Enji recommends that most small businesses budget between 7–12% of their revenue for marketing—but your exact number depends on your business type, growth stage, and goals. Product-based businesses usually need to invest more to keep attracting new buyers, while service-based businesses may spend less if they rely on referrals or SEO. The most important part? Track what’s working, so you’re not just spending—you’re investing.
The Real Talk: Marketing costs money, but it shouldn't break the bank.
Let’s be honest—figuring out your marketing budget can feel like trying to hit a moving target. But after working with hundreds of small businesses, Enji has seen what actually works: the businesses that grow sustainably are the ones that invest consistently and track what’s working.
A good rule of thumb? Plan to spend 7–12% of your total target revenue on marketing. If you sell physical products or run an eCommerce store, you’ll likely be closer to the higher end of that range since you constantly need to attract new customers. If you run a service-based business with strong word-of-mouth or SEO traction, you might get results spending a bit less.
Just getting started? Expect to invest more upfront to build awareness and momentum. You’re laying the foundation for future results—and that takes resources.
And don’t forget—marketing doesn’t just cost money. It costs time, too. Whether you’re writing emails, creating content, or managing social media, those hours add up fast. That’s why Enji helps you create a strategy and system upfront—so you’re not stuck reinventing the wheel or wasting effort on things that don’t move the needle.
The key isn’t just how much you spend—it’s knowing whether that spend is working. That’s where your customer acquisition cost (CAC) comes in: divide your monthly marketing spend by the number of new customers you gained. If that number is higher than what those customers are paying you, it’s time to adjust.
Enji’s KPI Dashboard helps you keep tabs on the numbers that actually matter, so you can make smarter decisions about where to spend and when to scale. Marketing isn’t a cost—it’s an investment. The goal is to spend what makes sense for your business, at your stage, with your goals.
These are the Enji tools and capabilities that best address this question.
Your marketing budget shouldn't be a shot in the dark. Our KPI tracking can let you track your spend and your revenue so you can see exactly what's working. That way, you can invest more in the good stuff and ditch what's not. Make your budget actually make sense because informed spending beats shot-in-the-dark spending every time.
