Budgeting for b2b marketing innovation

When thinking about testing, experimenting and innovating within your B2B Marketing, the best place to start is with your budget.

You need to make sure you have carved out the money (and time) to dedicate to trying new channels, content, technologies - giving yourself the flexibility to flex and adapt to new trends.

The ‘B2B Marketing Budget Triangle’ gives you a simple model to start thinking about how to carve up your budget.

Here’s how I suggest you break it down:

70% of Budget: Should be used for ‘business as usual’ marketing. This is the stuff that you know works and that you’ve tried and tested in the past. It might be LinkedIn ads, PPC, blog posts etc. The B2B bread and butter.

20% of Budget: Should be used to try something you’ve not done before, but has been tested by others. This is where you can use up some of your time and money taking inspiration from other brands in your space who you’ve seen testing, for example, a new channel and give it a shot yourself.

10% of Budget: Should be used to do something you’ve never done before, your competition has never tried before, and your customers have never seen before. This is the truly innovative and creative stuff that’ll make you stand out. It’s the most risky investment - but the upside can be huge.

So there you have it - a simple way to break up your budget to give yourself the space to innovate. I’d love to hear about if you’re doing this already, or any thoughts you have on budgeting for innovation - so please do get in touch.

Wherever Next? That’s up to you.