2 million profit then it's a more than reasonable budget. If you invest £15,000 and make a £10,000 profit then it's not.

 

[SamWhittle]

Just because your business is online, doesn't mean that your marketing efforts should be too. It's old fashioned but letter box drops in targeted areas can be incredibly lucrative, so can print and radio. Get your targeting sorted and then fit your marketing to suit your budget. The cheaper it is the more effort will be required from you.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Are you looking for a business plan to present to people such as the bank etc, or a REAL business plan?

If the former then 10% of revenue is the acceptable amount of ad spend in all forms.

If the latter, then you have to pay what the market demands, and if you can't afford it within your revenue forecasts, your business is simply not viable.

 

[SamWhittle]

I'd also say that whatever figure you allocate it will be wrong. Be flexible and overestimate, you can always reallocate funds if it doesn't cost as much.

 

[threenine]

You don't need a quote to work out your marketing budget. It should be easier to work out or even estimate based on what your projected turnover is going to be. For "Marketing" I would allocate between 30 - 45% of my projected annual turnover figure.

Like other have said, don't be fooled into thinking that all your marketing is going to be online, this strictly speaking is only your digital marketing budget and is not your entire marketing budget. Your full marketing budget is going to involve a whole lot more.

 

[Matthew Owl]

As usual - not enough data to be able to help you. The industry in which you operate is heavily "guarded", so online marketing efforts will cost you a lot. To paraphrase what you have written - part of the agency proposed the amount for which they could do this for you with a sense, and some frightened - in my opinion - the task. Do not require impossible!

 

[SamWhittle]

What is the business plan for? If it's just for you, then I would allocate around 20% of your budget, but be prepared to move this figure based on your experience. Try things, start small, keep what works, bin what doesn't, keep everything. Really tight to begin with, until you know that there is demand for your service.