Last Updated on October 21, 2026
Most UK businesses set a marketing budget by feel, then find out later what things actually cost. This planner works the other way round. Tell it what kind of business you run and what you want marketing to do, and it builds an indicative monthly budget from prices UK providers actually publish, collected and verified by Whito.
No email address, no sign-up, no sales call. Your answers stay in your browser. Results are indicative planning figures, not quotes and not a promise of results.
This planner needs JavaScript. The published price bands it uses are in the table further down this page, and in the UK Marketing Cost Index.
How the planner works
The planner does three things, and keeps them separate.
Verified prices. Every figure in the plan comes from the Whito UK Marketing Cost Index: 128 published prices from 47 UK providers, collected June 2026 and last verified 5 October 2026. Each band covers the middle 60% of prices found, excluding VAT. We do not invent percentages or quote averages nobody measured.
Planning assumptions. Which channels suit your business type and objective, and how many channels your stage can run properly, are our judgement. The plan labels them as assumptions so you can disagree with them.
Your inputs. Turnover and current budget are only used for arithmetic shown to you, like budget as a share of turnover. They stay in your browser and are not sent to us or to anyone else.
The priced-plan floor
The priced-plan floor is the lowest monthly budget at which every channel in your plan can be bought at the bottom of its published UK price band. It is the planner’s most useful number. If your budget sits below the priced-plan floor, something on the plan is being bought cheaper than anyone we found publicly charges, which usually means a smaller scope than you think or a provider who does not publish prices. The honest answer below the floor is fewer channels done properly, not every channel done thinly.
The published price bands the planner uses
These are the planning bands from the Whito UK Marketing Cost Index, as used in the UK marketing budget template. All figures exclude VAT. Last verified 5 October 2026.
| Channel | Low | Medium | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO (monthly) | £300 | £1,500 | £5,000 |
| PPC management (monthly) | £200 | £1,000 | £3,000 |
| PPC ad spend (monthly) | £300 | £2,000 | £10,000 |
| Social media management (monthly) | £250 | £800 | £3,000 |
| Email marketing (monthly) | £50 | £500 | £3,000 |
| Content and copywriting (monthly) | £300 | £1,000 | £4,000 |
| Website, build plus year one (one-off) | £2,000 | £5,500 | £17,000 |
| Branding (one-off) | £1,500 | £5,000 | £20,000 |
One-off items appear in the plan as foundations for businesses starting out. They are never mixed into the monthly figures.
Who this is for
UK businesses setting next year’s marketing budget, owners checking whether their current spend is sensible, and anyone who has been told to “spend 5% of revenue” and wants a number built from real prices instead. If you are comparing a specific quote rather than planning a budget, the UK marketing cost calculator is the better tool.
Questions people ask
How is the recommended budget worked out?
The planner picks the channels that suit your business type and objective, caps how many your stage can run properly, then prices each channel from its published UK band. Low, medium and high scenarios are the same channels bought at the bottom, middle and top of their bands. Your stage and growth answer decide which scenario is recommended. Nothing is weighted by secret scores.
What is the priced-plan floor?
The priced-plan floor is the lowest monthly budget at which every channel in your plan can be bought at the bottom of its published UK price band. Below it, you are not buying the plan you think you are buying.
Where do the price bands come from?
From the Whito UK Marketing Cost Index: 128 published prices from 47 UK providers, collected June 2026, last verified 5 October 2026. Bands cover the middle 60% of prices found. The same bands drive our budget template and cost calculator, so the three tools never disagree with each other.
Should I spend a fixed percentage of turnover on marketing?
We do not recommend one. No UK-wide “right percentage” exists at a sample size we would trust. The planner shows your plan as a share of your turnover as plain arithmetic, so you can judge it against your own margins.
Do you store what I type in?
No. Calculations run in your browser. Turnover, budget and business name are not sent to Whito or to any third party. The shareable link holds your selections but never your business name or website.
Does spending this much guarantee results?
No, and be wary of anyone who says otherwise. The planner prices what a credible plan costs to buy. Whether it pays back depends on your offer, your market and how well the work is done.
