How To Build A Real Marketing Budget That Gets Results

If the first question you ask about marketing is “How much does it cost?”, this conversation is going to challenge you in the best way. I’m reading one of my favorite chapters from my book, Market Like a Boss, and it’s a blunt reminder that a business with no marketing budget isn’t being “scrappy” it’s choosing invisibility. When you skip the investment, you don’t magically save money, you usually just trade strategy for hope. 

We dig into what a real marketing budget actually does for growth: it creates consistent brand visibility, predictable lead generation, and trust before a customer ever reaches out. I talk through why random boosted posts and scattered ads can drain your cash without building momentum, plus a tough story about what happens when you burn budget on tactics that don’t match the plan. We also revisit the pandemic shift to online behavior and why cutting marketing during uncertainty often turns into years of playing catch up. 

Then we get tactical. I share an easy benchmark for small businesses: plan to allocate 10% of your annual revenue goal to marketing, then use the 70/20/10 rule to split your spend between proven channels, smart testing, and bold ideas that can earn attention. If you work with a marketing agency, this framework also helps you get better proposals and set realistic expectations. Subscribe, share this with a business owner who needs it, and leave a review. What’s one marketing expense you’ll commit to consistently this year?

Transcript

Why Cheap Marketing Fails

Scattered Spending Versus A Real Plan

Pandemic Lessons On Staying Visible

Busy Season Content Strategy

The 10 Percent Budget Rule

The 70 20 10 Framework

Why Agencies Need Your Budget

Wrap Up And Book Mention

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Hey y'all, what's up? It's Shelby. Welcome back to your favorite marketing podcast. Today we're doing something a little different. I um love to educate you guys. I love to talk about all things like what's going on in my life, how am I doing marketing for certain industries, or how I'm doing marketing for certain clients. But today, and if you're watching this on YouTube, you get to just watch me read. But we're gonna talk about one of my favorite chapters in my book, Market Like a Boss. It is chapter three called No Budget, No Boss Moves. It's all about what kind of budget you need for your marketing. So I think this could really help you guys. And I'm just gonna go through here, read, and then if I decide to talk a little bit about that section, I will. Um and then I'll just kind of close at the end. But this is just one chapter out of my book, Market Like a Boss. And if you like it, then you can always purchase it on Amazon or you can holler at me and I will send it to you as well. So as someone who runs a professional marketing agency and has worn the salesperson hat more times than I can count, let me be blunt here. Few things are more frustrating than sitting down for a consultation with a business owner who asks one question, one question only. So how much does it cost? Now, it's not that the question itself is bad, but in most cases, what they really mean is what's the cheapest way I can get by? They're not asking how much should I invest in growing my business? They're measuring my value against a number they made up in their head instead of starting from a realistic budget tied to their goals. But the truth that people seldom factor in is if you don't have a marketing budget, you're not running a business. You're dabbling in a hobby. You may have been guilty of this yourself as a new business owner. Your mindset is all about making as much money as you can without spending it, right? And I'm not saying that to be harsh, I'm saying it because I've seen the difference. Successful businesses treat marketing like fuel in the tank. You can't just coast along on fumes and expect to reach your destination. If you want to be noticed, remembered, and chosen, you have to invest in the visibility that gets you there. When you skip that, you're relying on hope. You're waiting for customers to magically find you instead of putting yourself directly in their line of sight. Think about it. A business without a marketing budget is like a restaurant with no sign out front. Sure, a few people might wander in, but you'll always be fighting to fill the tables. Now compare that to a restaurant across the street. They have a sign, they run weekly specials on social media, they sponsor the local Little League team, and when you Google Best Lunch Spot near me, they show up on page one. As someone who eats lunch every day, which one are you walking into? That's the difference between a business that invests in marketing and one that doesn't. One is visible, discoverable, and trusted before you ever set foot inside. The other is invisible, forgotten. The other is invisible, forgotten, and wondering why customers never show up. The number one complaint I've heard again and again is why aren't customers hiring me or buying my product? Well, if you've ever felt this way, you're not alone, I promise. In fact, I challenge you, just as I've challenged countless others, to really dive into this chapter and see how clear marketing strategy and budget can make sure you never have to ask that question again. If you're serious about growth, you can't push this into someday or when things pick up. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me, I'll hire you when our busy season hits, I'd be on a private island sipping coconuts right now, y'all. The truth is you have to invest in marketing during the slow season if you want your busy season to actually stay busy. Marketing can't be something you start and stop. It has to be ongoing, the tool you use all year long to grow your business, your brand, and yourselves. You have to put your money where your mouth is now. Until you do, you're just dabbling, and dabbling won't keep your brand in front of customers long enough to build trust, authority, and consistent sales. People don't trust dabblers. We trust people who are full-time invested in their business every day. We know they're going to show up and do the job they promised. Marketing helps us get that message across to the one who are interested in our service and product. You can't expect your business to grow, attract high quality leads, or build brand awareness without putting real dollars into reaching people. I've seen it play out a dozen of times. The owner wants growth, they want more customers, but they're scattering money in every direction with no plan, boosting a random post here, running a one-off, a one-off ad there, without