Establishing a pharmacy marketing budget is a must, but few in small business do it. Why is it so important?

Putting a budget together will force you to plan which marketing activities you should implement in advance. Take notes of these activities. This will allow you to better track which activities are most effective. I have no problem with supporting the local soccer team or girl scout troop, but often times we are spending more in these categories than we realize, and a change in allocation may be called for. A large yellow pages ad may have been effective in the past, but times are changing and the amount you allocate to this should probably change as well.

An interesting note I’d like to add is that people who have been marketing for a long time tend to spend more money than people who are new to marketing. Why? Because done right, it makes a big difference.

How much should you allocate to marketing? It depends on the size of your pharmacy. A smaller pharmacy may need to allocate a larger percentage, say around 2 to 2 ½% of your gross sales, than a larger store will. You folks with larger pharmacies, say over $5milion in gross sales, may only need to spend about 1 ½% on marketing. Whatever you decide to designate, it will need to match your goals. Bigger growth will require bigger dollars.

What kind of things could go in to your marketing budget?

  • Pharmacy association memberships
  • Charitable contributions
  • Directory listings
  • Advertising – newspaper, radio, TV, flyers
  • Promotional products – Direct mail, premiums
  • Web and internet including social networking

In the case of opening a new pharmacy, you will need to plan a grand opening into your budget. For instance:

Using gross sales numbers from past history and having set a goal of increasing my sales by 10% in the first year, I have decided to designate 2 ½% to marketing. Of that, 2% will go into my first year of operation and the ½% will be spent on Grand Opening activities.

I want to mention one last vital marketing tool that needs to be in place before you open your door. You have your excellent staff in place, your store looks great, you know who you are, but a component that is just as critical also needs to be ready: YOUR WEBSITE.