It’s that time of year again. One third of the way through 4Q and most travel and destination brands, particularly seasonal ones, are still trying to figure out their 2015 marketing budgets. Marketing directors, especially those at nonprofits, are fighting to maintain, and grow, their piece of the budget.

So once those budgets are locked down, the next key step is determining the audience outreach. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you get into planning:

Revisit objectives and audiences. What are your attendance goals for the year? Who are the untapped audiences that can help you reach that goal? Should you try reaching into a new geography or a younger demographic? How much of the budget is needed to maintain core audience?

Fight complacency. Be sure to reevaluate everything in your plan each year. Where can you save, what needs more funding? Conducting a media audit and establishing standards for media partners discourages price creep and encourages new and better thinking and ideas.

Reserve contingency and test budgets. A test budget is certainly a luxury for a lot of travel and destination brands, which often need to use every penny to cover the basics. But it is important to remember that growth can’t come without change and without taking risks. So try to find room in your budget to test new technology and executions. And please keep a contingency fund. There will always be last minute opportunities and, unfortunately, last minute troubles, so it’s best to have something in the coffer.

Plan for Adjustments. Media isn’t something you can set and forget. Build reviews and benchmarks into your timeline to make sure that you’re on the right track. Don’t be afraid to make modifications mid-campaign. Things change and so your marketing needs to be nimble.

Need help getting a plan together for 2015? Drop us a line.