Budget Planning: ‘Tis the Season

It’s Fall and most everyone is working on budgets. And over the last 37 years, we’ve NEVER heard a marketing professional say, “I have enough to execute all the plans and build my brands. No thank you, I don’t need any more budget money.” Seriously, through all the years, with all the brands, in all the circumstances — never have those words been spoken.

So, as an Operations Team member, Procurement Specialist, Accounting or Finance professional, Strategic Planner, or Budget Analyst, here’s what you need to do to be successful: FIND MORE MONEY!

The business environment of today is a picture of:

• Doing more with less
• Holding budgets flat in spite of inflation
• Negotiating incremental deliverables out of existing contracts
• Introducing new brands without incremental budget
• Squeezing payment terms, hourly rates, and fees
• Working with an approved budget only to later receive cuts to that amount
• Reducing total spend but providing the same or better business outcomes
• Reaching consumers in a complex, always-on communication stream
• Complexities with technology and the digital space

So, the task of finding more money in this environment can seem daunting, but there are ways of analyzing existing budgets, building plans for the next year, utilizing tools, and managing processes that can make this a reality. It is reasonable to find money and identify savings that can make you look like a hero, and that money can be dropped to the bottom line or even re-invested in incremental marketing programs to drive improved revenue!

Success in budgeting and smart ongoing budget management looks like this:

• You become the “go to” person for the executives
• Marketing and brand teams respect you and seek advice
• Teams come to you early when there’s a problem
• Teams are honest with you when there’s money remaining in projects or available to solve problems or drop to the bottom line
• You become known for solving problems and helping the marketing team and your company deliver financial goals
• Senior management begins coming to you saying, “If we have incremental money to spend, what can we do to drive incremental sales and revenue?”

So over the next few weeks, let’s roll up those sleeves, sharpen the pencil, and get after this budget in a new way with results that drive new thinking and help you find money!

Join us next week as we explore some actual case studies and tools that deliver this type of success in budget season and throughout the year with ongoing budget management.