When it comes to scaling a business, one of the most frequent questions we get from clients at i Speak Business is: “How much money should I actually look to invest in my marketing budget this year?”

There is no one-size-fits-all number. However, you don’t have to guess. By looking at institutional benchmarks alongside a simple, risk-based breakdown, you can find the exact sweet spot for your business growth goals.

Here is a breakdown of the frameworks we use to help our clients build predictable, effective marketing budgets.

The Institutional Benchmark: What the Data Says

To ground your expectations, it helps to look at what the broader market is doing. According to The CMO Survey, which is co-sponsored by the American Marketing Association (AMA), Deloitte, and Duke University, the average company allocates roughly 9.0% of its total gross revenue to marketing.

For massive, billion-dollar enterprises, data from the Gartner CMO Spend Survey pegs the average slightly lower, at around 7.8% of company revenue.

However, these are just averages. How you spend depends entirely on your risk tolerance and how fast you want to grow.

The 3-Tier Budget Framework: Choosing Your Pace

To make this actionable for your business, we categorize yearly marketing spending into three clear tiers based on your gross revenue.

The “Enterprise Shift”: Why Big Brands Spend More

You might think that massive companies coast on their brand name and spend less. In reality, the opposite is often true. Many large, hyper-competitive companies aggressively spend 19% to 23% of their gross revenue purely on marketing.

Why? Because staying on top requires heavy lifting. When you are fighting for maximum market share, launching global campaigns, or building an ecosystem, your marketing budget acts as the primary engine for that volume.

How to Calculate Your Marketing Budget

Ready to set your budget? Follow these three simple steps:

Lock in your revenue baseline: Look at your projected gross revenue for the upcoming year.
Identify your growth goal: Are you looking to sustain (Conservative), steadily grow (Middle of the Road), or aggressively take over your local market (Aggressive)? Not sure where to start? See what a marketing strategy really looks like.
Run the math: Multiply your gross revenue by your chosen percentage.

Need a template to map out where those dollars actually go? The AMA offers an excellent Marketing Budget Template to help you break down your monthly and annual sub-item tracking.

No matter which tier you choose, the key to marketing success is consistency. Pick your percentage, track your return on investment (ROI), and treat your marketing budget as a strategic investment rather than a business expense.