It’s that time of the year again. Business may be slowing down, and you’re knocking those year-end tasks off your list. But are you ready for what’s on the horizon? With the state of the over-saturated web, it’s important that all of your digital marketing initiatives are top of mind. You may not have them planned down to a T, but based on analyzing your results, you should have some idea of what you’re strategizing for the new year.

Budgets can be daunting though. You don’t want to overspend or under plan, and a budget is imperative to make sure your team understands expectations and can plan their to-do lists accordingly. So where do you begin?

First, review this year’s performance by asking a few important questions.

  • What worked? And more importantly, what didn’t?
  • Have you identified the best channels to reach your radical buyer?
  • Where are your competitors putting their program spend?
  • How is the digital marketing landscape for your industry changing in the new year?

Once you’ve found the answers to all of these questions, you can break down your marketing program spend into the appropriate channels. Just because you’ve seen results in a specific channel this year doesn’t mean you should put all of your budget eggs into one basket. A year is a long time, and results are likely to change on a whim. Understand that a budget is fluid and can be changed to some degree, but if you all of a sudden have a $50,000 marketing opportunity that your budget isn’t prepared for, all other areas of your digital marketing strategy will take a hit. While this may bring you a big return on investment, it’s important to consider the residual impact that comes from removing the consistency of your ad spend in channels you’ve invested time and money into. Before straying off course, decide whether the risk is worth the reward.

To alleviate some of the budget burden, we’ve compiled a comprehensive digital marketing budget worksheet for you to use in your planning. Figure out what works for your business and complete your own detailed digital marketing budget to knock next year’s socks off. Happy planning!