Is marketing an operating expense? NO! Marketing is an Investment, not an operating expense. You’re expecting a positive return from your marketing investment; it’s not the same thing as a utility bill or how much you’re spending on office supplies. To be fair, sometimes it can be hard to see marketing as an investment in your business rather than just another expense. After all, marketing isn’t something that you see results with as soon as you begin.
Marketing is a perfect example of “playing the long game”, but results vary depending on different methods and strategies. No matter how you choose to market your business, you likely won’t see tangible results immediately. The results come later, after you’ve given the marketing strategies and campaigns adequate time to work. Because of this, marketing has to be viewed as an investment in your business in order to warrant paying for it.
Because marketing is, in its purest form, trying to convince consumers to buy your product or choose your services over other competitors, it is becoming increasingly difficult to market anything and everything as the market becomes more saturated with businesses of every kind. It can be hard to increase sales in a cost effective way and see real results from campaigns. Here are a few things to remember about marketing when choosing to invest in marketing for your business.
Marketing Doesn’t Have to be Expensive
Even investing a small amount of money into your marketing is better than nothing! And marketing doesn’t have to be expensive for you to see results. Starting small and letting your small investments pay for themselves and make money that you can then put into larger, flashier campaigns can be a good way to go if you don’t have many resources to invest in marketing up front. Starting with a simple PPC (Pay Per Click) or social ad campaign can be a great way to to work your way up in terms of marketing for your business! These cheaper methods can be a great way to test out different types of campaigns, and a great way to work with multiple agencies to get a feel for which agency would be best for your marketing needs in the long run!
Good Marketing Doesn’t Cost Money, it Makes Money
Sure, you will have to make a payment up front. That’s just how the world works. You have to pay the agency you are working for, or you will have to pay for online marketing sites, or social media advertising campaigns. Regardless of how you start and which route you take in terms of marketing for your business, you’re going to have to shell out a bit of cash up front. But that doesn’t necessarily mean marketing is costing you money. If you work with the right agency, marketing won’t cost you money in the long run, it will earn you money. While you may have to part with your cash in the beginning, it’s likely you will see a large return on your investment, given that you choose a great agency to work with, and that your product or service is something consumers are interested in.
Make Marketing Initiatives Part of a Bigger Whole
Businesses will often cut their marketing budgets when sales are low. This is the opposite of what should happen. You will actually save money long term by spending more on marketing in order to increase sales back to a normal level. This is because marketing plays a role in every aspect of your business, and every marketing initiative should be looked at as part of a bigger whole. Every email campaign, website update, social media post, and any other digital marketing aspect of your business has an effect on your overall sales and business as a whole.
Each of these initiatives must be looked at as an investment into your company’s future. By allowing yourself to see marketing as a strong long term investment rather than focusing on short term sales and costs, you will be able to see your investment pay off big time.
So, Is Marketing an Operating Expense?
Marketing should be seen as an investment in your business, rather than an expense. Just as with anything in life, you must invest wisely, by hiring a great agency for your marketing needs, in order to see the largest return on your investment as possible. As you invest money into marketing for your business, think of marketing as building a moat or a fence around the business itself, securing its long term safety and future stability. This way, you will remember that marketing is, and always will be an investment, not an expense.
