All business, big or small, is about return on investment. They are all looking for how they can spend their money wisely and get the most bang for their buck. An investment is exactly what marketing is. It shows up on the expense side of the leisure, but marketing is what can grow your revenues and put your business front and center. All too often, business owners focus on how much marketing is costing them, and not how much it is benefiting them.

Marketing is an investment in the success of the company. It is a term that can encompass many things, from advertising to the packaging on your product. It is anything that sends a message to potential customers and the public. While it is considered an expense, it is not the same as an expense such as office supplies or maintenance. Each piece of marketing a company releases will have an effect on sales and performance. The evidence overwhelmingly shows that marketing and advertising can affect the behavior of consumers. Therefore, skimping on marketing or avoiding it altogether would be a death knell for any business.

Spending money on marketing will yield some sort of return on investment. If the initiative is successful, then the return on the investment will be higher than what you invested in the first place. Unfortunately, not every marketing investment yields immediate returns that make it an obvious choice. For instance, building a website does not necessarily show a great return on investment, if any at all, but it is still an effective marketing investment. It can only be a good investment, however, if everything else that goes into your marketing works, and if the product you are selling is a quality product.

Marketing initiatives such as websites should be looked at as an investment in the growth of your business. They are parts of a whole, which is more complex than a simple “money in, money out” calculation of return on investment. You will not have a good return on investment from your website or your social media marketing strategy if the rest of your marketing strategy isn’t solid. The best marketing initiatives involve regular communication between your business to the public and potential customers. Return on investment is an effective way to measure how well a certain campaign might be doing but is not always an accurate portrayal of the complex big picture. If you are focused on marketing as only a line item, then you might get frustrated.

Viewing marketing as an investment that will help grow your bottom line will help ease that frustration. Just like bad marketing will hurt your sales, good marketing will grow them. For you to take and keep your piece of the market, you not only have to draw customers in with your marketing, but you have to keep them. Marketing as an investment means thinking about the long-term and the big picture, and not focusing only on how much you’ve spent and how much you’ve made. Return on investment is a good metric, but it is not the only investment. Marketing can be the solid foundation upon which the overall success of your company is based. Make your plan, and build on that foundation. While you may not see money flowing into your coffers immediately, that investment will surely pay off down the road. The main thing is to invest your assets wisely, just like with stocks or other investments. Investing wisely and making the right decisions will have you on the pathway to success.