B2B marketing efforts rely on cloud services to keep their operations running smoothly. Cloud tools are responsible for a wide range of tasks, from automating processes to maintaining live websites. All of this work can come at a cost, however. And for small businesses eager to stay on track financially, it’s critical to monitor cloud spending. 

Fortunately, marketers don’t have to compromise the quality of their campaigns to trim costs. Read on to learn about four ways B2B marketing teams can cut cloud waste.

1. Add Cost Tags to Resources

When marketing campaigns are underway, it’s not always easy to track where money is being funneled. But with the help of cost tags, it’s now much quicker to track spending and align with your strategic plan. If you’re using Google Cloud or Azure, for instance, you can introduce cost tags, which are like spending labels for different aspects of your cloud resources. They help manage campaigns with lots of moving parts, and you can see costs add up in real time. 

Cost tags also help you understand which campaigns are the most cost-heavy and what contributes to cost spikes. You can create greater accountability within campaigns and stay organized as you gather cost data and project future expenses. Ultimately, the best cloud financial management tools will streamline your campaigns and help prevent overspending.

2. Turn to Rightsizing

Yes, you can assess performance when you initiate a marketing campaign. But when you create customer journey models or financial forecasts, you might be using cloud clusters beyond your actual needs. Instead, use rightsizing to ensure your cloud services are appropriate for the job at hand. 

Look at your analytics cluster storage and scale down if you’re routinely at a threshold of 20% or lower. Make sure your cloud’s auto-scaling features are engaged. That way, you won’t be operating with more resources than necessary unless demand is high. And store older data in less expensive storage. When you take these measures, you can avoid paying extra for capacity that goes unused. All of these efforts help your business plan stay on target.

3. Schedule When Resources Can Shut Down

Not all cloud resources are actively working at the same time. And when those resources are dormant, you’re still probably paying for them. This is especially problematic in non-production spaces where you’re demoing products. Likewise, there may be areas where resources run constantly even when they’re not needed. 

You can save money by paying attention to workload scheduling. Maybe you can halt workflows if a campaign is temporarily inactive, for instance. Or you can shut down some resources overnight. Automation will come into play to help maintain these schedules and keep non-essential workloads from draining your finances. 

4. Use Optimization to Prevent Price Spikes

Lastly, don’t overlook the power of alerts and optimization when you’re launching bigger campaigns. Configure your Content Delivery Network (CDN) well so you’re providing optimal load times and steering clear of extra costs. For instance, you’ll want to use caching to avoid constantly refreshing changes. You may want to track CDN logs, too, and stretch time-to-live (TTL) values for assets that don’t frequently change. These efforts can trim waste. And if you set up anomaly detection alerts, as well, you can catch spending spikes and take action. 

Work on Cutting Cloud Waste

Cloud waste may feel like a normal part of B2B marketing, but it doesn’t have to be. With some simple interventions, you can avoid extra expenses without hurting your campaigns. Use rightsizing, alerts, and cost tags to monitor your cloud usage. Be mindful of workflow schedules and optimize your CDN. You’ll maintain better oversight of your cloud resources and set up your marketing campaigns for future success.