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Marketing Budget Template

Tackling the Marketing Budgeting Process
Are you spending enough on marketing? According to a recent survey of ours, if you're like many of your colleagues, the answer is no. Our
recent survey showed that 42% of marketing budgets fall below the 5% of revenue mark. In fact, only 38% of you spend an adequate amount
on marketing by Go-To-Market Strategies standards and only 36% of you felt you spent enough to be successful by your own standards.
That's not a pretty picture of the marketing budget situation you must be facing. As we enter the year, we are faced with establishing and
validating the money we plan to spend, and are often perplexed with how to approach it. Some of you are simply handed a budget from
management. Others are given a percentage of past or projected revenue, while others still are told to submit a plan for budget approval.
In reality, there is only one place to startthe Strategic Marketing Plan. Once you understand the goals and strategy around your marketing
efforts, you will be much better prepared to establish a budget. With that said, there are three approaches to the budgetary process that you
should consider...and they are not mutually exclusive.
Top Down
With the top down approach, you start with a budgetary number that "comes down" from finance or upper management. You have $X to spend
and you take this number and allocate the funds into months. To do so, take a look at your company's seasonality (are there months that require
higher marketing activity than others), sales quota distribution, and sales cycles.
We recommend you ask your management team for a commitment to a percentage of revenue for your "top down" budgetary number. This
keeps marketing more aligned with the revenue goals and prevents the dollar figure from being some arbitrary number that can be increased or
decreased at whim. Instead, it should only be adjusted when revenue expectations are also increased or decreased. As a guideline, our survey
shows that most companies spend between 3-5% of revenue on marketing, with marketing driven companies spending between
10-15%. If you are launching a new product, or are expecting to launch into a new market or territory, expect to spend
approximately 20% of revenue to fund that program.
The general guideline for using the percentage of revenue approach is 8-10% of revenue should be spent on marketing, with approximately 5%
of that going to labor (either for a department, or outsourcing to a marketing firm). What percentage you use is determined by a number of
factors, how mature is your market (how much education do you have to do), how well known is your company in your industry (are you a new
or established business, how much brand awareness do you have to do), and how fast do you intend to grow, just to name a few. Once you've
received a commitment from management on your percentage of revenue each month, calculate the "allowed" monthly budget for marketing.
Bottom Up
Once you've established your top down numbers, set it aside and review the budget with a bottom up approach. That is, look at the specific
activities you are planning to launch, the frequency you're planning to launch them, and then calculate the costs for each item in the month it is
scheduled. You will want to segment this into several key categories for ease of reporting and tracking (i.e. Staffing, Brand Materials, Collateral,
Web Site, Promotions, and PR) and add each activity under the segment it applies to. Once you've calculated the "true" costs of your proposed
programs, compare with the top down numbers. Then let the negotiations begin.
Projected ROI
In every budget negotiation, talks always come back to one thingWhat's the Return? Though it is often very difficult to calculate in terms of
conversion to sales, there are techniques you can use to validate your marketing plan before you implement it and these same techniques can
also be used to measure it during and after execution. To calculate a marketing plan's expected ROI, you need to compile the same key
assumptions in a Return on Investment Calculator (try our ROI Calculator, which you can download at
www.gotomarketstrategies.com/roicalculator.htm). From there you should be able to ESTIMATE how many leads your program should generate
(given messaging, right mix of vehicles, appropriate target market, solid product offering, etc.), how many customers you should convert, and
therefore your projected return on investment.
The budgetary process is something we "creative" marketing folks sometimes dread, and as a result do not spend enough time thinking about it.
But with a solid strategic marketing plan, the above budgetary approaches, and the following Marketing Budget Template, you will have the
resources and direction your company needs to build your marketing budget.

Now, on to your Budget Template!

Instructions: First go to the BUDGETING MODEL worksheet and determine your Top Down budget number based on your revenue goal. Then, go to the
MARKETING BUDGET SPREADSHEET and detail (by month) each activity you have planned based on the actuals from your Marketing Roadmap or
Promotional Plans.
You will want to combine this template with the Return on Investment Calculator, which can be found in The Marketing Toolkit or available online at:
http://www.gotomarketstrategies.com.
320306849.xls
Template provided by: | www.gotomarketstrategies.com | inforequest@gtms-inc.com
(c) 2008 Go-To-Market Strategies. All rights reserved.

Marketing Budget: % of REVENUE

Year: 200x

Instructions: Type your forecasted revenue for each month into the Revenue cell. Your proposed budget will be calculated
based on the percentage entered in the Marketing Budget % cell. You can adjust the percentage up or down, depending on
the agressiveness of your business goals. For example, if you're looking for moderate growth in the coming year and are an
established business you can adjust down to 8%, however if you are expecting agressive growth and/or are a brand new
business, you will want to adjust up to 15%.

Revenue

Total Budget Proposed $

Jan

Feb

Mar

April

May

June

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

1,000.00

2,000.00

3,000.00

4,000.00

5,000.00

6,000.00

ANNUAL REVENUE:

ANNUAL BUDGET: $

Revenue

Total Budget Proposed $

320306849.xls

July

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

$70,000

$80,000

$90,000

$100,000

$200,000

$300,000

7,000.00

8,000.00

9,000.00

10,000.00

20,000.00

% of REVENUE:

$1,050,000

105,000.00

10%

30,000.00

Template provided by: | www.gotomarketstrategies.com | inforequest@gtms-inc.com

(c) 2007 Go-To-Market Strategies. All rights reserved.

