What’s the Right Inbound Marketing Budget for Your EdTech?

Travis Morgan 763 Views 2 min read Share

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You’ve heard that Inbound is a cost-effective, long-term method for producing qualified leads. It’s possible that you also have a general idea of the costs. But knowing what one company puts into Inbound doesn’t tell you the full story. Your Education Technology company has different aims and resources from your peers. Finding a suitable Inbound Marketing budget requires a fair amount of self-analysis. As always, the question is: “Where do we start?” Don’t worry. We’re here to put you on the right track. By the time you finish this article, you’ll feel empowered to start building your Inbound budget.  

Anatomy of an Inbound Marketing Budget

For simplicity’s sake, you can break down your budget into 3 main categories: Content Creation, Software Expenses, and Testing and Optimization.

• Content Creation: A single writer can’t produce effective content on their own. A rockstar Content Strategist, Designer, and Developer are crucial members of your team. You want all the elements of your blog to work together to enhance the impact of the written portion. In most cases, this section will make up the most of your budget.
• Software Expenses: There’s no shortage of tasks to manage in an Inbound campaign( ex: lead scoring and nurturing, social media, email automation, etc). Powerful platforms like HubSpot can help you stay on top of things. Generally, the prices for software platforms are structured in tiers, with the basic packages starting around $200 a month. On the whole, this section tends to compose a smaller part of the budget.
• Testing and Optimization: Recall hearing about all those analytics? Here is where they call home. Aside from SEO, there’s multivariate testing, conversion rate optimization, and way more “zations” than you could ever imagine. Some of the costs in this area will coincide with Software Expenses, but you’ll need to hire a Wiz to take charge of this workspace.

You can either build a team in-house or work with an outside Inbound agency (gotta love that oxymoron). Deciding which option is better for your EdTech company will be determined by your marketing department’s resources and skill set. According to an estimate by HubSpot, even the most bare-bones Inbound Marketing team costs more than $120,000 in salary alone.  

How Much Should We Budget for Our EdTech?

It’s commonly believed that a business should set aside 4-8% of its annual revenue for marketing. To achieve a successful Inbound Marketing campaign, it’s best to allocate at least a quarter of your marketing budget.</ Let’s put this into perspective. A company with a gross revenue of $2 million should likely invest about $40, 000 into their Inbound campaign. For a company that hauls in $60 million, their budget would come in around $1.2 million. When you take the ROI into account, Inbound Marketing is well worth the investment. Social Media B2B.com reports that businesses with a blog generate 67% more leads than their peers. Inbound can’t take the full credit for this success, but it does have a major impact.  

The Bottom Line

Congrats! You’re prepared to start putting together an Inbound Marketing budget! We know there’s still a ton of research sitting on your plate, but you’ll chip away steadily. Whether you decide on an internal team or an outside agency, a carefully planned strategy will be the keystone of your campaign.