It's that time of the year in which businesses are attempting to determine which marketing ideas worked last year and what needs to be changed for 2020. Whether you have a significant marketing budget or a small one, allocating funds toward marketing is necessary for growth. Even if you can't do it all, be sure to set aside some of your budget for these must-have marketing essentials:

Customer Relationship Management: When you're running your business and attempting to grow it at the same, you probably need to track and reach out to potential customers. A CRM program is an excellent way to assist in your outreach, track sales and keep you on track. It helps you organize your outreach and personalize your customers' experience as well.

Industry Events: These are a great way to polish up on your networking skills and can help contribute greatly to your brand's growth. Local associations or networking events within your industry give you an opportunity to meet other business owners, vendors and possible customers outside of a typical business setting.

Content Marketing: Content is still king and 53% of businesses are using their resources on content marketing to not only share information with their audiences, but to engage with them. If you can't create content in-house, allocate money to hire a talented social media management company. Your brand can harness social media to create a voice for itself in a very crowded space. Just make sure that the content is good quality and offers your target audience valuable advice.

Marketing is one of the best ways to grow your business and move it forward, like you probably envisioned when you first started.