Where should your marketing budget go?

Service businesses (medspa, dental): 8-15% of gross revenue typical. Ecommerce (Shopify): 15-25% for growth, 8-12% for steady state. Below 5% = under-investing for growth. Above 30% = check unit economics.

Year 1: 70% paid (Google Ads + Meta) / 30% organic (SEO + content + email). Year 2-3: 50/50. Year 3+: 30% paid / 70% organic as SEO compounds. Most over-invest in paid year 3+.

Medspa: 60% Google (high-intent local search) + 40% Meta (visual/aspirational targeting). Dental: 70% Google. Plastic surgery: 50/50. Law firm: 80% Google + LSA. Shopify ecom: 40% Google / 60% Meta.

Under $500K revenue: hire agency ($1,500-$3,000/mo flat). $500K-$5M: hybrid — agency for technical + content writer in-house. $5M+: in-house team of 2-3 + freelance specialists.

Klaviyo/HubSpot platform fee: $40-$400/mo depending on list size. Content + automation setup: $500-$2,000/mo if outsourced. Goal: 25-35% of total revenue should come from email/SMS by month 12.

Launch (0-6 mo): 80% paid, fast feedback loop. Growth (6-24 mo): 50/50 paid+organic, building moat. Scale (24+ mo): 30/70 paid+organic, brand + SEO + email compounding.

Most under-invest. 10-15% of marketing budget should go to content (blog posts, video, social). Year 1 returns weak. Year 2 compounds. Year 3 = lowest CAC channel for most service businesses.

CAC ÷ LTV < 1:3 = unprofitable. 1:3 = working. 1:5+ = scaleable. Track per-channel CAC monthly. Cut bottom-quartile channels. Reallocate to top quartile.

Service biz: $3K Google Ads + $1K SEO retainer + $500 email/SMS automation + $500 in reserve for testing. Ecom: $3K Meta + $1K Klaviyo + $500 content + $500 testing. Test 90 days then reallocate.

Mandeep Singh, Sprout Sage Solutions. I run paid + organic across 8 verticals. The allocator is the math I show every prospect during budget discussions.