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Most marketers are excellent at showcasing the value of their products or services. But they may not be good at handling the expenses they have to address and manage. That is because they often have little to no direct experience with finances. They are focused on the branding their company needs and the development and growth of that brand to increase success. Still, wise and careful spending is a big part of the job, and it is often being overlooked by marketers who are only focused on growth.

The Management of Marketing Experiences is Critical

For Eduardo Sonoda, the founder and CEO of a marketing firm with more than 700 employees, the understanding of how to manage marketing expenses is one of the most important issues a firm will need to consider. Any marketing firm also needs to be considering that issue right from the beginning, as well. If they wait, they could already be very far down the road to financial issues and concerns, before they realize that they may not be budgeting in a way that truly works for the long-term health of their company.

Sonoda says, "Marketing costs can creep up on you when first starting out. When you get your first client, it's easy to think that all the funds that come in are yours to spend how and as you wish, but this just isn't the case. Make sure that you've got a clear understanding of what the project requires, which will allow your company to grow healthily."

A Switch in Mindset Can Help

Making the switch from the idea that all the incoming funds can be spent however desired, to the idea that a lot of those funds will need to be used in other ways, can be a game-changer for marketing companies. One of the areas where companies typically miss the mark is in understanding just how many marketing expenses they will really need to prepare for. From branding and PR campaigns to costs for development and design, there are a lot of costs that go into a successful level of marketing.

According to Eduardo Sonoda, advertising space can be a serious drain on the budget for a marketing company. But it is also one of the most important areas for a lot of businesses. He goes on to say, "At the Eduardo Sonoda Advisory, our main expenses come through overheads and acquiring advertising space, but that's due to the nature of what we do there. It changes quite frequently." The changing nature of how the funds are spent is one of the areas that can lead companies astray when they are not focused.

As a marketing manager, staying on top of all the different payments for expenses is important. But that effort and coordination can also feel very daunting on top of all the other requirements of the job. Eduardo Sonoda knows about that, and about the value of making sure budgets stay on track and everything gets paid as it should. A marketing company that fails to take these seriously, or a company that does not require its marketing department to take them seriously, could find itself in serious trouble.

Marketing Can be Tax-Deductible

Many marketing expenses are also tax-deductible, says Sonoda, so they need to be handled and recorded correctly. That way, they can be deducted when taxes are filed. Your company could potentially save a lot of money by making sure all of its marketing expenses are properly deducted when tax time comes around. But if those expenses are not paid or handled correctly, they may not be deductible because of the way they are categorized -- or simply because they are getting overlooked.

Creating a Good Strategy Matters

The management of marketing expenses requires a good strategy. If companies are not aware of where their budget is going, it is all too easy for them to overspend, miscategorize, and miss out on some of the more important aspects of their financial lives. According to Eduardo Sonoda, setting clear goals is one of the best ways to not only plan your marketing campaigns but to take good care of the budget in that area, as well. The SMART method is one of the best ways to do that.

Along with setting goals, is understanding why you need them. They are essential to a quality campaign, and to the design of a budget that works for that campaign. If your company does not see the value of the goals you are setting, says Eduardo Sonoda, those goals will not lead your marketing department to focus on the most important areas of its campaigns, which includes the budget. Choosing a strategy is also much easier after goals are set because the strategy can help work toward the goals.

There are templates for marketing budgets, and that can be one of the best places where your company can start working toward getting everything organized and handled correctly. A marketing manager who uses a template may find that they need to add or subtract some items, based on their actual marketing efforts. The overall goal of the template, though, is to provide a starting point in order to reduce the chances of marketing expenses being overlooked. Templates also make budget proposals easier.

Marketing Budgets are Not Always Static

One of the most important things to consider about marketing expenses is that they often change. What works for one campaign may not work for another one. Additionally, what is working well for a particular company may be a poor choice for other companies.

As a marketing manager, the goal is to make sure that the budget stays on track -- and at times, that can mean working with the client, or with other departments in the company, to adjust the budget for a higher level of success. There is more to the budget than just the overall cost, as to how it is used and what amounts are spent on what parts of it can have a significant impact on any campaign.