As the end of the year approaches, many companies are revisiting their spending for the year ahead. Among their questions, one often comes back: what marketing budget should I allocate to be both effective and realistic?
- Market benchmarks: a commonly used frame of reference
- What to analyze before putting a number on it
- A pragmatic approach: budgeting according to real ambitions
- Beware of common misconceptions
- Three typical scenarios for 2026: how companies structure their marketing budget
- In conclusion: a good marketing budget is one that makes sense
Market benchmarks: a commonly used frame of reference
Even though a number is not an end in itself (we’ll come back to that later), humans like to have rational data to begin with. According to a recent Gartner survey, the average marketing spend observed in 2025 is around 7.7% of revenue for all companies surveyed.
This figure provides a benchmark mid-year in a “stabilized budget” context. However, it is not a universal rule: depending on the industry, the company’s maturity or its objectives, the percentage varies significantly.
Other, broader benchmarks often recommend allocating between 5 and 12% of annual revenue to marketing for growing companies or those looking to maintain their market share.
In short, a good marketing budget is not read as a fixed number, but as a range that needs to be calibrated according to the context.
What to analyze before putting a number on it
Rather than relying on a standard percentage, several key elements deserve to be analyzed:
- The required channels: SEO, ads, Web Push, automation, CRM, inbound, influence… Not all channels require the same level of investment.
- The company’s maturity: scale-up, established brand, launch… For example, a start-up in conquest mode will need to invest more aggressively than an established company.
- Strategic objectives: growth, customer acquisition, retention, brand awareness, international expansion — depending on the objective, needs can be very different.
- Customer acquisition cost (CAC) and customer lifetime value (LTV): the higher the CAC and customer value, the more you’ll need to invest to generate an attractive return (a method often described in ROI-driven approaches).
- Seasonality and market context: cyclical industries, strong purchasing periods (sales, holidays, etc.), economic climate, competition — these factors strongly influence the budget envelope to plan.
A pragmatic approach: budgeting according to real ambitions
To build a solid marketing budget, it is better to start from an internal diagnosis before applying benchmarks: keep in mind that a well-thought-out, well-argued budget is better than an inherited one. Here are a few recommended steps:
- Review last year: actual spend, channels used, returns by channel (revenue generated, leads, conversions, ROI).
- Clearly set your objectives for the coming year: growth, acquisition, retention, brand awareness, product launch… As a reminder, an objective should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound.
- List the required actions and estimate their cost: advertising, content, tools, production, operations, etc.
- Add a safety or testing margin: a well-planned marketing budget should also allow room for tests or adjustments on overperforming channels.
- Compare with your internal benchmarks and market benchmarks: if you are below 5–7% in a competitive sector, it may indicate under-investment. If you are at 15% but with a weak return, it may highlight inefficiency.
Beware of common misconceptions
A percentage of revenue is not an end in itself. Just because a company spends 10% of its revenue does not mean it will get a good return:
- Return on investment (ROI) depends on the effectiveness of actions, not only on the amount spent.
- An oversized budget without a clear strategy or performance management can quickly become a bottleneck of inefficiency.
- Conversely, a modest but well-targeted budget — on the right channels — can generate a high return.
A good marketing budget is above all a tool serving a strategy — not a standalone indicator.
Three typical scenarios for 2026: how companies structure their marketing budget
To give you some more concrete benchmarks, here are three models often observed depending on the company’s size and ambition. They are indicative, but useful to frame your trade-offs. A word of caution we can’t repeat enough: more than a number, you need a real strategy and close performance monitoring throughout the year.
The fast-growing start-up (offensive investment: 10 to 20% of revenue)
Main objective: quickly acquire users/customers and build brand awareness.
Budget characteristics:
- Heavy advertising spend (paid social, paid search, Web Push, display).
- Implementation of core marketing tools: CRM, marketing automation, analytics.
- Regular content production: videos, conversion pages, brand content.
- Fast testing and iteration: new creatives, new channels, continuous A/B testing.
This is a budget geared towards acceleration, not optimization.
In this scenario, a start-up invests more than it recoups in the short term in order to capture market share.
The established SME (stable, ROI-driven budget: 7 to 12% of revenue)
Main objective: consolidate growth and improve the efficiency of marketing actions.
Budget characteristics:
- Balanced split between acquisition and retention.
- Development of a sustainable content strategy: SEO, newsletter, guides…
- Gradual automation of campaigns (email, Web Push, CRM).
- Targeted advertising to maintain a steady flow of prospects.
- Controlled but regular brand-building spend.
This is a budget focused on efficiency, with particular attention to cost per conversion and the ROI of each channel.
The large company / leading brand (structured budget: 5 to 8% of revenue)
Main objective: strengthen brand position, industrialize and diversify channels.
Budget characteristics:
- Significant brand investment: TV, outdoor, partnerships, premium creative.
- Broad media mix: digital + offline + special operations.
- Heavy omnichannel strategies: advanced CRM, fine segmentation, first-party data.
- Scalable budgets to support international launches.
- Controlled testing on new channels (Web Push, retail media, creative AI).
A large company does not need to invest more in relative terms, but its absolute budget is high in order to cover a wide range of initiatives.
In conclusion: a good marketing budget is one that makes sense
When year-end trade-offs come around, it is tempting to copy-paste your marketing budget from an arbitrary percentage. But a truly effective budget is built to measure by:
- Relying on your ambitions,
- Taking into account your market, your maturity, your objectives,
- Embedding a logic of return on investment, testing and adjustment.
For 2026, whether you aim to grow, retain or consolidate your market, it is the quality of your investment — not its size — that will make the difference.
