Here is a question most owners cannot answer on the spot: how much did you spend on marketing this year, as a percent of your revenue? If the number does not come quickly, you are in good company. And that gap is worth closing.
Do you know your number?
Most owners run marketing on instinct. Instinct built the business, so it works to a point. It tells you the slow weeks, the loyal regulars, the season that carries the year. What instinct cannot tell you is whether you are spending enough to stay found, or quietly leaving customers on the table.
The reason the number is fuzzy is simple. Marketing spend hides in a dozen places: ads, listings, your website, the tools you pay for monthly, printing, sponsorships, and anyone you pay to post or design. Add those up honestly and most owners are surprised, in one direction or the other. You cannot manage what you have never measured.
The benchmarks, by industry
Industry averages give you a place to stand. These are blended from the Gartner CMO Spend Survey, the Deloitte, Duke, and AMA CMO Survey, Forrester, and the SBA. The tilde matters: these are benchmarks, not your exact number. Read them as a starting line, not a verdict.
A benchmark is not your number
Here is the honest part. The average is a mirror, not a map. It tells you roughly where your industry sits, but it cannot tell you if you are over, under, or right on target, because it does not know your revenue, your season, or your goals. Most owners cannot say what they actually spend within two percent. That is the real gap, and it is fixable in an afternoon.
How to find your real number
You do not need software or a spreadsheet degree. You need one honest hour.
- Add up last month's marketing spendEverything meant to bring in or keep customers: ads, listings, your website, tools, anyone you pay to post or design, printing, sponsorships. Most owners forget about half of these the first time.
- Divide by last month's revenueThat single division gives you a percentage. That percentage is your number.
- Compare it to your benchmarkLine your number up against your industry above. Now you can see, in plain terms, whether you are spending enough to stay found or quietly falling behind.
Once you know the number, the next question stops being "should I spend more" and becomes "am I spending it in the right places." That is a far better question, and a much easier one to act on. Know your number. Then spend it right.
Sources: Gartner CMO Spend Survey (2025), Deloitte / Duke / AMA CMO Survey, Forrester, and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Figures are blended industry benchmarks and rounded to a single average per sector.