Not sure what to spend on marketing, or if it'll pay off?
A number in 2 minutes. A plan in 5 days.
What to spend on marketing — I'll give you the number for free in 2 minutes. A concrete plan a junior can run, not an agency, I'll have ready in 5 days.
For owners and CEOs of small and mid-sized businesses.Free. No sign-up. Your numbers appear right on the screen.
20
years in marketing
30+
brands and projects
2
minutes to an answer
Sample result · Recommended budget
$4,200 per month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Brand / performance60 / 40
Ad break-even
0.0×
Payback
4 mo
Marketing I've actually run
Nintendo CEE (4 markets), HC Sparta Prague, the European Parliament, CzechTrade, 24live, Next.io. Global brands, regulated industries, B2B and B2C.
Start here
Marketing budget calculator
Enter revenue, margin and company stage. Two minutes later you know what to spend, how to split it between brand and performance, and when it should pay back.
Is marketing worth it? How much should you spend? Straight answers
The questions business owners actually ask about marketing budgets. Each answer gives you the general frame - the calculator gives you your own number in two minutes.
Is marketing worth it for my business?
Yes, if you have a margin the spend can come back from and you know what one customer is worth. Marketing pays off the moment every unit of ad spend returns more revenue than your break-even point, which is one divided by your margin. At a 35% margin you need $2.90 of revenue for every $1 spent just to be level.
There are only two cases where it genuinely isn't worth it: your margin is too thin for any realistic ad performance to rescue, or you can't serve the demand you'd create. Otherwise the real question is how much and where, not whether. Performance advertising pays back in weeks, brand building in months or years, so you judge the two on different timelines.
As a rough frame, 5-15% of annual revenue. A young company still building recognition needs the top of that range or more; an established business with repeat customers can sit at the bottom. Margin decides a lot: the higher your margin, the more you can afford to pay for a customer.
Treat the range as a starting point, not a rule. It goes up with low awareness, strong competition and long buying cycles. It goes down with high repeat purchase rates, strong word of mouth and categories where people search on their own. The worst option is a budget that changes every month on instinct - marketing needs stability or you can't tell what worked.
How do I know if my marketing is actually working?
Work out your break-even: one divided by your margin. At a 40% margin that's 2.5 - every $1 of ad spend has to return $2.50 in revenue just to break even. Anything above that is profit, anything below is a loss.
With performance advertising you see it within weeks, measured as return on ad spend or cost per acquired customer. Brand doesn't work like that: there you watch whether more people search for you by name, whether direct visits grow, and whether your cost per customer in performance slowly falls. If you measure none of these, your marketing may be working or failing and you'll never know which.
Revenue, margin and what you want next year. That is it.
02
I size the budget
How much to invest, and which channels actually fit your business.
03
You leave with a plan
A clear split of the money and a realistic payback window.
Who it's for
Owners of small and midsize businesses
CEOs who want marketing to make sense
Companies with no marketing team of their own
Anyone buying ads on gut feel
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to what owners ask me most often.
How much should a small business spend on marketing?
It depends mostly on your company's stage and industry - anywhere from about 6% of annual revenue for established businesses to 20% or more for brand-new ones. Margin matters too. The Don Marketer calculator gives you the exact number for your case in two minutes.
How do I know marketing is paying off?
Work out your break-even: divide one by your margin. At a 35% margin the break-even is 2.9: every dollar of ad spend has to return $2.90 in revenue just to break even. Anything above that is profit. Brand pays back slower than performance advertising; count in months, not days.
Should I put money into brand or into performance?
Both, in a ratio that shifts with your stage. In year one most of the money goes into performance, because you need sales fast and you are still learning what works. After a few years the weight moves toward brand, which quietly makes every later order cheaper.
Do I need an agency or can I do it myself?
Up to roughly $1,500 a month one capable person or a freelancer is enough. Between $1,500 and $7,000 a month a single full-service agency makes sense. Above that, channel specialists plus someone in-house to steer them.
Does the calculator work for a physical store with no online shop?
Yes. Switch measurement to offline and it works with footfall, average spend per visit and offline channels. It also gives you three simple ways to measure impact without an online shop: a discount code, one question at the till, and period-over-period comparison.
What does the calculator cost and what's the catch?
It is free and needs no sign-up. You only leave contact details if you want the result emailed or want me to get in touch. Only the PDF guides are paid.
Get your number in 2 minutes
No sign-up, no strings. Just a number you can act on.
