The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Build your small-business marketing budget from goals, audience, and available cash—not from a universal percentage. Start by listing the outcomes you need, itemizing the full cost of each activity, and choosing a review period. Then compare actual costs and results with your plan and adjust based on evidence.
What belongs in a small-business marketing budget?
A marketing budget is the cost plan within a broader marketing plan. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) says that plan should identify your target market, competitive advantage, sales plan, goals, action plan, and a complete breakdown of costs. Read the SBA’s marketing and sales guide.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Decide what counts as marketing before adding figures. Advertising is only one part of marketing: the total may also include website work, content and creative production, agency or contractor fees, software subscriptions, events, print, and direct mail. Include labor if you want the budget to reflect the full operating cost of the work. Whatever boundary you choose, apply it consistently and avoid counting the same expense twice.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Choose a period you can manage, such as a month, quarter, or year. Show recurring costs separately from one-time projects, and note the unit behind each estimate—for example, a monthly software subscription or a single website redesign.
#1 Best Overall
- KNOW WHAT IS WORKING AND WHAT IS NOT Each quarter opens with a structured review across revenue, time, clients, marketing, and content, so you understand what actually happened in your business before you decide what comes next.
- QUARTERLY PLANNING SYSTEM Break your annual vision into four focused 90-day plans using the 12-week-year structure that coaches and entrepreneurs rely on, giving you a strategic layer that sits above your daily calendar and holds the direction your scheduling tools cannot.
- TRACK REVENUE-GENERATING ACTIVITIES EVERY MONTH Every month gets a dedicated spread to set priorities, track revenue and the activities driving it, and review results against plan, keeping the business moving between quarterly reviews.
- A5 LINEN HARDCOVER, FULLY UNDATED A5 size (5.8" x 8.3") in linen with gold foil stamping, reinforced binding, and thick lay-flat pages built to hold a full year of planning. Organized by quarter and fully undated, so you start in any month without wasting a page. For business owners who invest in tools that match what they're building.
- A THOUGHTFUL GIFT FOR ENTREPRENEURS, COACHES AND CREATORS A quarterly planning system makes a purposeful gift for someone building a business alongside a full life, useful long after a birthday or a business milestone has passed because they will reach for it at the start of every quarter and every month.
How to outline the budget
1. Record your business context
Note your business stage, revenue outlook, margins or cash constraints, growth target, customer type, and geography. If you use revenue as a starting point, decide whether to base it on actual or projected revenue. The SBA says startups can use projected revenue, while emphasizing that appropriate spending varies by business.
2. Set goals and define the audience
Write down what the spending is meant to accomplish: reaching prospective customers, generating inquiries, supporting sales, retaining customers, or increasing awareness. Describe the people you need to reach and connect each planned expense to at least one goal. This prevents the budget from becoming a list of familiar channels without a business reason for choosing them.
3. Inventory the complete costs
List each planned activity, its expected cost, payment frequency, and the period it covers. Include applicable media, production, website, outside help, software, events, and offline materials. Keep advertising and other marketing costs distinct if you want to compare them, but include both in the overall plan where relevant.
Rank #2
4. Set a defensible total
There is no universal marketing-spend percentage. The SBA says businesses often use a percentage of revenue as a guide, but the right amount depends on factors such as industry, business model, stage, goals, and resources. Treat a percentage as a scenario to test against cash flow and the work required—not as a rule.
A Google-hosted guide attributed to the SBA and SCORE gives 2%–10% of sales as broad guidance, but its publication date is not established. It is best treated as a broad historical guide range, not a current official prescription. The SBA’s 2019 article quoted a separate historical figure: Web Strategies reported an average marketing spend of 7.9% of revenue in 2018. That is a dated, secondhand benchmark, not a present-day SBA recommendation. For a more relevant comparison, look for benchmarks from your trade association or industry publications, as the SBA suggests.