a clear objective or way to measure the results. The worst one to hear is, oh, I've already I've always wanted to see myself on a billboard, so I just rented one for six months. A real marketing budget is a commitment. It's saying I believe in this business enough to back it with resources. And then making every dollar work for you with strategy, consistency, and measurement. Like being a sniper in a battle instead of the guy wasting ammo on shadows, or an architect with blueprints instead of someone stacking bricks hoping for a house. The hope and pray method versus the plan and play method. Imagine a business owner who's dabbling and marketing their business for a couple years. They boost a Facebook post here and there, sponsor a small community event, maybe even run a random ad in a local magazine. All told they've spent a few thousand dollars, but none of that has been consistent, connected, or tracked. No plan, no strategy, no way to measure was actually working. If you've asked them what their goal is, they'd probably say something like, I just want more people to know about me. But when pressed on how they know if they actually happen, they wouldn't have an answer. A few years ago, a young entrepreneur had to start their own business and hired me from the beginning. I was so excited to partner with them and build their dream together. I designed the logo, helped with the signage, managed their social media accounts, oversaw their marketing budget for local ads, until one day all just started coming in fast. They had signed up for the billboards, the golf course benches, sports books, library bricks, and other budgeting sucking advertising. I could not understand the method behind this madness. It did not line up with our initial strategy and budget that we had set. It was draining the account before we could really measure the results of each advertising campaign. Our relationship soon ended because they could no longer afford my services because they had burned their budget on so many other small advertising campaigns that they never paid off in the end. It was a tough lesson for both of us to learn. I didn't want to see them go, but I knew they had no other option. So what was the outcome? Money spent with little to no return. Their brand didn't grow, sales didn't increase, and they had no real momentum, just scattered efforts that faded as quickly as they began. Now let's picture another business owner. The same size company, same industry, but this one sets aside a realistic annual marketing budget from the start. It's not massive, but it's enough to run consistent campaigns, keep a professional online presence, and test different strategies to find out what works. With that budget, they launch a plan that includes targeted Google ads, monthly social media, a simple newsletter to stay connected with them every month. Within six months, they're seeing a steady stream of quality leads, people who already know what they offer and are ready to buy. And because their marketing is consistent, those leads keep coming in. The difference? The first business treated marketing like an afterthought, spending only what it feels urgent. The second treats it as an essential part of doing business, giving it resources and consistency needed to actually work. So what happens when you cut marketing? Let's talk about what happened when the pandemic hit. Did you get chills too? Ugh, I hate talking about this time, but it's instrumental to what I've learned in my career. I look back and realize how blessed I am to still be in business today. It seemed like a dark time, but it turned out to be one of the best learning experiences of my life. Just in the first week, I had call after call. Shelby, I have to cut marketing. With the unknown, I can't keep paying you. Once we get through this time, we'll continue your services. We just can't keep affording to keep going with it. Businesses were slashing marketing from their budget, not knowing they needed it more than ever during the pandemic. The entire world went online. Facebook and TikTok usage skyrocketed. Everyone was glued to their phones. It was prime time for brand visibility. Between the crazy dance trends and meltdowns where the business is fighting to be seen, curbside delivery, online ordering, and QR codes became very popular for Americans during this transition. Even now, you will see these marketing techniques still being used. And yet, my clients pulled the plug. And the sad truth, the ones who stopped marketing are either no longer in business today or they've spent the last six years playing ketchup, struggling to get those leads back. I have conversations often with business owners who are struggling post-pandemic. Yes, the market is hard in every industry. Marketing is not an easy task. Hence the reason I wrote this book. People are begging for your service or product. You just need a budget to a way to show them how they can purchase it. So market when you're busy and not just when you're slow. As you've heard me preach a lot in this book, most people only think about marketing when business is slow. But if you wait until the drought hits, it's already too late. You have no sales to counteract the marketing budget you should be spending. The time to market is when you're busy because marketing creates consistency. If you market during your busiest months, you'll build up brand equity that carries you through the slower months. Many of my clients are afraid of being too busy. Eesh. Don't get trapped into that mindset. We want to be too busy. People want to, we want people to have to schedule out with us. This creates credibility of your services and makes people want you even more. In my sign business, I know my two busiest seasons are January to February and May to July. I've sl I'm slammed during these months. I have my guys scheduled out every day for installs or production. When we get one job completed, it's on to the next. But that doesn't mean I stop showing up online. I schedule my social posts, push out content for finished products, and keep the market rolling because it keeps my brand top of mind during every season of the year. I'll give you an insight to my marketing strategy during these times. You want to highlight this because it actually works. If we complete five sign jobs in one week, social media only sees one of those jobs. But they will see them in my story, along with a few behind-the-scenes edits. I also take pictures on job sites for some B-roll footage for future content posts. As I schedule all my social media beyond that week, followers will see consistent sign jobs and it will be top of mind. If I post to them all in one day, it leaves your mind