What marketing budget for your business?
Too little, you stall. Poorly allocated, you waste it. Get a budget range fitted to your industry and revenue, and an allocation by line item.
- 01Enter your situation
- 02See the impact live
- 03Take action
Industry benchmark: 8 % of revenue (Gartner + market). US benchmarks, converted to Canadian dollars.
- Acquisition & advertising$1,867/month
- Content & SEO$1,173/month
- Website & conversion$960/month
- AI & tools$640/month
- Management & data$693/month
The "Acquisition & advertising" share ($22,400/year), projected on your industry's cost per lead ($96) and conversion rate (6 %), represents about 233 leads and 14 customers per year. A managed budget aims higher than these market benchmarks.
Indicative estimate, based on our median results and on market benchmarks (Google Ads, Gartner, 2025 studies). Your real numbers depend on your offer and your starting point. We refine them during an audit.
Setting a marketing budget on gut feel is one of the most expensive mistakes an SMB can make. The right budget is reasoned as a percentage of revenue (the cross-industry average is 7.7% according to the 2025 Gartner study), adjusted for your industry and your growth ambition, then allocated intelligently across acquisition, content, website and steering. This simulator gives you both.
What you should know
What percentage of revenue should go to marketing?
The 2025 Gartner study puts the average at 7.7% of revenue, with some industries higher (consumer goods and manufacturing around 9 to 10%) and others lower. Growing SMBs often invest a little more. The simulator adjusts the range to your industry and your ambition.
How should the budget be split across line items?
There is no single split, but a balance between acquisition (advertising), durable visibility (SEO and content), conversion (website and landing pages), tools and AI, and steering. The key is to never spend on acquisition without a measurement and conversion budget to match.
Why does a managed budget return more than the same budget scattered?
Without steering, a significant share of the budget goes into unmeasured channels, poorly targeted audiences or pages that do not convert. Tight steering continuously reallocates toward what works. At equal budget, the share that actually produces is much higher.