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The Founder's Guide to Marketing Budgets

By TB Creative CO Apr 2026 5 min read
The Founder's Guide to Marketing Budgets

The Budget Dilemma

Allocating budgets across search engines, social media, and offline events is one of the hardest choices a founder faces. A structured framework removes the guesswork.

1. The 70/20/10 Budget Rule

Allocate 70% of budget to proven channels with predictable returns, 20% to scaling channels with high potential, and 10% to testing new experiments.

2. Core Acquisition vs. Brand Nurturing

Do not spend all your capital on top-of-funnel acquisition. Keep a dedicated portion for retargeting, email flows, and retention to optimize customer values.

3. Relentless Performance Audits

Review metrics weekly. Scale up campaigns exceeding target metrics, and pause or refine campaigns failing to show positive ROI signals after testing phases.