5. Choose channels for fit, not habit
Compare each option by audience fit, role in the customer journey, total cost—including production and labor—time to learn, measurement quality, prior results, and your capacity to execute. Awareness, demand capture, lead generation, and retention may call for different activities. Do not assume that one channel or a standard online/offline split fits every business.
The SBA recommends combining methods that reach your target customer and using prior results to refine or stop tactics. It gives word of mouth, social marketing, and community volunteering as examples of virtually free approaches, and advises against putting all marketing into one basket. “Virtually free” does not mean costless: account for staff time and any materials or tools involved.
Intuit SMB MediaLabs’ 2025 report found that social media was the most commonly used and most often described as effective among its respondents; search advertising and referrals were also common, while paid search was used by a minority. This describes a survey group, not the best channel for every business. Choose methods that fit your own audience and ability to assess results.
6. Define measurement before spending
For every activity, record its goal, budget, owner, time window, and outcome measure. The SBA suggests asking new customers how they heard about the business, using unique codes for offline advertising, and reviewing platform analytics where available. Compare marketing and sales costs with generated revenue, while recognizing that effects such as word of mouth can be difficult to measure directly. Do not assume last-click attribution captures every influence or that every activity will produce a positive return.
7. Review and adjust
Schedule regular check-ins and compare planned with actual costs, performance, and business results. Keep what is working, improve activity whose results remain uncertain, and phase out ineffective spending when the evidence supports that choice. The SBA advises maintaining the marketing plan at least annually and using prior results to refine tactics. A decline in sales is not, by itself, proof that marketing should be cut; the SBA’s 2019 article cautions that doing so can reinforce a decline, but spending more is no guarantee of a recovery.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read small-business marketing benchmarks
Survey averages can provide context, but they are not a personal spending target. Intuit SMB MediaLabs’ 2025 Small Business Advertising Trends Report drew on an online survey of 1,006 business owners and marketing leaders conducted in March 2025. Its reported advertising and marketing budgets excluded labor, and its small-business sample included firms with 0–100+ employees.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe report estimated an average small-business advertising budget of $78,000 and found advertising represented an average 37% of respondents’ marketing budgets. It also reported that 96% planned to advertise in 2025, 92% expected to maintain or increase advertising spending, 75% said social media advertising was effective, and 81% reported using marketing technology to check ROI regularly. These are survey findings, not recommended figures or controlled channel comparisons. In particular, the $78,000 mean should not be treated as a target for a typical sole proprietor: the report’s national estimate extrapolated from Census receipts for firms with less than $9.9 million in receipts using survey-reported spending assumptions.
Best Value
- Get Started - With our 90 day journal, you get a detailed and organized guide to help you focus on setting up your network marketing business. You only need 60 minutes per day for the next 90 days.
- Set Your Goals - Map the way forward so you never lose your way. This guided planner for entrepreneurs has dedicated pages where you can identify your reasons for building your business, vision, and goals.
- Develop Good Business Habits - Nurture the habits that will bring you fortune. This planner walks you through 20 minutes of mindset, 20 minutes of relationship building, and 20 minutes of following up leads.
- Stylish Marketing Journal - Show everyone you're here to work. This business planner features a durable hardcover with a chic blue and pink print and the journal’s name in elegant black font.
- Designed Around Your Convenience - Spiral binding makes it easy to turn and flip the network marketing planner's pages. An elastic band closure and pen holder help you keep things tidy and organized.
A practical budget worksheet
Use a simple table or spreadsheet to make assumptions visible and reviews easier. Add rows for the activities you actually plan to use; do not fill the budget with channels just to make it look complete.
| Activity | Goal and audience | Planned cost and period | Owner | Measure and review date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planned activity | Outcome and customer group | Amount, frequency, and time period | Responsible person | Outcome measure and date to assess it |
Once the plan is in use, track actual spending alongside the estimates. Keep notes about changes in scope, timing, or assumptions so a difference between budget and actual cost is explainable rather than hidden.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
Recommended Free Tools
