Digital marketing is a primary way that businesses attract new customers, so most companies dedicate the majority of their marketing budget to different forms of digital marketing. However, that budget on its own may not be enough to achieve the results that you’re looking for. Or perhaps the budget has not been properly set. It could be gone before the end of the year or before a key time for sales. That’s when it is essential to find more money for the digital marketing budget.

Cut Corners (in a good way)

Not in a bad way! First, look for any money that may have been set aside for a specific need but that hasn’t been officially spent or allocated. Can this money be reallocated to tactics within your digital marketing budget? Could some spending be shaved off another area of marketing to add more to digital marketing? Example – check your paid ad spend levels – it’s not uncommon for this to be an area where you’ll have more budget available from under-utilized spend. Also check areas that aren’t giving as much of a return so you can build up your coffers on the digital side of things.

Reuse What You Have

Reusing content you already have instead of creating brand-new content can be a great way to make your money go further. Update some evergreen content with new information. Explore bringing back old campaigns that did well or start using your internal talent group to create posts for social media. You’ll get more for the same money.

If you use an outside advertising agency, make sure that you’re allowed to reuse the content in ways other than what might have been in the contract. If you paid for the content and it is legally yours, then you won’t have to worry. However, if the agency retains any rights to the content, there may be rules about how it can be used.

Reallocate Budget Based on ROI or Long-term Goals

Think of it like short-term vs. long-term (and how your organization might view your goals and their results). Something with long-term returns might need to be cut for short-term gains or visa versa. Review current marketing initiatives and prioritize them based on their ROI. Cut or reduce spending on lower performing initiatives to free up budget for more effective tactics.

Switch to Organic Marketing Channels

Sometimes organic channels amplified correctly can work as a stop gap vs. paid versions of the same channels.

Partner With Other Businesses or Organizations

Reach out to complimentary products and services and look for co-marketing opportunities. For example, think of Pepsi and Doritos, Intel and HP computers, or mountain dew and gamers.  Collaborate with complementary products, businesses or industry associations to split the cost of marketing initiatives. Sometimes they’ll even front the entire budget because they need your products/services! Reach out and find those opportunities and redirect the budget saved to digital marketing.

Consider Ditching or Switching Unnecessary Software/Tools

Sometimes you don’t need 100 marketing tools to give you the same data you can find in Google Analytics with GA4. And that marketing automation platform you use that costs $10k/month… is it really worth it?

Are There Grants, Funding Opportunities, or Government Contracts Available?

Research grants and funding opportunities that are available to businesses in your industry. A lot of time there’s regional, state, or even federal money that can help you save on your marketing budget.

Make It Work (five-head)!

If all else fails and you have to make your current budget and setup work, then do it. Chances are that your budget was allocated based on previous results. There’s a good chance it will do well for you. It might not meet all of the goals you want, but you may be able to tweak the current content, ads, and other posts to make sure it’s as good