Everyone has an advertising budget, even if they spend all of it or not.

Advertising agencies, corporates with a big advertising budget, small businesses with a reasonable advertising budget, and even your wanna-be influencer friend who buys branded everything because it’s within their budget, advertise.

Adding our good old friend, the Internet, we’re constantly bombarded with messages about what to buy and where to buy them – and if you’re as high-strung as I am, you tend to plan your life out to the T (or at least try). I think any reasonable person often has a budget they work with – whether you’re responsible for it or not is an entirely different topic.

For example, I have a grocery budget (like many people)! What I can and cannot purchase will depend on that budget – and sometimes, that budget can even increase or decrease, depending on other factors. This begs me to ask; WHAT’S THE BUDGET?

Advertising is not everyone’s game – but so is every other work that requires expertise to provide. Let’s say your watch broke and you need a new one, but you can only spare $300 for it; you know not to go shopping at any luxury stores. In the same way, when you have $50,000, you’re more likely to be able to afford a watch that represents status as well as tells time.

I know that anything that has to do with money is a tricky conversation to have. Whether that’s asking a bank for a loan or getting quotes from different companies – people tend to shy away from disclosing what their budget is. I understand that people tend to gravitate towards either the cheapest option or the option with the best value these days. However, as a company that supplies services to clients – it’s critical for us to know what your actual budget is.

In saying that, here are four reasons why you should disclose your budget to an advertising agency:

1. It gives us a better idea of how to provide (and deliver) your advertising requirement.

2. Knowing your budget saves both parties’ TIME – the most precious resource we have in life.

3. It streamlines the process of finding the right solution to your problem.

4. You’ll find that disclosing your budget for every project produces the best value from your advertising.

By now, people should be aware that they will always get what they pay for – but in terms of advertising, you will always be better off telling us what your budget is. I know that there’s a whole heap of trust involved when it comes to spending money, but advertising should always be looked at as an investment rather than an expense. Advertising is an art of persuasion. When you trust your advertising agency, they will work hard for you to get value out of your spending, but most importantly, they will lay out a plan to use your budget to create revenue for your business.

 Now tell me, what’s your budget?