06/06/2016

Marketing Budget

Year: 200x

Instructions: Detail each activity by month. Customize the line item to align with your marketing plan! Review the Budgeting article prior for help
with the budgeting process. For an estimate as to how much you "should" expect to spend, use the Budget Model sheet in this workbook to
calculate and then reference it to this sheet to see how far off you are.
JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

STAFF OR SERVICES (I.E. CONSULTING)

Salaries

$0

Benefits

$0
STAFF SUBTOTAL

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

BRAND
Letterhead

$0

Envelopes

$0

Business Cards

$0

Presentation Folders

$0

Other (click insert/row from menu)

$0

BRAND SUBTOTAL

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

MARKETING MATERIALS (COLLATERAL)

Brochures/Datasheets

$0

White Papers

$0

Other (click insert/row from menu)

$0

MARKETING MATERIALS SUBTOTAL

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

WEBSITE
Hosting

$0

Design/Development

$0

Other (click insert/row from menu)

$0

WEBSITE SUBTOTAL

320306849.xls

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

Template provided by: | www.gotomarketstrategies.com | inforequest@gtms-inc.com

(c) 2007 Go-To-Market Strategies. All rights reserved.

$0

$0

$0

$0

CONFIDENTIAL

JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Press Releases

$0

Media Relations

$0

Wire Fees

$0

Press Kits

$0

Other (click insert/row from menu)

$0

PUBLIC RELATIONS SUBTOTAL

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

PROMOTIONS
Advertising

$0

Events

$0

Promo Items

$0

Direct Mail (print and email)

$0

Telemarketing

$0

Prospect Lists

$0

Other (click insert/row from menu)

PROMOTIONS SUBTOTAL

TOTAL

$0
$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

Annual Total

320306849.xls

Template provided by: | www.gotomarketstrategies.com | inforequest@gtms-inc.com

(c) 2007 Go-To-Market Strategies. All rights reserved.

$0

CONFIDENTIAL

cost per click

target
TC
cr
tr
ROI

GRAND PRIZE
TC
TARGET
TR
ROI

1,000
5000
5,000,000
1%
50
60,600,000
55,600,000
1112%

250,000,000
300
363,600,000
45%

Marketing Budget

Year: 2009

Instructions: Detail each activity by month. Customize the line item to align with your marketing plan! Review the Budgeting article prior for help
with the budgeting process. For an estimate as to how much you "should" expect to spend, use the Budget Model sheet in this workbook to
calculate and then reference it to this sheet to see how far off you are.
JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

Salaries

$7,500

$7,500

$7,500

$7,500

$7,500

$7,500

$7,500

$7,500

$9,000

$9,000

$9,000

$9,000

$96,000

Benefits

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,000

$1,400

$1,400

$1,400

$1,400

$13,600

$8,500

$8,500

$8,500

$8,500

$8,500

$8,500

$8,500

$8,500 $10,400 $10,400 $10,400 $10,400

JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

STAFF OR SERVICES (I.E. CONSULTING)

STAFF SUBTOTAL

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

$109,600

TOTAL

BRAND
Letterhead

$475

$475

Envelopes

$150

$150

Business Cards

$400

$400

Presentation Folders

$600

$600

BRAND SUBTOTAL

$1,625

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$1,625

JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

MARKETING MATERIALS (COLLATERAL)

Brochures/Datasheets Printing

$837

Content Development (Whitepapers/Brochur $1,500

White Papers
Collateral Design
MARKETING MATERIALS SUBTOTAL

$837
$1,000

$50

$1,000
$50

$1,000
$50

$1,000
$50

$1,000
$50

$6,500
$50

$2,500

$300
$2,500

$4,000

$887

$1,000

$50

$1,000

$50

$1,000

$50

$1,000

$50

$1,000

$50

$10,137

JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

$60

$60

$60

$60

$60

$60

$60

$60

$60

$60

$60

$60

$720

WEBSITE
Hosting

320306849.xls

Template provided by: | www.gotomarketstrategies.com | inforequest@gtms-inc.com

(c) 2007 Go-To-Market Strategies. All rights reserved.

06/06/2016

Design/Development

$5,000

$5,000

Enewsletter Distribution

$299

Search Engine Submission

WEBSITE SUBTOTAL

$299

$299

$299

$1,196

$8

$8

$8

$8

$8

$8

$8

$8

$8

$8

$8

$88

$5,060

$68

$367

$68

$68

$367

$68

$68

$367

$68

$68

$367

$7,004

JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

$250

$1,500

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Press Releases

$250

Media Relations

$500

Wire Fees

$250
$500

$175

Press Kits

$250
$500

$175

$500
$175

$675

PUBLIC RELATIONS SUBTOTAL

$250

$250
$500

$175

$500
$175

$3,000
$175

$675

$1,050
$1,350

$1,175

$425

$500

$425

$500

$425

$1,175

$425

$500

$425

$500

$425

$6,900

JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

$3,000

$1,737

$3,000

$1,737

$4,650

$1,650

$1,737

$1,737

$1,737

PROMOTIONS
Advertising

$500

Events

$1,100

$21,485

$590

$1,690

Promo Items

$0

Direct Mail (print and email)

$144

$439

$258

Webinar

$144

$439

$258

$420

Telemarketing

$2,000

$2,000

$144
$420

$2,000

$2,000

$840
$2,000

$10,000

Prospect Lists

$0

Google Adwords
PROMOTIONS SUBTOTAL

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$3,000

$500

$0

$4,400

$4,181

$3,739

$4,885

$5,370

$4,094

$2,476

$4,295

$2,457

$2,444

$38,841

JAN

FEB

MAR

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

TOTAL

###

###

###

###

###

###

###

###

###

###

TOTAL $20,860 $9,880

Annual Total

320306849.xls

$1,826

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(c) 2007 Go-To-Market Strategies. All rights reserved.

$174,107

06/06/2016