This article is the third chapter in our Digital Marketing Blueprint. Our series includes Identifying Your Marketing Problem (Step #1) and Understanding Why Digital Marketing Is the Solution (Step #2). Additionally, you can download the full guide here for free!
Step #3: Creating a Digital Marketing Budget for Your Business
By this point, we know that digital marketing is trackable, affordable, and effective. But you may still be wondering exactly what it looks like to work this into your overall marketing efforts, especially when it comes to budget.
So, how much should your company allocate toward digital marketing? The short (and therefore uncustomized) answer is that digital should make up approximately 30% to 50% of your total marketing budget. This number assumes that you are currently marketing your business via traditional means and that you have found some success with those methods.
Of that 30% to 50%, around half should be allocated to search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM), also known as Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC) or Google ads.
The remaining 50% of your digital budget should be divided among other services, including content creation (blogging), social media, and other forms of advertising such as retargeting and behavioral.
Below, you’ll find an example of allocating $3,000 per month to digital marketing with the goal of focusing on your immediate and long-term strategy.
| Digital Service | Monthly Marketing Budget |
| Search Engine Optimization | $400 |
| Social Media Management & Advertising | $1k (Includes some ad spend) |
| SEM (Google Pay-Per-Click) | $1k (Includes ad spend) |
| Content Creation (Blogging) | $600 |
The following table is an example of a company allocating $8,000 per month to digital marketing:
| Digital Service | Monthly Marketing Budget |
| Ongoing Search Engine Optimization | $500 |
| Social Media Management & Advertising | $1.5k (Includes ad spend) |
| Search Engine Advertising (Pay-Per-Click) | $1.4k (Includes ad spend) |
| Email Marketing | $500 |
| Website Retargeting/Remarketing | $500 (Includes ad spend) |
It’s important to note that these tables are merely examples.
Uptick Marketing works with our clients to create tailored digital marketing plans that fit within their budgets and that are specifically designed to help them meet their business goals.
We have worked with clients whose budgets range from $2,500 per month all the way up to $100,000 per month. In short, talk to us! We can help—and we can keep it within your budget.
The Bottom Line
The take-away from this section should be simple—for the cost of a billboard for one month, you can make huge strides with online marketing and you can track success.
This article is the third chapter in our Digital Marketing Blueprint. Download the full guide here for free!
