This calculator applies the small business budgeting rule (7-12% of gross revenue, adjusted for how hard you’re pushing growth) and splits the result across channels the way we’d actually allocate it. No email gate, no “get your results” trap. Enter a number, get a number.
What’s the goal right now?
Enter your monthly revenue first, even a rough estimate works.
How the numbers work
The base is the guideline the U.S. Small Business Administration and most CPA firms use: healthy small businesses spend roughly 7-12% of gross revenue on marketing. We adjust the band by intent: maintaining an established customer base sits below the rule (5-7%), steady growth is the rule itself (8-12%), and new or aggressively expanding businesses run above it (12-15%), because building awareness costs more than keeping it. The channel split follows the same logic we use with clients: maintenance leans on owned channels (SEO, content, email) that compound cheaply, while aggressive growth shifts weight to paid ads, the only channel with a volume dial. Full context, including what each channel costs and the $500 agency trap, is in our digital marketing cost guide.
What to do with your number
Treat it as a planning band, not a law. Two honest caveats: first, a budget only performs if it’s spent consistently for months, so a smaller number you can sustain beats a bigger one you’ll cut in week six (the timeline math is in how long SEO takes). Second, below roughly $1,000/month, skip paid ads entirely and put everything into the owned foundation: profile, reviews, content, email. Ads at tiny budgets mostly buy education, not customers.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 7-12% rule right for every business?
It’s a starting band, not a law. B2C and e-commerce often run higher because purchase cycles are short and competitive; B2B service firms with long relationships can run lower. The bigger error we see isn’t the percentage, it’s inconsistency: budgets that stop and start perform worse than smaller steady ones.
Should the budget include tools and software?
Yes, and the calculator’s split reserves a slice for exactly that: analytics, email platform, AI tools, tracking. A common failure is spending the whole budget on ads with nothing left to measure whether the ads work.
What if my recommended budget feels impossibly high?
Start with the free foundation instead: Google Business Profile, reviews, and email cost hours rather than dollars, and they’re the highest-return work at any budget (our free marketing priority list ranks all of it). Grow into the percentage as revenue grows; the rule scales with you.
Does this calculator store or send my numbers anywhere?
No. It runs entirely in your browser: nothing is saved, sent, or seen by us. That’s also why there’s no email gate.
Want a plan behind the number?
The calculator tells you what to spend. Tell us your number and your market, and we’ll tell you exactly what it should buy, in plain deliverables, or check our pricing page for the starting points.