faster than a leaf in the wind. Use a strategy for your business. During the busy season, take the photos, the videos, use content during the slow season. But how much should you be spending on marketing? Let's get tactical for a minute. Honestly, this is not my favorite topic to think about in my business. What women what women really like to talk about budgets? Am I right? But it's necessary it's a necessity. If you're one of those people that hates budgets too, you're not alone. We can do this together. One of those common questions about marketing is okay, but how much should I actually be spending? There's an industry standard for this, and it's a good place to start. Plan to allocate 10% of your annual revenue goal towards your marketing efforts. Notice I said goal, not what you're making right now. If you're base your marketing budget on where you are instead of where you're going, you'll keep marketing at your current level and keep getting current level results. We want to increase our sales every year and get bigger and bigger. That vision needs to spill over into the marketing budget as well. So let's break it down. Our goal is$100,000 in annual revenue. 10% of that is$10,000 a year. That's roughly$834 a month. Now I can hear some of you go,$834 a month, that's way too much money. Not necessarily. It's simply the cost of doing business if you want to grow. You can't expect consistent leads, brand awareness, and sales without putting real dollars into reaching people. Plus, this is our tax write-off. So it's$10,000 that you get to spend to reinvest into your business and write it off at the end of the year. That's$834 isn't just disappearing into a black hole. It's a fuel for things like social media management or ads, print advertising, signage, business cards, boost at expos or vendor events, and chamber memberships and sponsorships. And let me be clear:$10,000 a year is nothing compared to hiring an in-house marketing person, which can cost$85,000 to$100,000 a year in salary alone. You get to add in payroll taxes, PTO, death supplies, and a bad attitude on top of that. The first step is done. We now know how much we want to spend on marketing based on our annual revenue. The next step is learning how to use that money. That's when the big scary number starts to make sense to you. You don't want to throw all of your budget at one idea and hope for the best. And if you also don't want to spread yourself too thin across dozen of random tactics that nothing gets the attention if it doesn't work. That's why I use a simple framework to help business owners balance their marketing investments between what's proven, what's worth testing, and what's bold enough to grab attention. I call it the 70-2010 rule. And once you understand it, you will never wonder how to allocate your marketing dollars again. 70% is what already works. The majority of your budget should go to strategies that have a proven ROI for your business. Ask yourself, what consistently brings in leads, sales, or opportunities? It might be local networking events, vendor expos, Facebook ads, community sponsorships, etc. This is your bread and butter. Don't get distracted by the next shiny thing if your current methods are bringing in results. Double it down instead. Keep your ads consistent and your branding on point. We want the message to be the same all across a reliable source of advertising your business. 20% is what you're testing. The next 20 of your budget should go to something new but informed ideas. These aren't random shots in the dark, they're experiments with a clear reason behind them. Maybe trying Instagram reels or TikTok to reach a younger audience, updating your email marketing strategy to re-engage past customers, running a giveaway or content to boost the engagement, and maybe even hiring a freelancer to create the content that really elevates your brand. This is your low-risk innovation category. You're not betting the farm, but you're giving yourself room to adapt and grow. I would suggest that you hire a consultant or research the testing methods before spending your hard-earned money in this area. So the last 10% is what's crazy or bold. Finally, reserve 10% for your wild card ideas. These are things you'd never green light if you had to justify them on paper, but it might be something that sparks what people start talking about. It could be pulling off a creative stunt you think that might go viral, starting a niche podcast in your industry, renting a billboard in an unexpected location, or hosting a branded pop-up experience that make people really stop in their tracks. You might not see an immediate return from this category, but if it works, it could graduate into your 70% next year. The beauty of the 70-2010 rule is that it keeps your marketing balanced, safe enough for you to sustain, experimental, experimental enough for you to evolve, and bold enough to surprise you. But why does this matter for marketing agencies and you? If you come to a marketing agency with no budget, we have nothing to work with. It's like asking someone to build your dream home with no blueprint and no materials. I can't create a proposal if I don't know your budget. And most importantly, I don't know your expectations. When you have a clear marketing budget, you make your agency's job easier, you set realistic expectations, you avoid sticker shock, and you get better, more strategic proposals. It also gives you clarity and control. You're not just reacting, you're actually planning for growth. Treat your marketing like an investment. If you're not setting aside money for marketing, you don't have a business, you have a hobby. So here's a framework: set a revenue goal, take 10% of that goal, that's your marketing budget. Use the 70, 20, 10 rule. And marketing isn't something you do when sales are slow, it's the thing that keeps sales from getting slow. Marketing isn't an expense, it's an income generator. If you do it right, it multiplies your money. But here's the thing: a budget alone, it won't save you. You can spend every dollar wisely or waste it completely, depending on what you do next. Because without a plan, even the best budget is just a spreadsheet. And that's where most entrepreneurs go wrong. All right, guys, that was chapter three in my book, Market Like a Boss. I hope you take that information. Let's set those goals. Let's think about this year. If you're listening to this in 2026, we still have time to break that down per month and then see what we can put back into our business for the rest of the year. And if you want to learn more about it, you can purchase Market Like a Boss on Amazon or you can go to my website. I'll catch you next week, guys.