It’s budget season. Somewhere right now, a CEO is looking at a spreadsheet and asking the marketing team, “So what are we actually getting for all this?” And somewhere else, a founder is asking Google (or ChatGPT) “how much should I spend on marketing?” and getting fourteen different answers.
Let’s clear this up.
The benchmark everyone quotes
Gartner surveys CMOs every year about their budgets. Here is the 2026 survey. In its 2026 survey of about 400 marketing leaders, marketing budgets averaged 7.8% of company revenue, barely up from 7.7% the year before. And here’s the kicker: 56% of those CMOs said their budget isn’t enough to pay for their strategy.
The old rule of thumb for smaller businesses lands in the same neighborhood, around 7 to 8% of revenue. Fast-growing startups trying to grab a market often spend a lot more. Established companies with a steady base of repeat customers often spend less.
So the answer is “about 8%”? Not so fast. That number is an average of a lot of big companies with very different situations. Using it to set your budget is like buying jeans based on the average American’s waist size. Technically data. Not going to fit.
A better way: work backward from the revenue you want
Instead of starting with a percentage, start with a goal. It’s simple math and it’ll make your CFO like you more:
- How much new revenue do you need from new customers next year? Say $1 million.
- What’s your average deal size? Say $25,000. So you need 40 new customers.
- What’s your close rate on qualified opportunities? Say 20%. So you need 200 real sales opportunities.
- What does it cost you to create one? Look at last year: marketing spend divided by opportunities created. Say $1,000. So you need about $200,000.
Now you’ve got a budget tied to an actual outcome, instead of a number someone pulled off a Gartner chart. And if the math says you need more than the company wants to spend, that’s a real conversation about goals, not a fight about marketing being “a cost center.”
Where to cut first
- The rebrand nobody asked for. If your customers can find you and trust you, your logo is fine. Put that money somewhere they’ll notice.
- Tools nobody logs into. Pull the list of every software subscription in marketing. If nobody’s opened it in 60 days, cancel it.
- Trade shows you go to out of habit. If you can’t name the deals that came from it last year, skip it or go without the booth.
- Swag. I’m sorry. Nobody chose a vendor because of a stress ball.
Where to double down
- Talking to customers. Interviews, win/loss calls, reviews. It’s cheap and it makes every other dollar work harder.
- Showing up in AI search. Half of B2B software buyers now start their research in an AI chatbot, according to G2. Clear use-case pages, comparison pages and reviews are what get you mentioned. (Here’s how.)
- Content that answers buyers’ questions. Your sales team hears the same 20 questions every month. Answer them in public.
- Follow-up. The cheapest lead is the one you already paid for and never called back. Fix the handoff to sales before buying more leads.
One last thing
Keep 10% of the budget unassigned. Something will come up mid-year: a competitor stumbles, a new channel works, a big customer wants a case study. Having money ready to move fast beats having a perfect plan that’s out of date by March.
Your budget isn’t a number. It’s a bet on where your next customers come from. Make the bet on purpose.
