Enter your budget, pick your business type and growth stage, and get a recommended channel split with rationale - built from real campaign data.
Your budget
$
Creative & tools typically run 10–15% of total budget.
Recommended channel mix
How to use this tool
Enter your total monthly (or annual) marketing budget, select whether it includes creative production and tools or is purely media spend, then choose your business type and where you are in your growth journey.
The allocations are informed by channel benchmarks and performance patterns across ecommerce, B2B, SaaS, and local brands. They are starting points - not mandates. Your specific unit economics, competitive intensity, and existing channel performance should inform final decisions.
The single most common mistake in budget allocation is spreading too thin too early. Concentrate budget to generate meaningful data, prove profitability, then expand. Read more about the attribution problem before deciding which channels to cut or scale.
How much of my revenue should I spend on marketing?
The common rule of thumb is 5–12% of revenue for established businesses and 12–20% for companies in aggressive growth mode. Early-stage companies may spend even more as they build brand awareness and find product-market fit. B2C companies and ecommerce brands typically spend more than B2B as a percentage of revenue. Your ideal spend depends on your margins, growth goals, and competitive landscape.
What is the best channel mix for ecommerce brands?
For most ecommerce brands, a strong starting mix is Meta Ads (35–45%) for discovery and retargeting, Google Shopping (20–30%) for purchase-intent traffic, and a growing allocation to TikTok (10–20%) for upper-funnel reach. Email and SMS should grow as a percentage as your list scales - they often deliver the highest ROAS of any channel. Early-stage brands should weight toward Meta and Google Shopping first, then diversify as those channels are profitable.
How should a B2B company allocate its marketing budget?
B2B and lead generation companies should weight toward Google Search (30–40%) because buyers actively search for solutions before they buy. LinkedIn Ads are expensive but highly targeted for professional audiences and work well for higher-ticket offers. Meta Ads are increasingly viable for B2B lead gen at lower CPLs than LinkedIn. Content and SEO should grow over time as a compounding owned channel. CRO investment is critical because B2B conversion rates are low and improving them multiplies the value of every paid channel.
Should I put all my budget into one channel?
No. Concentrating 100% of budget in a single channel creates fragility - one algorithm change, policy update, or CPM spike can destroy your growth overnight. That said, early-stage companies often do better going deep on 1–2 channels before spreading thin. The right approach: establish a profitable core (usually Google Search or Meta), then expand to complementary channels once your primary channel is optimized and profitable.
What is a good marketing budget for a new business?
New businesses should plan to spend enough to generate meaningful data - typically at least $3,000–$5,000/month per channel to get statistically useful results within 60–90 days. Spreading $2,000/month across five channels produces noise, not signal. Start with one or two channels, prove profitability, then reinvest. Budget for creative production (10–15% of total) and landing page testing alongside media spend.
Need help planning your budget?
We build channel strategies for performance-driven brands and manage media from day one.
