Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and that you
enjoyed your family, food and football (well at least the first two for us
Chicagoans).
Now that Thanksgiving is over, it’s time for
shopping and leftovers.
When you get back to work, there will be “leftovers”
there too. Of course, I am talking about your marketing budget
leftovers…those leftover dollars you’ll lose if you don't spend them by
year-end. Here are some ideas to chew on about consuming these "leftovers."
1.
Don't do anything until
you know you have authority to spend those dollars, even if you have budget.
Organizational profitability requirements may prevent you from spending
those dollars
2.
Don't spend just for the
sake of spending. Figure out strategically how your money can be best spent. If
you can't think of anything, don't spend the money.
3.
If you can spend your
“leftover” money, here are just a few things you can do:
·
Get all your online
efforts for next year in line. Finalize your Website. Optimize it. Make it
mobile friendly. Get your social media
programs going. Get any videos done.
·
Instead of mailing your
direct mail campaign just after Jan. 1, mail it just before Jan. 1 to expense
the postage. But don't mail it too soon - you'll want it to hit after the
first of the year. And yes, direct mail still works.
·
Have any miscellaneous
writing projects initiated in December.
·
Begin the process of
initiating a market research project in December, and see how much of it you
can pay for up front.
·
Prepay planned 2015 advertising expenditures. You might even be able to get a
discount.
·
Talk to other providers
about paying them in December with 2014 money, even if your schedule doesn't
permit them to start working on a project until after the first of the
year.
·
If you are a B2B
company, try using this strategy with your clients. Have them commit to spend
IT money, buy office supplies, whatever. It works.