7 Savvy Ways to Spend Your End-of-Year Marketing Budget

Use it or lose it.

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That’s how it usually works when it comes to accounting for the end-of-year marketing budget. If you don’t utilize your budget this year, it will be hard to justify the same budget for the upcoming year.

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But spending money simply for the sake of spending it isn’t optimal. It wastes financial resources and forces you to make random decisions that have little or no benefit to the company at all.

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So, if you’re sitting on some extra funds by the end of the year and are looking for ways on how to spend them wisely, here are seven ideas that might inspire you:

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‍7 Savvy Ways To Spend Your Marketing Budget:

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• Lay the Foundation for Q1 Next Year
• Invest in New Marketing Tools
• Invest in Your Team
• Upgrade Your Events
• Secure a Prominent Keynote Speaker
• Pay for Next Year’s Travel Expenses
• Thank Your Team With a Little End-Of-Year Party

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Use Your Excess Marketing Budget to…

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1. Lay the Foundation for Q1 Next Year

Using your remaining 2022 budget to lay the foundation for the first quarter of 2023 is a great way to spend it. This is especially helpful if January, February, and March are your slow months and you have new and increased key performance indicators to hit.

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To prepare for this lull, you can start your lead generation efforts in December. Hopefully, these leads will be converted into paying customers by Q1 of the following year.

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Also, if you’ll be requiring additional marketing collateral such as flyers, banners, and brochures in January, why not set yourself up for success and prepare them at the end of the year?

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2. Invest in New Marketing Tools

Have you been thinking of upgrading your software, purchasing marketing automation, social listening tools, and other marketing tools that will help boost your department’s performance? Now’s the time to do just that.

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Most of these tools are subscription-based, so they are convenient places to stash your marketing budget surplus. They will definitely streamline your work processes!Here are some of the tools you might consider investing in:

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• Canva for easy graphic animation, video, and image designs;
• InfusionSoft for automated email marketing campaigns;
• Grammarly Premium for effective content marketing;
• Buffer to automate your social media posting; and/or
• Ahrefs to track keyword performance, analyze content, and perform backlink analysis.

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Subscribing to software that could automate some of your existing manual processes could save you time and money in the long run.

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3. Invest in Your Team

You can set your team up for success in the following year by investing in training and online courses that would help improve or expand their skills.

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You could also allow them to choose the training they want as an incentive or reward for their performance in the current year. Encouraging your team to learn something new will result in multiple wins for the company: more productive brainstorming sessions, more polished projects, smarter work strategies, etc.

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Check out these courses from these well-known online e-training sites:

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• LinkedIn Learning to help you discover and develop business, technology, and creative skills through expert-led course videos;
• Hubspot Academy for practical courses on marketing, sales, and business skills;
• Coursera to gain access to massive open online courses and specializations; and
• Udemy for courses on design, development, marketing, social media, music, business, and personal development.

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4. Upgrade Your Event Venues

Are you planning a large conference in 2023? Big events require wider spaces which, more often than not, require a higher budget and advanced bookings.

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You can use your spare marketing budget by securing a better venue for your event next year. But not just any venue—an upgraded one in a better location. Great events begin with an impressive venue; they leave a lasting impression on attendees and delegates and encourage them to return to your succeeding events.

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5. Secure a Prominent Keynote Speaker

While we’re securing an exciting venue, why not pair your event with a prominent keynote speaker? It will surely help push ticket sales early—and ensure your event’s success next year.        

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6. Pay for Next Year’s Travel Expenses

Have you and/or your team always wanted to travel to a different city/country for a symposium, conference, or any company-related event? If it wasn’t in the budget before, now’s your chance to go to that event you’ve been wanting to attend—using your leftover marketing budget.

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These days, the best way to travel isn’t to make last-minute plans because the early bird definitely catches the cheapest airfares.

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7. Thank Your Team With a Little End-Of-Year Party

This year, you and your team are bound to have worked hard to propel the company forward.

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Take this chance to thank your team for their efforts, for sticking with the company through thick and thin, and for going above and beyond. Celebrate your success with a little branded swag to show your gratitude for their contributions and to gear them up for the coming year.

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Celebrate in Style with The Concierge Club

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With all the effort your team has put in this year, they deserve nothing less than the best. Use your leftover marketing budget to reward them with a one-of-a-kind celebration to show just how much you appreciate them.

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And we’re here to help make that happen.

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The Concierge Club makes every corporate and private celebration it plans and executes—no matter how lavish or inconceivable—truly one-of-a-kind. If you want the same for your team, get in touch with us so we can plan a celebration that’s one for the books!