Small Business Marketing Budget & ROI Guide
Decide what to spend on marketing, and read the results honestly.
Most owners pick a marketing number that feels survivable, hire someone, and check back in six months. This guide works in a better order: what one customer is worth, what you can afford to pay to win one, and how many customers you can actually serve. The budget falls out of that math, and it comes with a way to tell whether it is working.
- Format
- Printable PDF
- Length
- 13 pages
- Use it
- Before you set a budget
- Price
- Free
Free download
Get the Small Business Marketing Budget & ROI Guide
Three quick steps, then the PDF is yours to download. We'll email you a copy too.
- Printable 13-page PDF
- Instant download, plus a copy by email
- Plain language, no marketing background needed
- Two worksheets and three sample budgets
Use it when
What the guide helps with
Step 3 of 4: measure what matters. Here is when this guide earns its place on your desk.
You're setting a budget from scratch
Four numbers from your own books (average sale, gross margin, close rate and repeat value) give you a ceiling per customer and per lead.
You can't tell whether marketing pays
The chain from impressions to profit shows where most reports stop, and three numbers are enough to start judging results honestly.
A small budget is split five ways
Chapter 3 explains why two channels beat five, and how paid ads and search work run on different clocks.
You're about to hire an agency
Twelve questions, each with what a good answer sounds like and what should make you careful. A good agency will want your close rate before it quotes.
What you get out of it
What you'll walk away with
- Your ceiling per customer and per lead, worked out from your own margin and close rate
- A monthly budget sized to the customers you can actually serve
- One primary channel and one support, chosen on purpose
- A monthly scorecard of spend, qualified leads, customers, margin won and cost per customer
- Twelve questions to put to any agency before you sign, including us
Who it's for
- Small business owners setting or resetting a marketing budget
- Owners who want to know whether their current spend is working
- Anyone comparing agency proposals
Chapter by chapter
What's inside the guide
13 printable pages in 7 chapters. Here are four of the pages, then every chapter.
Page 4
The break-even worksheet, with an illustrative example column.
Page 5
The monthly budget worksheet, where capacity sets the number.
Page 8
Three sample budgets worked out, and where each might spend it.
Page 11
What to change when the numbers say this, and the agency questions.
- 01
Start with what a customer is worth
The four numbers, the break-even worksheet, and your ceiling.
- 02
Turn the ceiling into a monthly budget
Capacity, growing versus holding, and the season.
- 03
Where the money goes
Four buckets, two clocks, and why two channels beat five.
- 04
Three sample budgets, worked out
A local service business, a growing one, and a high-ticket builder.
- 05
Read the results honestly
From impressions to profit, a monthly scorecard, and what to change.
- 06
Twelve questions for any agency
What a good answer sounds like, and what should make you careful.
- 07
Your next 30 days
Five steps from worksheet to scorecard.
How to use it
Three steps, straight from the guide
- 01
Pull three numbers from your books before you start: your average sale, your gross margin and a rough close rate.
- 02
Fill in the break-even and monthly budget worksheets in chapters 1 and 2, then choose one primary channel and one support.
- 03
Start the monthly scorecard and put a review on the calendar for day 90.
Results depend on your market, your competition and your starting point. Nothing in this guide is a guarantee of rankings, traffic or revenue.
Free download
Ready to start? Get your free copy of the guide.
Three quick steps, then the PDF is yours to download. We'll email you a copy too.
- Printable 13-page PDF
- Instant download, plus a copy by email
- Plain language, no marketing background needed
- Two worksheets and three sample budgets
Go deeper
Keep reading, or hand it to us
Related article
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Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about the guide
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