How Much Should I Spend on Marketing – The S.T.A.R.T Marketing Framework

Every day, there’s thousands of new and experienced entrepreneurs and business owners who struggle to find the answer to a very simple and important question: 

How Much Should I Spend on Marketing? 

When I get asked this, these days I simply say “I don’t know” – despite everyone expecting a very clear, definitive answer on the spot. Calculating the marketing budget is an impossible question to answer without first diving into the four key areas of context surrounding it. 

The context is needed because without it, it’s as silly of a question as just vaguely asking “What should I spend on groceries this week?” 

The S.T.A.R.T. framework was developed as the result of working with hundreds of startups and small businesses, realizing they bring a unique set of goals and problems to the table that doesn’t exist in big business.  

This framework has been proven time and time again to help create a marketing budget for startups and small businesses that’s clear, manageable and works within the realities of the startup/business.   

If the question of “How Much Should I Be Spending on Marketing” is a recurring theme for  yourself, this is the path to figuring it out.  

S: Skillset – What marketing skillsets is the founder/team bringing to the table? 

The reason this is always the first question is that it dictates the rest of the variables.  When certain skillsets are confident and available (maybe you’re great on video, maybe you’re an incredible writer, etc) it almost always dictates what the marketing plan is.  The only instance where a valuable marketing skill is not taken advantage of, is in cases of limited time (our next variable). 

Note: This is not to say that every marketing plan needs to include the founders, the CEOs, etc.  When was the last time you saw Nike founder Phil Knight in a commercial, right?  But it’s worth mentioning, that if you’re in the position of needing advice on how much to spend on marketing, you’re probably still in the position where your own involvement is a huge benefit. 

What to Do:  List out your marketing skills that you feel confident in.  Usually these can be categorized into the following – Speaking on camera, creating content, photography, editing videos, graphic design, writing emails/blog posts/newsletters, being interviewed or hosting interviews.  If you have no skills, don’t panic, there are still plenty of marketing options. 

T: Time –  How much time do you (and possibly your partners and team) have – realistically – to put into the marketing on a weekly basis? 

Time available is a very important variable because it greatly dictates the strategy, the costs involved and the quality of outcome. 

• The Strategy:  A founder/business with a decent amount of available time will be able to participate in the marketing more so than those strapped for time.  Availability can greatly swing the strategy. 

• The Costs:  A founder/business with ample time available can become part of the marketing strategy and potentially save on some of the costs associated with paying agencies to handle 100% of it. 

• The Quality:  Sometimes – not often, but enough that it needs to be mentioned – founders and companies don’t realize that marketing and working with agencies is a partnership, and there is no getting around that.  You will get what you put into, do a degree.  Those that make no time whatsoever for their vendors – especially in marketing – tend to generate the worst results. 

What to Do:  Figure out a range of hours you’re available per week, and be conservative and honest.  If you have partners in the business, this is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT as many times with partners, everyone just yells yes, are blinded by optimism and meanwhile things aren’t getting done at the speed they should be. 

A: Audience – Who are we marketing to? What types of marketing seem to work in the given industry?  What are the content/marketing staples that must be hammered on constantly?  

• Who’s the Audience:  Understanding your audience (your target market – who they are, where they are, how they buy, etc etc etc)  is obviously key to any marketing. 

• Comparables:  Understanding what’s going on in the industry – in terms of marketing – is really important and very often overlooked.  Some industries are more visual than others (photography and Instagram), others are more educational (instructional videos and Youtube).  Others are based on newsletters and articles (blogging and finance), etc etc etc.   Getting your head around what the industry prefers goes a long way towards putting together an effective gameplan. 

• Content Staples: Understanding the key points that need to be hammered home each month – yes, some things need to be repeated over and over and over – helps us to further craft a gameplan that is going to be effective. 

R: Revenue – Time to talk numbers.  This is where the rubber starts to really meet the road.   We know what kind of skillsets you’re bringing to the table, we know what your availability is to actively participate.  We’ve also taken a solid look at who your audience is, where they are, and what kind of marketing seems to be the best fit for your industry.   All of which leads us to:

• Goals:  Where are we right now, and where are we hoping to be in twelve months, in terms of revenue?  This is extremely important because marketing costs money, and depending on how fast and far we are trying to go in one year, the amount of money it takes to achieve that will fluctuate greatly.  Want to go from $100k/year to $1M in revenue within 12 months?  That’s going to likely take a lot more marketing than, say, moving from $100k/year to $200k/year. 

• Available Funds: How much money do we realistically have to get started?  

• Budgeting: Combining the goals with the available funds – and editing each accordingly – is where we start to get really clear on what our options are.  Perhaps we need to scale back our goals, or increase the funding?  

T: Template- The final step is where we tie it all together, creating a tactical gameplan that is predictable, easy to execute, and allows you to better focus your energies.   A marketing strategy that recognizes your skills and availability – along with the larger market data and trends – and builds out a program that stays within budget while featuring quantifiable and achievable goals.

Conclusion: The S.T.A.R.T Marketing Framework was developed to cover most all of the angles needed for a sound, well-planned marketing strategy.  While this is not a comprehensive strategy planner, and most strategy lives in the gray, it does provide just about every entrepreneur the ability to work through it and gain most all of the clarity needed to have a manageable and fun marketing strategy to look forward to.