111 - Building Your Marketing Budget Like a Funnel: Awareness to Action

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Summary
In this episode of the Sports Marketing Machine podcast, host Jeremy Neisser discusses how to strategically plan your marketing budget to maximize ticket sales. Whether you're just starting out with a small email list or you have a $20K marketing budget, Jeremy walks you through exactly where to invest at each stage.
You'll learn why building your owned audience first is crucial, where display ads and Meta campaigns fit in, why smart list buying beats random ad spending, and how to stretch every marketing dollar for maximum ROI.

✅ Takeaways

• Match your marketing spend to your stage of growth.
• Focus on building your email list before jumping into higher-cost tactics like texting.
• Think about your marketing budget like a sales funnel: Awareness ➔ Interest ➔ Conversion.
• Invest in low-cost, high-impact awareness tools like Awarity and Blip billboards.
• Smart list buying (e.g., Chamber of Commerce lists) can deliver great ROI for group sales and hospitality packages.
• Always stretch every dollar by segmenting audiences and retargeting high-intent fans.

🎧 Sound Bites

• "Build a strong owned audience first."
• "Buying a chamber list is a great ROI."
• "Low-cost awareness always wins."

📖 Chapters
00:00 — Introduction: Maximizing Your Marketing Dollars
01:12 — Building a Strong Owned Audience First
03:59 — Smart Budget Allocation for $20K Teams
07:22 — Advanced Tactics: YouTube, Spotify, CTV
10:30 — Why Awareness & Retargeting Should Dominate
12:52 — Final Key Takeaways

🚀 Episode Outline

Stage 1: Foundation First (Small Email List Teams)

• Prioritize building your database (email over texting).
• Start Meta ads for lead generation.
• Layer in low-cost digital display (like Awarity).
• “You wouldn’t build a house on quicksand — same thing here.”

Stage 2: Smart Spending ($20K Budget + Sizable List)

• Funnel your spend:
  • Awareness (40%) ➔ Awarity, Blip billboards.
  • Interest (40%) ➔ Meta ads (Landing Page Views, Lookalikes).
  • Conversion (20%) ➔ Direct mail to a bought Chamber list.
• “Buying 1,000 mailers for $2K can drive real group sales and sponsorship ROI.”

Optional Upgrades for Bigger Budgets

• YouTube Pre-Roll Ads (great if you have game day hype content).
• Spotify Audio Ads (for big promotions).
• Connected TV (for major pushes like Opening Night).
• SMS Marketing (ONLY if you’ve built a good opt-in list).

Summary

• Build the base first.
• Think like a funnel.
• Stretch every dollar.
• Invest smartly based on your current stage and goals.

🎧 Don’t forget:
If you found this helpful, please subscribe, rate, and share the Sports Marketing Machine podcast to help others grow their fan base and sell more tickets too!

Episodes Mentioned:

22 - How to buy Billboards For CHEAP to Promote Your Games

37 - Cold Audiences & Warm Audiences - The Differences For Your Marketing

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