Top 5 ways to maximize marketing budget profitability

Between all the recent restrictions, limitations, deprecations, and new data privacy laws that have been thrown at marketers, there have been plenty of complications that have collectively managed to lessen the enjoyable elements of growth marketing. These grievances are shared by growth teams of almost every industry, whether it’s PLGs, B2Bs, DTC, or even subscription brands. Still, despite volatile markets and limited budgets, growth teams are expected to generate good results going forward.

This expectation, which primarily stems from investors expecting big returns on investments, creates a frustratingly paradoxical situation for growth teams. After all, customer acquisition costs are rising and spending needs to be managed — all while ensuring retention rates and profitability upward trajectory. It’s a big ask, especially with a tight marketing budget.

In an ideal world, the implementation of multiple growth loops would be enough to keep the engines running with minimal effort on the back end. In reality, growth teams need to be extra diligent in the approaches they take to achieve optimal profitability for their marketing budgets. 

Here are five tactics data-driven growth teams should consider to increase the impact of their campaigns.

Recent and upcoming regulations are limiting advertisers’ ability to collect and process data for internal use. That is particularly detrimental, as robust data is needed to build, match, and expand audiences in future ad campaigns 

This places tremendous importance on first-party data, which is by nature GDPR-compliant, and crucial in today’s privacy environment. Based on this data, personalized experiences and ads can be delivered to customers and prospects.

Then there is zero-party data such as survey results, which allows brands to offer greater personalization. Campaigns can be based on customer preferences. I particularly place great priority on zero-party data, as it gives brands the insights needed to evaluate customer lifetime value. In turn, this can be used to acquire more customers of similar lifetime value.

The sky’s the limit when that data is paired with an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based predictive platform, which can utilize models based on data to cast an even wider net in acquiring loyal users who are more likely to make purchases for the long haul. 

2. Reduce customer acquisition costs on a budget

Customer acquisition costs have significantly increased in recent years, and there isn’t a quick and easy way to instantly lessen it, at least not yet. However, there are some workarounds that are indirectly reducing those costs while also increasing profitability. These workarounds include placing focus on customer retention; introducing a freemium option; and using internal data to fuel predictive marketing. These actions would collectively save growth and marketing teams a great deal in terms of budget, and the data extracted from it would enable teams to make better-informed decisions.

3. If relevant and possible, consider always-on advertising

For B2B’s, especially B2B SaaS companies,  it is crucial to rotate between advertising campaigns. On that note, it is advisable for growth and marketing teams behind B2B SaaS companies to reserve a portion of paid media budget for ads that are always on and working to seed future demand. This will help ensure the company gets on the short list of potential targets when the time is right for decision-makers.

4. Test out newer channels

One good way to evaluate ad tech capabilities is to expand reach beyond usual channels by expanding into newer/lesser-used channels such as TikTok or Snapchat. These channels go far beyond dance challenges and cute animal content: They should be taken seriously by brands that can benefit from creating/sharing both educational and user-generated content.

For example, Canva is notable for using TikTok to provide tutorials on using certain features, helping users to get the most out of the platform. Brands also use TikTok to provide quick demos or to offer teasers.

5. Stop making major marketing decisions, and begin ‘futurespecting’

I often say that “futurespection” is quickly becoming the standard in growth marketing, and this is largely because growth teams are realizing the importance of making smarter data-driven decisions to secure profitability. Major campaign decisions can no longer be made in retrospect, as decisions end up being made based on proxy-metrics and rules of thumb. 

Futurespect, as the name implies, calls for decisions made based on future outcomes in a future-proofed manner. The best way to go about this is by putting customer lifetime value data at the forefront and using it to gain hyper-specific and accurate insights into metrics such as predicted conversion rates, and ROAS revenue.

Once armed with these insights, a wide range of marketing decisions can be made; for instance, this can include bid adjustments and budget allocation. With predictive AI, additional futurespected campaign decisions can be made based on predictions that can look ahead a few months or even a few years.  

These insights will collectively help teams make the most of their marketing budget with better long-term results that lead to greater profitability. Gone are the days of relying on intuition, luck, and frivolous spending of marketing budgets. The only way up in the marketing industry is through efficiency, data-driven precision, and out-of-the-box thinking, each of which is thankfully made possible with the help of AI-powered tools and tech.

Ido Wiesenberg is cofounder and CEO at Voyantis