By Kate O'Toole

Does your marketing hit the bullseye every time? If you are throwing random messages at your audience like darts to wall, a marketing plan could help you reach your target and grow your business.

On July 12, NVAR’s Small Broker Forum hosted “Budgeting 101: Where to Put My Marketing Dollars,” presented by Jen Dalton, CEO & founder of BrandMirror. Here are our top four takeaways from Dalton’s presentation.

1. Budget your dollars and your time.

Your marketing budget should be about 10 percent of your revenue. If you’re new to the business or don’t have the capacity to spend 10 percent of your revenue, schedule time to do marketing tasks yourself. There are many ways to reduce cost and invest your own time, such as writing a blog or posting Facebook Live open houses.

As you determine your budget, understand the cost to acquire a new client. If you spent $5,000 on marketing last year and gained 20 new customers, the cost to acquire a client was $250 dollars. Are you able to reduce that cost, or do you have room in your budget to spend more?

2. Find your message.

Tell your audience what they want to know, not what you want them to know. Get to know your audience and create a story with a message that resonates. Don’t forget to include an action item, so they know what to do next.

Example: “If you’re buying a home for the first time and are worried about X, Y and Z, tune in to my free first-time homebuying webinar where I’ll discuss X, Y and Z. Register here!”

3. Create a marketing plan.

Instead of singular, random marketing efforts, develop four or five campaigns with a series of actions targeted at a specific audience. Engage in marketing activities that you enjoy doing and find ways to incorporate your personal brand.

Example: Send a monthly referral-only newsletter or host a quarterly happy hour for your clients.

4. Use metrics to measure your success – and follow through!

Look at each of your marketing campaigns and figure out how you will measure success, such as click-through rate, website page views, open house traffic or number of referrals. Determine what worked and what didn’t so you can tweak your marketing plan moving forward.