When do marketing budgets get set?

[webmango]

Hi all,

I'm looking to find out when companies generally tend to set their marketing budgets.

Is it towards end of fiscal year (ie nowish) or is it more random and dependant upon the company?

Obviously, I figure targeting an end user just when their new budget is set would maybe make them more likely to purchase domains.

Thanks.


ALSO: Another question I had - when people try to sell on forums, is this after an end user attempt that possibly failed, or is this the first point of call just to flip them quickly? I know some people have thousands of domains and forums represent quick ways of clearing inventory... Just wondering I guess.

 

[Name Trader]

Marketing budgets are usually set as part of the framework of the annual financial budget (at least in all of the companies I worked for), So they would be set before the end of their fiscal year, and of course couldn't be spent until their fiscal year started.

IMHO, it would be a good strategy to target companies early on in their fiscal year, when they haven't overspent their budget Because if they overspend in month two, there are still 10 months left to get that overspending under control. Not the same if they overspend in month 11.

Of course this advantage if marginal at best, because if you are offering them a name they simply must have, I don't think any budget restraint will stop them from acquiring the domain. But for not so hot domains this might work. For example if someone come to you offering Bread.com for six figures, they are likely to buy it even if they have to take out a second mortgage. But if you offer them BreadIndustries.com, it might be subject to budget constraints, unless their name happens to be Bread Industries. Maybe not the best example, but it makes the point.

 

[Fonzie]

It depends on if they allocate for the year or if they budget on the basis of reach and response.

Marketing is pretty sophisticated these days (it's the field I work in) and you won't get any good advice about it on this forum.

The short of it is: It really doesn't matter, as far as domains go. If they want it as a core brand or marketing peripheral, they'll reach out to you with an offer.

Large concerns with full-fledged marketing budgets (and associated strategists) aren't going to be interesting anything you hand-registered in the past 10 years, barring a weird situation that would compel them to proactively contact you.

If you're going the ...
"Dear Sir... I see you are advertising on Google For (Keyword). I happen to own e(Keyword).info and would like to offer it for sale"
...route, expect total failure 99.99% of the time with large companies.

 

[johname]

Dont try to time your pitch based on when you believe the company has the most in their marketing budget. Focus only on having something of quality to present to them. And have a backup plan for the inevitable "no thankyou"

People have different reasons for selling on a forum, but its safe to assume that if a forum domain has only one or two obvious endusers, those endusers have been contacted by the seller.