# Marketing budget calculator: how much to spend and where

> Most companies set the marketing budget as a percentage of revenue. Gartner’s 2026 CMO Spend Survey puts average marketing budgets at 7.8% of company revenue, but the right share depends on the business: manufacturers often spend low single digits, while fast-growing SaaS companies spend far more. Pick your business type and growth goal below for a budget and a suggested channel split.

- Interactive version: https://infikeytechnologies.com/tools/marketing-budget-calculator
- Type: free instant calculator
- Category: Marketing
- Last reviewed: 2026-10-05
- Publisher: Infikey Technologies (https://infikeytechnologies.com)

## Example result (default inputs)

| Input | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Currency | USD ($) |
| Annual revenue (or revenue target) | 2,000,000 |
| Business type | B2B services / agency / consulting |
| Growth goal | Steady growth |
| Or set your own % of revenue | 0% |

**Annual marketing budget: $140,000.** At 7% of $2,000,000 revenue, the marketing budget is about $140,000 a year ($11,667 a month).

Within the typical range for this business type. Review channel results quarterly and move budget to what brings customers most cheaply.

| Metric | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Share of revenue | 7% (suggested) |
| Monthly budget | $11,667 |
| Quarterly budget | $35,000 |
| Typical range for this business type | 4–10% ($80,000–$200,000) |

### Suggested split by channel (annual)

| Item | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SEO & content | $42,000 | 30% |
| Paid search | $35,000 | 25% |
| LinkedIn & social | $21,000 | 15% |
| Events & partnerships | $14,000 | 10% |
| Email & CRM | $7,000 | 5% |
| Website & tools | $14,000 | 10% |
| Creative & brand | $7,000 | 5% |

**Channel budget**

| Channel | Share | Per year | Per month |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SEO & content | 30% | $42,000 | $3,500 |
| Paid search | 25% | $35,000 | $2,917 |
| LinkedIn & social | 15% | $21,000 | $1,750 |
| Events & partnerships | 10% | $14,000 | $1,167 |
| Email & CRM | 5% | $7,000 | $583 |
| Website & tools | 10% | $14,000 | $1,167 |
| Creative & brand | 5% | $7,000 | $583 |

- Ranges and splits are rules of thumb, not benchmarks for your company. Start from your customer acquisition cost and target number of customers where you can.

Open this result on the website: https://infikeytechnologies.com/tools/marketing-budget-calculator?currency=USD&revenue=2000000&business=b2b_services&goal=grow&custom_percent=0

## Use from a link or API

Add these query parameters to https://infikeytechnologies.com/tools/marketing-budget-calculator (pre-filled page), https://infikeytechnologies.com/tools/marketing-budget-calculator.md (this plain-text page) or https://infikeytechnologies.com/api/tools/marketing-budget-calculator (JSON).

| Parameter | Meaning | Accepted values |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `currency` | Currency | one of USD, INR, AED, GBP, EUR |
| `revenue` | Annual revenue (or revenue target) | number from 0 to 100000000000 (in the chosen currency), default 2000000 |
| `business` | Business type | one of b2b_services, b2b_saas, ecommerce, local, consumer_brand, manufacturing |
| `goal` | Growth goal | one of maintain, grow, aggressive |
| `custom_percent` | Or set your own % of revenue | number from 0 to 100 (%), default 0 |

- B2B services firm: https://infikeytechnologies.com/tools/marketing-budget-calculator?currency=USD&revenue=2000000&business=b2b_services&goal=grow&custom_percent=0
- Growing SaaS: https://infikeytechnologies.com/tools/marketing-budget-calculator?currency=USD&revenue=5000000&business=b2b_saas&goal=aggressive&custom_percent=0
- Local clinic: https://infikeytechnologies.com/tools/marketing-budget-calculator?currency=USD&revenue=400000&business=local&goal=grow&custom_percent=0

## How it is calculated

- **Annual budget**: annual revenue × marketing share of revenue
- **Channel budget**: annual budget × channel share

## Marketing budget as a share of revenue (rules of thumb)

| Business type | Maintain | Steady growth | Aggressive growth |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| B2B services | 4% | 7% | 10% |
| B2B SaaS | 8% | 15% | 25% |
| E-commerce / D2C | 7% | 11% | 16% |
| Local services | 4% | 7% | 10% |
| Consumer brand | 8% | 13% | 20% |
| Manufacturing | 2% | 4% | 6% |

## Two ways to set a marketing budget

Top-down: a share of revenue, as above. Simple and easy to approve, but it does not say whether the money will hit your growth target.

Bottom-up: start from the number of new customers you need, multiply by customer acquisition cost, and add brand and tooling costs. The CAC and lead funnel calculators help with this. Most businesses use both and reconcile the two numbers.

## Budgeting tips

- Keep 10–20% of the budget for testing new channels.
- Fund long-term channels such as SEO and content consistently; stopping and starting wastes the investment.
- Review spend by channel every month and reallocate every quarter.
- Include tools, creative production and agency fees, not just media.

## FAQ

### How much should a company spend on marketing?

A common starting point is around 5–10% of revenue; Gartner’s 2026 CMO Spend Survey reported an average of 7.8%, mostly from companies with over $1 billion in revenue. Fast-growing SaaS and consumer brands often spend more, manufacturers less.

### How much should a small business spend on marketing?

Many small businesses budget roughly 5–8% of revenue, more when launching or entering a new market.

### How should I split my marketing budget?

By where your customers search and buy. B2B companies lean on SEO, paid search and LinkedIn; e-commerce brands on paid social, shopping ads and email. Shift money towards the channels with the lowest CAC.

### Should a startup spend more on marketing?

Often yes, as a share of revenue, because revenue is still small and growth is the goal. Base it on customer acquisition cost and runway rather than a fixed percentage.

## Sources

- [Gartner — CMO Spend Survey 2026](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-05-11-gartner-2026-cmo-spend-survey-finds-cmos-allocate-15-point-3-percent-of-marketing-budgets-to-ai-but-only-30-percent-are-ready-to-scale-ai-capabilities)

## Get expert help

Send these results to an Infikey Technologies specialist from the form on https://infikeytechnologies.com/tools/marketing-budget-calculator#estimate or via https://infikeytechnologies.com/contact.

More free calculators: https://infikeytechnologies.com/tools.md

## Disclaimer

This calculator is provided free for general information and planning only. Results are estimates based on the inputs you enter and the assumptions described on this page, reference data such as published prices may change, and actual costs and outcomes will differ. Nothing on this page is financial, legal, tax, investment or other professional advice. Infikey Technologies Private Limited, Infikey Technologies LLC and their directors, employees and affiliates make no warranty, express or implied, about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of this tool or its results, and accept no liability for any loss or damage, direct or indirect, arising from its use or from reliance on its results. Verify all figures independently and seek professional advice before making any decision. Use of this tool is at your own risk.