We’ve worked with a Muslim charity organisation to develop a campaign proposal for their Ramadan donation drive. As a charity organisation, the budget is a valuable resource that needs to be well accounted for. While the client loved our pitch idea of producing an emotional video and other amplification ideas such as partnering with other Muslim businesses to support the cause, the budget was a concern. 

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The question was then - how can we deliver our desired message and create an impactful campaign with a tight budget?

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Critically assess your must-have & good-to-have

Where do I start cutting, one may ask. This is where you’ll have to assess which channel can achieve your marketing objective and drive the highest results at a lower cost. In this context, we had to assess - is paid publisher engagement a necessity given that PR efforts can drive a substantial reach across multiple media platforms. Can we still trim down the level of paid ads media budget? Do we require so many influencers and what’s the ideal mode of engagement? 

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Essentially, you would want to put your investment behind channels that are effective and cost-efficient and assess what is the most optimal budget to place behind the key channels. This is where your past data helps you with your decision. 

Scale down and maximise your budget without jeopardizing the success of the campaign. 

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Do I really need the new content? 

Creating good content is key to delivering your campaign messages. At the very same time, it is a devil to your marketing budget. It makes a difference when you choose to produce a high-quality campaign video as compared to bite-sized static posts. 

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This was the key change we had to make for the client - to find an alternative to the proposed content while delivering the same message. Other factors come into play as well - how long will the content be used, do I have existing assets to leverage on & to repurpose

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Gain access to larger economies of scale and resources

Last but not least, after determining your must-haves, the last thing you would want is to drive up your cost with expensive resources or to “do-it-all by yourself. This is where you find suitable resources to save time & gain access to larger economies of scale to maximise your budget. 

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You can always make do with what you have. It all boils down to being critical in what you exactly need and finding resources to maximise your budget.

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