Budget for Big Projects

What do we mean by ‘big projects’?

The two most common examples of big digital marketing projects are website design and marketing strategies. You may only think about these every couple of years and you need to take them into account separately when considering your budgeting cycles. They are standalone projects that shouldn’t be included with the regular tactics that you implement as part of existing marketing strategies. As you budget for these large upfront costs, you also need to think about how you’re going to leverage them and amortize them over time.

Upfront and maintenance costs

There are a few key points to keep in mind as you budget for these costs. Firstly, as we’ve mentioned before, they should be approached as investments rather than expenses. Secondly, following from the previous point, while you would include these big projects as line items in your budget, you also need to make provision for future maintenance costs. A good agency will be upfront about the costs of maintenance. When you invest in something like a website, it is not simply a question of doing the initial build. Some of the things you need to factor in are plug-in updates, and regular back-ups. You can’t think of a website as a once-off, big project expense that you won’t have to consider again. Whatever big project you decide to invest in, you need to do your research before you start and be sure what your costs are really going to be, both initially and going forward. Your digital marketing agency should be able to help you clarify all the costs at the start of the project, so that you know what you are dealing with and can make the necessary adjustments to your marketing budget.