How to plan a marketing budget
- Enter your annual revenue, or your revenue target, and the share you want to spend on marketing.
- Pick a starting split for your type of business, then edit channels and percentages to fit your plan.
- Add the cost per lead or sale you expect from each channel, from past campaigns or industry benchmarks, to estimate results.
- Download the plan as a CSV to use in a spreadsheet or share with your team.
How much to spend, and where
A common guideline is to spend 5–10% of revenue on marketing, with growing businesses, new products and competitive consumer markets often spending 10–20% or more, and established B2B firms with strong referrals spending less. What matters most is that spend is tied to results: if a channel brings customers at a cost well below their lifetime value, it usually deserves more budget.
The 70/20/10 rule is a simple way to balance safety and learning: 70% on channels that already work, 20% on promising ones you are scaling, and 10% on experiments. Revisit the split every month or quarter as results come in, move money towards the channels with the best cost per acquisition, and remember that some activities, such as content, SEO and brand, take months to pay off and do not show up neatly in last-click reports. The starting splits here are illustrative, not industry standards. Your plan is saved only in this browser.
What percentage of revenue should go on marketing?
Typically 5–10% for established small businesses and 10–20% or more for fast-growing ones or new launches.
What is the 70/20/10 rule?
Spend 70% on proven channels, 20% on emerging ones and 10% on experiments.
How do I estimate cost per lead?
Use your own past results where possible. Otherwise start with benchmarks for your industry and refine after the first month.