What is Marketing Budget as Percentage of Revenue?
Benchmarking marketing spend against peers through structured polling helps leaders validate whether their budget allocation is competitive, underfunded, or over-indexed for their growth stage. Unlike published reports that aggregate across thousands of companies, a targeted benchmark poll captures spend levels from organizations with similar revenue, headcount, and go-to-market model. This makes the comparison actionable rather than aspirational.
Why This Matters
CFO justification
According to Gartner, the average marketing budget dropped to 9.1% of company revenue in 2023. Showing a CFO where your spend falls relative to that benchmark, and relative to direct competitors polled anonymously, transforms a subjective budget request into an evidence-backed business case.
Competitive positioning
If your competitors invest 12% of revenue in marketing and you invest 5%, execution quality cannot close that gap indefinitely. Benchmark polls reveal whether you are in the same league or structurally outgunned. Pair this with the CAC Calculator to see how spend translates to acquisition cost.
Growth stage alignment
Early-stage companies typically invest 15-20% of revenue in marketing to build awareness, while mature companies settle at 5-10%. Polling peers at your stage prevents the mistake of benchmarking a Series A startup against a Fortune 500 average.
Common Mistakes
❌ Comparing B2B and B2C budgets as if equal
B2C companies routinely spend 15-20% of revenue on marketing while B2B averages 6-11%. A B2B leader who benchmarks against B2C norms will over-invest; a B2C leader benchmarking against B2B norms will under-invest. Always segment your poll by business model.
❌ Ignoring channel mix within the budget
Two companies spending 10% of revenue on marketing can produce wildly different results depending on channel allocation. One may invest heavily in paid search, the other in content and SEO. The total percentage is meaningless without understanding the split. Use the ROAS Calculator to evaluate paid channel efficiency.
❌ Not adjusting for company stage
A pre-revenue startup and a $50M enterprise both "spending 10% on marketing" are in completely different positions. Stage-appropriate benchmarking requires filtering poll results by revenue band, not using a single industry average.
Industry Benchmarks
| Category | Good | Average | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early-Stage (under $5M revenue) | 15-20% of revenue | 10-15% | Below 8% |
| Growth-Stage ($5M-$50M revenue) | 10-15% of revenue | 7-10% | Below 5% |
| Mature ($50M+ revenue) | 6-10% of revenue | 4-6% | Below 3% |
Source: Gartner CMO Spend Survey
Benchmark data sourced from Gartner CMO Spend Survey.