It is the time of year when budgets get set. Sales targets are agreed, headcount is planned and somewhere near the bottom of the spreadsheet sits a line for marketing.
For many businesses turning over £2m to £10m, that line is little more than last year's figure with a small adjustment. It is rarely built from what the business actually needs marketing to achieve.
So how much should a business spend on marketing in 2027? There is no single right number, but there is a sensible way to work it out. This guide covers the typical ranges, what changes the answer for your business, what to fund first and how to get more from whatever you spend.
Why "what we spent last year" is the wrong starting point
Rolling over last year's budget is quick, but it has three problems.
First, it assumes last year's spend was right. If it was too low, you lock in underinvestment for another year.
Second, it ignores what has changed. New services, new sectors, a new website or a push into a new region all need different levels of support.
Third, it treats marketing as a cost to be controlled rather than an investment linked to growth. That is how marketing ends up being the first thing cut when times get tight, which is usually exactly when it is needed most.
A better approach starts with the outcome you want and works backwards to the budget needed to get there.
A sensible starting range
Most guidance for B2B businesses puts marketing spend somewhere between 2% and 10% of turnover. That range is wide because businesses differ.
As a rough guide:
| Situation | Typical range (% of turnover) |
|---|---|
| Established business, mostly repeat clients, holding position | 2% to 4% |
| Steady growth, adding new clients each year | 4% to 7% |
| Ambitious growth, new markets or launching services | 7% to 10% or more |
For a £5m business, that means roughly £100,000 to £200,000 a year to hold position, and more to grow. For a £2m business, it means roughly £40,000 to £80,000.
These figures include everything: people, agency support, advertising, events, website, design, print and tools. Many businesses are surprised when they add it all up, because marketing costs are often spread across several budget lines.
Treat these ranges as a sense check, not a target. The right number for your business depends on the factors below.
What changes the answer for your business
Your growth target
The biggest factor is how much new business you need. If 90% of next year's revenue will come from existing clients, you need less spend on winning new ones. If you need 30% new revenue, marketing has much more work to do.
Your average client value
A manufacturer winning contracts worth £250,000 can justify spending more to win each one than a firm with £2,000 jobs. Work out what a new client is worth over the relationship, then decide what you can afford to spend to win one.
Your sales cycle
Long B2B sales cycles mean marketing needs to keep you visible for months, sometimes years, before a buyer is ready. That takes consistent investment rather than short bursts.
Your starting point
If your website is outdated, your brand is inconsistent or you have no marketing data, part of next year's budget needs to fix the foundations. That is usually a one-off cost, but it needs to be planned.
Your competitors
If competitors are visible everywhere your buyers look, matching their presence costs more. If your sector is quiet, a modest, consistent effort can stand out quickly.
Building the budget from your goals
Here is a simple way to build a marketing budget from the ground up.
1. Set the revenue goal. How much new business do you need next year, and from which services or sectors?
2. Work out how many clients that means. Divide the new revenue by your average first-year client value.
3. Work back through your funnel. If you win one in four proposals, and one in three enquiries becomes a proposal, you need roughly twelve enquiries for every new client.
4. Decide which activities will create those enquiries. Website, search, LinkedIn, email, events, referrals and outreach all play a part. Use past data where you have it.
5. Cost the activities. Include people, agency support, advertising, tools and production.
6. Sense check against the ranges. If the bottom-up figure is far above or below the typical range, revisit your assumptions.
This method takes longer than rolling over last year's figure, but it gives you a budget you can defend to the board, and a clear way to measure whether it worked.
What to fund first
If budget is limited, prioritise in this order.
1. A clear strategy
Without a plan, spend gets scattered across whatever seems urgent. A short, practical strategy that sets out who you are targeting, what you want to be known for and which channels matter will make every pound after it work harder.
2. Your website
For most B2B buyers, your website is the first serious look they take at your business. If it is out of date, slow, or does not explain what you do, every other activity is weakened. Fix this before spending heavily elsewhere.
3. Consistent content and visibility
Regular, useful content on your website, LinkedIn and email keeps you in front of buyers through long sales cycles. Consistency matters more than volume. Three things done every week will outperform ten things done occasionally.
4. Sales support
Case studies, capability statements, proposal templates and presentations help your sales team win the opportunities marketing creates. They are often overlooked and often the quickest return.
5. Paid activity and events
Paid search, LinkedIn advertising, exhibitions and sponsorship can all accelerate results, but they work best once the foundations above are in place.
The people question: in-house, outsourced or both
For most businesses in this size range, the largest single marketing cost is people. That is also where the biggest decision sits.
Employing a marketing manager means paying salary, employer National Insurance, pension, recruitment, training, software and management time, and you still get one person's skills. Building a team of specialists in-house is beyond most businesses at this size.
An outsourced marketing team changes the maths. You get strategy, content, design, digital and reporting from one team, paid for as a single monthly fee. Many businesses find this gives them a broader skill set for less than the full cost of employing one experienced marketer, and the support can grow or shrink with their plans through the year.
Some businesses combine both: an internal coordinator who knows the business, supported by an outsourced team providing strategy and specialist skills.
Whichever route you choose, compare the full cost and the full capability, not just the salary against the fee.
Making your budget go further
A few habits make a big difference to what your marketing budget achieves.
• Measure what matters. Track enquiries, proposals and wins, not just clicks and likes. If you cannot see what is working, you cannot spend wisely.
• Review quarterly. Set the annual budget, but check results every three months and move money towards what is performing.
• Reuse content. One good case study can become a web page, a LinkedIn series, an email, a sales sheet and an exhibition panel.
• Do not stop and start. Marketing that runs for three months and then pauses rarely builds momentum. Steady, sustained activity compounds over time.
• Protect the budget in quiet periods. Cutting marketing when sales slow down usually makes the slowdown longer.
A worked example
Take a specialist manufacturer turning over £5m, aiming to grow 12% next year. That means £600,000 of new revenue. Their average new client is worth £50,000 in the first year, so they need twelve new clients.
They win one in three proposals and turn one in three enquiries into a proposal, so they need around 108 qualified enquiries across the year, roughly nine a month.
Currently, their website produces three a month and referrals another two. To close the gap, they need a stronger website, regular content, targeted LinkedIn activity and two well-planned exhibitions.
Costed out, that comes to around £180,000 including people, outsourced support, advertising, events and tools. That is 3.6% of turnover. It sits within the overall 2% to 10% range, below what many would guess for a growth plan, because every pound is aimed at a specific gap. And it is now linked directly to a target the board has agreed.
The bottom line
There is no magic percentage that suits every business. But a marketing budget built from your growth goals, sense checked against typical ranges and focused on the right priorities will always outperform one rolled over from last year.
The businesses that grow steadily are the ones that treat marketing as part of how they win work, plan it properly and keep it running through good times and quiet ones.
Start the conversation with EWO
At EWO, we help manufacturers and professional services firms plan marketing budgets that link directly to growth, then deliver the work as an outsourced marketing team. If you are setting your 2027 budget and want a second opinion, let's talk.