Marketing Budget Calculator

'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.