Investment
Anton Buchner, Founder, Front Foot Marketing Last updated 8 August 2026
How much should we invest in marketing?
The question behind the question
What percentage of revenue should we spend?
What commercial outcome is that spend meant to create?
The straight answer
There isn't a universally correct percentage of revenue to spend on marketing.
The sensible level depends on your economics, your growth ambition, the competitive environment, your customer acquisition economics, and the role marketing is actually meant to play.
The deeper answer
The mistake is starting with "what percentage of revenue should we spend?"
Start with "what commercial outcome are we trying to create, and what level of investment is justified by the economics?" instead.
That turns marketing into an investment decision, not a budgeting convention.
And the answer might not be "spend more." It might be "spend differently."
The uncomfortable bit
The number in the plan is often last year's number plus inflation, dressed up as a decision.
What we know
- Current spend as a percentage of revenue, and how it compares to last year
- Roughly what competitors spend, where that's visible at all
What we don't
- What level of investment the underlying customer economics would actually justify
- How much of any increase would be genuinely incremental, versus simply more expensive
What we need to decide anyway: What number goes in next year's plan, and the commercial outcome it's meant to buy.
What I'd challenge
I'd challenge the idea that there's an industry-standard percentage you're supposed to hit. There isn't. There's only what your own economics can justify.
Both sides of the table
I've sat on both sides of this conversation. I've been inside agencies selling the work, inside consultancies advising on it, and with the people who ultimately have to defend the investment to a CFO or a board. That changes how I look at the number, because I've had to answer for it, not just recommend it.
The Anton Test
If we had to justify this number to a sceptical CFO in one sentence, could we?
What I'd do next
I'd start with the commercial outcome I actually need this year, in dollars, and work backwards to what level of spend that justifies. Not the other way round.
The decision
This is ultimately a decision about what number goes in next year's plan, and why that number and not another.
This connects to the broader decision on Marketing investment is under scrutiny, if you want the fuller picture.
Keep asking
Related answers
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The hardest marketing decision isn't where to invest more. It's what to stop.
Decision
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This is often the question that should come first.
Decision
How much evidence is enough?
You rarely get perfect information. The goal isn't certainty. It's confidence good enough to act.
Still working out what the real question is?
Sometimes the hardest part isn't finding the answer. It's knowing which question to ask.