Marketing budgets tend to follow a pattern.
But if you’re new to the marketing space or have yet to master overseeing budgets in general, then it’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to figure out what exactly that pattern is.
The typical hush-hush attitude around budgets isn’t particularly helpful either, which is precisely why I want to talk a bit about how much you should be spending on marketing… no jargon or code words. Just honest guidance from someone with over a decade of experience helping professional services businesses find their feet when it comes to marketing (and, yes, I will be talking numbers.)
The rule of thumb
Put simply, your ideal spend depends on where you are in your journey.
Newer firms tend to spend a higher percentage of revenue on marketing as they work to build traction, while established ones lower their spend to a more manageable baseline.
Knowing this pattern can help place your business somewhere on the scale to figure out around what you should be spending.
What the data tells us
The most widely-referenced figure is, currently, 7.7%. This number comes from the Gartner CMO Spend Survey.
But it’s a lot more nuanced than that. As a percentage of revenue, marketing spend typically falls into these bands:
| Business Stage | Typical Marketing Spend |
|---|---|
| Early-stage start ups and new businesses hungry for substantial growth | 12%-20% (even up to 25%) |
| Fairly established businesses seeking steady growth | 5%-12% (most spend ~7–10%) |
| Long-term businesses looking to maintain their market position | 3%-8%, occasionally lower in professional services |
Remember, though, these figures should just be used to give you an idea of where to start; you must always continuously monitor and course-correct as time goes on.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that this isn’t gospel, and it’s well worth researching things thoroughly yourself, but these figures are grounded in large-scale UK and global data. The exact number, though, will always depend on your growth goals, your sector, and how established your brand is.
Spend for businesses ready to grow
If you’re looking to grow significantly, then you’re most likely going to need to spend more than you’re comfortable with.
Oftentimes, businesses looking to do this are in their earlier days, and as a business of this size, they likely don’t have the benefit of regular referral business or an established brand presence. This means that they will need to get spending to actually build that brand.
Because of these very factors, early-stage and firms seeking significant growth often find themselves spending between 12-20% of their revenue (or projected revenue) on marketing.
Let’s say that you’re a new firm aiming for £150k in year one. That means a marketing budget in the region of £18k-30k. How this budget is spent is up to you, but a thorough and researched strategy should always underpin spend of this calibre.
In financial and professional services, where many founders come from fee-earning roles with no marketing background, this can feel excessive. But remember, you’re paying to build momentum.
Spend for established, growing businesses
Many established, comfortable firms will settle into the typical 7-10% range. This figure seems to be a good point at which growth is sustained, and brands are still staying visible without blowing their budget.
Based on the Gartner CMO Spend Survey, this is the sweet spot for a lot of businesses.
It’s important to remember at this point that, while you will have dropped considerably from those expensive, marketing-forward days, you shouldn’t overplay your hand and try to get clever by dropping even further. Firms that make the mistake of dropping too low too fast (think 2-3%) often find themselves invisible within a year… and playing catch-up because of that mistake will cost a fair bit more than riding the high of your high-spend momentum.
Spend for well-established businesses
Once a business is well-established, the percentage will drop considerably… but the spend usually doesn’t. A £10M firm might only spend 4% of revenue on marketing, but that’s still £400k+ per year.
And that figure will cover more than just ‘marketing’ in the traditional sense: it will include events, sponsorships, client experience, PR and comms, and brand positioning work.
Professional services firms – especially law, consulting, and accountancy – tend to be a bit more conservative at this point. Budgets of 2–4% of revenue are common. But that doesn’t mean marketing isn’t happening… it just looks different: more emphasis on thought leadership, relationships, client loyalty, and reputation management than big splashy campaigns.
So… how do you decide what you should spend?
Now being really honest: you’re not going to get a magic number from an article, sorry.
After all, your ideal marketing budget depends on a dozen moving parts: your cash flow, goals, industry, reputation, growth stage, competitive landscape, and a lot more.
While the above numbers are great for offering some context, at the end of the day, your ideal spend should be more aligned with your goal than just with your size.
That’s what strategic marketing consultations are for. Done properly, they align your budget with your business reality, not with some pie-in-the-sky numbers you’ve plucked from select sources.
After all, the important part isn’t the number, it’s the intention behind it. Too many firms default to ‘what we spent last year’ or ‘whatever’s left over after salaries’. That’s not budgeting.
Set your budget proactively. Tie it to outcomes. And make sure your investment reflects what you’re trying to achieve, not what’s easiest to justify on a spreadsheet.
An important final word: spend does not equal success
There’s a dangerous myth that trips up a lot of founders: if you just throw enough money at marketing, the clients will come.
Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.
The most effective marketing strategy you can ever have is this: Be good at what you do. Under-promise, over-deliver.
Marketing is not a light switch. It takes time. Especially in B2B, where the average buying cycle is anywhere from 3 to 9 months, depending on the service, deal value, and decision-maker structure. So you need to plan your marketing spend with patience, not panic, in mind.
And crucially: marketing won’t save a bad business. If your delivery is sloppy, your service forgettable, or your clients never come back, no amount of PPC or LinkedIn content will fix that. You’ll just end up spending more and more to keep the pipeline full, because nobody’s coming back on their own, and worse, nobody’s referring you either.
The most effective marketing strategy you can ever have is this: Be good at what you do. Under-promise, over-deliver.
If you get right, marketing becomes cheaper and more effective over time. Your brand gains credibility. Your name carries weight. And you don’t need to shout as loudly or spend as much to be heard.
James Le Gallez (main picture) is the Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Edward & James, a qualified marketing consultancy helping professional service providers make confident decisions, execute effectively and grow with intent.
Working across finance, legal and beyond, Edward & James helps professional service businesses get to the strategic heart of their work, whether it be the first week of their company or the thousandth. Get in touch today: [email protected]
