Most marketing budgets aren’t actually budgets
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I’ve noticed something over the years.
Most founders can tell me exactly what they spend on rent every month.
But when it comes to marketing, the answer is usually vaguer.
“I guess, in total… with the time various people put into it… we spend about…”
“Well, it changes depending on the month and how it’s working…”
“Whatever’s left after everything else…”
The truth is: most marketing “budgets” aren’t budgets at all.
They’re leftovers.
And when you really think about trying to compete using leftovers, it becomes clearer why growth so often feels like hard work.
Don’t get me wrong, I get it. Cashflow matters. Committing spend feels risky. Marketing results are never guaranteed. And it’s easy for anyone in my position to say “just spend X% of turnover and everything will be fine.”
But here’s the issue.
When you cut back on marketing, you rarely feel it straight away. The impact comes later on, when enquiries slow, pipelines thin out, and suddenly it feels like you’re pushing uphill to get momentum back.
That’s usually when confidence drops, spend tightens further, and marketing gets blamed for not working.
From the businesses I’m introduced to by accountants, bank managers and business coaches, I see the same pattern repeatedly: marketing that feels time-consuming, dull and frustrating. That isn't because marketing doesn’t work, but because the plan was never properly set up or backed in the first place.
Underfunded marketing doesn’t become lean.
It becomes random.
A simple way to bring some clarity (no spreadsheets required) is to answer three questions honestly:
- Roughly what is one new customer worth to you?
(If you have multiple client types, pick a good one.) - How many more would you actually like to win this year?
- What would you be comfortable paying to acquire each one?
Sharing those answers with whoever leads your marketing should change the conversation completely. No more speculative spend. No more “nice to haves”. Just a structured approach built around commercial reality.
If you do nothing else after reading this, ask yourself:
Could I clearly explain why our marketing budget is what it is? Or is it just the number we landed on?
This is often the very first conversation we have with founders before tactics, channels or tools even come into the picture.
More on this to come in future blogs but if you want to discuss this further, feel free to get in touch with me direct. If you're new to me/Digity, click here to book an call with me and we can talk it through.
