How to Spend Your Leftover Marketing Budget

As 2023 winds down, marketers are already looking ahead to plans and budgets for 2024. However, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, there is still time left in 2023 to put some of that leftover marketing budget to good use! 

With a little creativity, those extra dollars can be used to test and experiment with new tools and tactics that set you up for success in the new year. In this post, we’ll explore some innovative ways to spend that leftover budget to maximize your marketing efforts before we flip the calendar to 2024.

1. Holiday Content

With the end of the year coming up, one great way to utilize any leftover marketing budget is to put them towards seasonal holiday campaigns. The holidays present a key selling period, when consumers are looking for new ways to celebrate either through gifts or to get something for themselves. 

You may have a leftover budget to allocate towards things like holiday emails or social media ads that promote seasonal offers or products, or online display ads that target gift buyers.

2. A/B Test Your Ads

If you’re unfamiliar with the term A/B testing, also known as split testing, it involves comparing two versions of a webpage, email campaign, or other marketing asset to determine which performs better. Different audiences are shown different versions at the same time, and statistical analysis is then used to identify which variation performs better for a given conversion goal.

Your leftover marketing budget can serve as a significant resource for facilitating A/B testing. A/B testing offers several benefits. It provides data on what works best for your target audience – be it a specific headline, color scheme, page layout or any other variable that can influence user behavior. 

Also, it empowers decision-making based on actual data rather than assumptions and conjectures. Gauging consumer response with A/B testing before fully implementing new strategies minimizes risk while maximizing potential gains.

By allocating some of your leftover marketing budget towards this strategy in 2023, you give your business the opportunity to make more informed decisions leading to improved outcomes in engagement and conversions.

3. New Tools For A.I. Automation

Video continues to grow as a dominant marketing medium, but high-quality video production remains challenging, time-consuming, and resource-intensive. However, video marketers should consider directing some budget dollars toward testing and experimenting with emerging AI tools that show promise to streamline elements of the video creation process. 

Several AI startups now offer solutions that can automate tasks like basic video editing, adding graphics and effects, transcribing raw footage, and even generating full videos from simple text prompts. While the output may require some human refinement, these AI tools can help assemble rough cuts more quickly and cost-efficiently.

4. Experiment with OTT Ads

As we move into the final stretch of 2023, video marketers should consider directing leftover budget dollars toward connected TV (CTV) and over-the-top (OTT) video advertising experiments. Streaming and OTT video platforms continue seeing tremendous growth, with captive viewing audiences. 

Even as linear TV declines, marketers are slow to shift video advertising budgets to where the audiences are actually engaging. With months left in 2023, video marketers have an opportunity to run OTT advertising tests across platforms like Reveel, Hulu and YouTube. 

Using surplus budget to experiment with CTV and OTT video ads this year allows you to gauge performance and learn how to optimize for streaming audiences prior to dedicating greater resources in 2024.

Next: How To Advertise on Streaming Services

5. Prepare for the Next Year

As 2023 nears its end, marketers with leftover budgets have a prime opportunity to allocate those funds towards planning and preparation for 2024. Rather than letting dollars go to waste, invest that budget in actionable planning to get a head start on next year.

Consider allocating any unused marketing dollars towards building an enhanced content strategy and foundation for 2024. Having a documented content plan and content infrastructure in place for next year allows you to hit the ground running on January 1st.

6. Market Research

As 2023 winds down, marketers would do well to devote a piece of their leftover budget on conducting detailed market research to unlock richer insights into core customer segments. Use surplus funds to run surveys, interviews, focus groups or ethnographic studies to gain updated consumer psychographic and demographic data, user needs, behavior patterns and brand perceptions. 

Allocating a budget this way generates qualitative and quantitative learnings to inform persona building and help accurately target content and messaging to resonate in 2024. Not only will marketers reduce guesswork around what customers want, but they can develop tailor-made strategies to attract, engage and convert each segment.