The marketing budget conversation nobody wants to have

Most clients ask "how much does it cost?" before asking "how much should we spend?"

These are different questions. The first one tries to fit marketing into whatever's left over after rent, salaries, and stock. The second one treats marketing as a function of the business, with an actual size relative to revenue.

Almost no agency will start the conversation here. Saying "you should be spending more" sounds like upselling. Saying "you're spending too much" loses the project. So the budget question gets handled in proposals, where it's already too late.

It's worth having the conversation earlier, and out loud.

What businesses actually spend on marketing

There's no universal number, but there are useful benchmarks.

Established businesses with a steady customer base typically spend between 5% and 10% of annual revenue on marketing. This covers ongoing brand work, paid media, content, and the systems that support them.

Growing businesses, ones trying to expand into new markets or scale faster than they would organically, often spend 12% to 20%. The extra spend funds acquisition.

New businesses or those launching a new product line sometimes spend 25% or more in the first year. Not forever, but during launch, the goal is to get on the radar.

Most small and medium businesses in Cyprus we encounter are spending closer to 1–3%. That's not enough to do anything meaningful, even if it's well executed.

Why the number matters more than the agency

A €1,500/month agency spending €300/month on ads will outperform a €5,000/month agency spending €100/month on ads. Almost every time.

Good agencies amplify what's there. They can't manufacture results out of nothing.

Before you compare proposals, decide what marketing is worth to the business. The proposals get easier to evaluate after that.

A reasonable place to start

If you're under-spending, here's a rough guide. None of this is universal, but it's a starting point for the conversation:

A small business doing under €250K in annual revenue should be spending at least €1,000–€1,500 per month on combined marketing and ad budget. Anything less is invisible.

A business in the €250K–€1M range should be looking at €2,000–€5,000 per month, depending on growth ambition.

These numbers exclude agency fees, which is why most businesses end up under-spending. They calculate "the marketing budget" as the agency invoice and forget the media spend on top.

The honest version

The amount you spend on marketing should be a deliberate number, not the leftover from your other expenses. Until you've decided what that number is, every agency conversation will be circular.

If you don't know yet, that's fine. Decide it before signing anything.