6 ways to prevent 2021 budget cuts

 Many comms teams are expecting to make budget cuts for 2021.

Protecting your budget is a matter of helping executives see the value and cost-effectiveness of marketing.

If you need to defend your budget, listen to your leadership team’s concerns. Then decide which of the following strategies will resonate.

1. Show off the data. Pull up the data from recent successful campaigns. Numbers don’t lie. Quantify the worth of what your team does and the impact they have on the wider company, including the bottom line.

Include metrics tied to customer acquisition and employee retention in your report. For example:

2. Suggest cuts elsewhere. If cuts are necessary, look for other areas where they can be made. Look first for wasteful operations spending. For example, could you eliminate printing and mailing costs by going paperless? Or, could you cut software costs by removing users or going to a smaller plan?

3. Reference the competition. Compare your budget with that of your competitors. Are they making cuts, or are they doubling down? If you make cuts while they increase their communications and marketing spend, you may lose new or existing customers (and employees) to them.