A useful marketing budget starts with what your business needs to achieve. A shop opening, a product launch and an established service business need different plans. Decide the goal before comparing package prices.

1. Pick one priority

Choose a practical next step: enquiries for a service, visits to a location, bookings or purchases of a specific product. Record your current position so you have a starting point. A new business with no sales history should treat the first campaign as a learning period.

2. Separate the cost buckets

  • Planning and creative: concepts, copy direction, designs, video editing and agreed revisions.
  • Production: filming, photography, talent, locations, voiceover and licensing when needed.
  • Distribution: the amount paid to advertising platforms, print outlets or other channels.
  • Management and measurement: publishing, ad account work, reporting and website tracking, if commissioned.

A quoted studio fee is not automatically an advertising budget. Ask for each responsibility and cost to appear separately in the proposal.

3. Use a planning example

Suppose you set aside LKR 150,000 for a month. An illustrative split could be LKR 60,000 for planning and creative, LKR 60,000 for media, LKR 15,000 for additional production and LKR 15,000 as a reserve. This is a budgeting exercise, not a Dazz price or a recommended split for every business. A campaign that needs filming may require a very different allocation.

4. Scope for your actual audience

Confirm where customers live, the language they use and how they make contact. For local services, clear location information and a practical WhatsApp or phone route may matter more than producing content for every social platform. Sinhala, Tamil and English versions need their own copy and layout review; do not treat translation as a last-minute export.

5. Agree what you will review

Look at received enquiries, which enquiries fit the service, quotations and won projects. A clicked contact link is an expression of interest; it does not prove a message arrived or a sale happened. Keep a simple enquiry log alongside channel reports.

What to ask before accepting a proposal

Confirm asset quantities, channel formats, revisions, production costs, ad spend, payment milestones and who replies to leads. For recurring work, ask about renewal and cancellation. Choose a budget that leaves room for delivering the service well, not just promoting it.

Compare our marketing services or share your goal and investment range for a scoped discussion.