Here’s a question I get asked constantly, and the honest answer is going to frustrate you a little: it depends.

But stick with me, because the nuance here is actually useful, and understanding it could save you from either starving your marketing or blowing your marketing budget on the wrong things.

The Benchmark Everyone Quotes

You’ve probably heard the 3–7% rule. Spend somewhere between 3 and 7 percent of your revenue on marketing, and you’re in good shape. And look, that’s not wrong, it’s a reasonable place to anchor your thinking. But if you stop there, you’re missing the variables that actually determine what your number should be.

What Changes the Equation

How Established You Are

If you’re entering a new market, launching in a new geography, or competing in a category where you’re not yet a known name, expect to spend more. You’re playing catch-up against competitors who already have brand recognition and customer loyalty. In that scenario, you’re probably looking closer to 10% because you have to earn attention that others already have.

On the flip side, many startups can get surprisingly far on organic growth alone. A sales-minded founder, exceptional customer service, and strong word of mouth can carry you further than you’d expect. But at some point, you’re going to need marketing spend to lift sales past what referrals alone can support.

Your Margins

Not every industry plays the same game. A business running 20–25% net profit margins has a lot more room to invest in marketing than one operating at 1–2% on high volume. Your margin profile should directly inform how aggressively you can, or can’t, spend.

How Aggressively You Want to Grow

If you’re comfortable where you are, you can be conservative. But if you’re sitting third or fourth in your market and you’re hungry to move up, you’re going to have to outspend the people above you. Market share doesn’t just shift; it gets taken.

What Works in Your Industry

Some businesses can hack growth through hustle, getting out in front of customers, building relationships, and closing deals. If that’s working, you can get away with a leaner marketing budget. But if you want digital lift, if you want leads coming to you instead of your team chasing them, marketing has to take up a bigger slice of the pie.

What Actually Goes Into a Marketing Budget

This is where many businesses undersell their actual spend because they don’t count everything. Here’s what belongs in your marketing budget:

• Ad spend — Google, programmatic, CTV, social. Anywhere your brand and content show up, and you’re paying for it.
• Content creation — Some of this can be done in-house, but video production, SEO-driven blog content, and quality creative often require outside help.
• Your marketing tech stack — Website hosting and maintenance, email marketing platforms, design tools (Adobe, Canva, etc.), and any subscriptions that power your marketing operations.
• Sales-adjacent tools — Such as Apollo for lead lists blur the line between sales and marketing. Still, if you’re using them for lookalike audiences or targeted advertising, they belong in the conversation.
• Internal staff — Some businesses include marketing salaries in the budget; others treat them as overhead. Either way, it’s worth being intentional about where those costs live.
• Agency fees — If you’re working with an agency, management fees are part of your marketing spend, full stop.

So, What’s the Number?

Simple answer: 3–7% is a solid starting point.

Complicated answer: it depends on your growth stage, your margins, your competitive position, and how you plan to win. These are exactly the kinds of questions we work through with clients when putting together a marketing strategy, making sure the marketing budget is grounded in business reality rather than a number pulled from a benchmark study. If you’re trying to figure out what your marketing budget should actually look like, or if what you’re spending is working as hard as it should, let’s talk. At Spartan Marketing, we help businesses develop strategies that align with their goals and budget. No fluff, no guesswork.