Free tool
How much to spend, and where it should go. Enter revenue and a goal. Get a monthly number and a four-bucket split. Built on the same numbers the articles use. Nothing is stored; the address carries your inputs, so a result can be shared by copying the link.
Want a second read on the split before you move money around?
Get in touchNot sure which channels count as proven? Attribution in plain English is the place to start.
How it works
- 01
The budget is a percentage of annual revenue. Established service businesses usually land between 5 and 10%; pushing for growth runs higher. Pick a goal or set your own percentage.
- 02
Hours count as money. Five hours a week at $150 an hour is about $3,250 a month before the first ad runs, so the calculator subtracts what your time is worth to show what is actually left for ads, tools and help.
- 03
The split follows the four buckets: foundation (profile, reviews, tracking, website) at about 20% until it is finished, then 8% for upkeep; proven (channels you can already trace customers to) takes the rest up to 70%; promising gets 20% and two quarters to earn its keep; tests get 10% and never more.
- 04
Under about $2,500 a month the split collapses to two buckets, foundation and proven, because a small budget spread across six channels does nothing.
Questions
It is a starting point, not a law. The number that matters is what a customer costs to acquire against what a customer is worth; if that ratio is healthy, spending more accelerates growth, and if it is not, no budget fixes it. Use the percentage to size the first plan, then let your own numbers take over within two quarters.
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