Who this is for

Founders deciding what to spend on marketing in the next quarter. Works for service businesses, DTC, B2B, and professional services.

The standard benchmark

SaaS public companies spend 30–50% of revenue on sales + marketing. Small business reality is different: 5–12% of revenue is the working range, depending on growth stage, margin, and channel mix. The calculator distributes within that range based on your specific inputs.

Inputs the calculator uses

• Annual revenue (most recent 12 months)

• Gross margin (% — revenue minus COGS)

• Average customer lifetime value

• Close rate (% of qualified leads that become customers)

• Monthly growth target (%)

• Current marketing spend (% of revenue)

Output the calculator produces

• Suggested total marketing budget (range)

• Split across paid ads, SEO/content, CRM/email, brand/creative

• Break-even CAC (cost per acquisition)

• Maximum CPL (cost per lead) given close rate

• Warning if unit economics do not support paid traffic yet

Reference splits (small business, default)

• Paid ads: 30–50% of marketing budget

• SEO + content: 20–30%

• CRM + email/SMS: 10–15%

• Brand + creative: 10–20%

• Tools/software: 5–10%

Talkerstein recommendation

If your break-even CAC is below $50 OR your gross margin is below 25%, paid traffic is unlikely to work yet. Spend on offer clarity + organic + CRM first. Once the math supports it, paid traffic becomes accelerant rather than expense.

Related

• Google Ads Budget Calculator (channel-specific)

• Cost Per Lead Calculator

• Talkerstein Growth Planning service

FAQ

Why is the % so much lower than SaaS?

SaaS has 70–85% gross margins and recurring revenue. Service businesses with 30–50% margins and one-time projects cannot sustain 40% of revenue going to marketing. Different math.

What if I have zero marketing today?

Start at 5% of revenue for 90 days. Measure. Increase if working, drop if not. Do not jump to 12% on day one — capacity to convert leads matters as much as the spend.

Review your marketing budget

15 minutes. Bring your last 90 days. We will tell you whether you are under- or over-spending and where to reallocate. Book →