# Marketing Budget Calculator

> Stop guessing what to spend. Use revenue, growth stage, and competitive intensity to calculate the right marketing budget — then allocate it properly.

'How much should we spend on marketing?' is the wrong question. The right question is: 'What's the cost of acquiring a customer, what's their lifetime value, and how many do we need?'

But since everyone asks it, here's a framework that actually works.

**The Revenue Baseline**

Most B2B businesses should invest 5-12% of revenue in marketing. The exact number depends on growth stage:

- **Pre-revenue to £500K:** 15-20% of target revenue. You're investing in building the engine. This feels expensive because it is — you're front-loading spend before the flywheel kicks in.
- **£500K - £2M:** 10-15%. You've proven product-market fit. Now you're scaling acquisition. This is where most companies under-invest and stall.
- **£2M - £10M:** 7-12%. The engine is running. You're optimising channels and adding capacity.
- **£10M+:** 5-8%. You should be running a sophisticated, multi-channel operation with clear attribution.

**Channel Allocation**

For B2B companies under £5M revenue, the highest-ROI allocation is typically: 40% brand and content (website, content creation, design), 25% demand generation (LinkedIn, email, paid), 20% events and partnerships, 15% tools and technology.

Above £5M, shift 10% from content to paid channels and add ABM.

**The CAC/LTV Equation**

If you don't know these numbers, stop here and calculate them. Customer Acquisition Cost = total marketing + sales spend ÷ new customers acquired. Lifetime Value = average deal value × average customer lifespan × gross margin. Your LTV should be at least 3x your CAC. Under 3x? Your unit economics don't work.

**The Spend Trap**

The biggest mistake isn't underspending — it's spending on the wrong things. £50K on Google Ads with no conversion-optimised landing page is a waste. £50K on a beautiful website with no traffic strategy is a waste. Spend on the constraints, not the vanity projects.

Canonical: https://potentpositioning.com/resources/marketing-budget-calculator