The money a business sets aside for promotion. Beware borrowed rules: the 7.8% of revenue figure comes from 401 mostly billion-dollar firms, and gives a £40,000 sole trader £260 a month, below the cheapest published strategy-led retainer, £290.
The number: UK Marketing Budget by Revenue.
What it means in practice
The mistake is borrowing a percentage rule from companies a thousand times your size. A rule built on billion-dollar firms tells a sole trader nothing except a comforting number.
Build the budget from the price of the things you actually need, using published UK prices, then decide what the business can afford. Structure before scale.
Whito stage: Start. Get this right before spending on channels.
Free UK Marketing Budget Template (Excel)
Nine channels prefilled with Whito's UK planning bands, a budget-to-band check for any quote you have, and a monthly tracker. Enter your email and we send it straight away. Version 2026.10. See what is in it.
The numbers to hold onto
- Only 26% of UK micro businesses analyse their marketing data at all. UK Marketing ROI Benchmarks.
- The cheapest published strategy-led social retainer Whito found costs £290 a month. UK Marketing Budget by Revenue.
- Nine of seventeen common marketing purchases have a published starting price under £100. UK Marketing Prices Compared.
Where to go next
- Build a budget from published prices
- How much should marketing cost a UK business
- The percentage rules, traced to their sources
Related: Brochure website, Website care plan, Social media management