How much should Australian businesses spend on marketing in 2025? It’s a key question that continues to shape how brands plan, grow, and compete in an evolving digital-first economy. With changing consumer expectations, rising marketing costs, and increasing pressure to achieve strong returns, marketing spend is now one of the most strategic decisions a business can make.
The Value of a Well-Planned Marketing Budget
A marketing budget is far more than a yearly cost—it’s a roadmap for growth. In today’s economic climate, marketing investments must be guided by clear business objectives and measurable outcomes. A comprehensive marketing budget establishes where and how marketing funds should be spent, helping businesses balance short-term campaigns and long-term brand building.
Across Australia, marketing experts suggest that marketing spend as a percentage of revenue by industry continues to vary widely depending on sector, competition level, and company size. Yet, the principle remains the same: your marketing strategy should align budget allocation with both your marketing goals and wider business targets.
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The Average Marketing Budget in 2025
As we move further into the digital age, marketing budget trends in Australia reveal that most businesses dedicate between 5% and 10% of total revenue to marketing activities. For industries facing tighter competition or growth objectives, that figure can rise to as much as 15%.
Small businesses often spend about 3–8% of total revenue, primarily focusing on essential online marketing and social media marketing.
Mid-sized businesses generally invest around 7–12%, using more resources for content marketing and paid search through Google Ads or LinkedIn advertising.
Larger enterprises continuously adapt marketing efforts, often spending 10–15% of revenue to defend brand visibility and strengthen their market position.
Determining the right figure depends on understanding industry marketing budget standards, your existing customers, and how much revenue is spent across comparable competitors. It’s not just about percentages—it’s about clarity of objectives and return on investment.
How Industry Affects Marketing Spend
Each industry has its own benchmarks for marketing spend based on customer acquisition costs, average revenue, and profit margin.
Retail and eCommerce: Fast-moving and competitive sectors often allocate up to 12% of company revenue to marketing campaigns, with a strong focus on digital advertising and social media platforms.
Professional Services: Accounting, legal, and consulting firms usually spend about 5–7% on marketing initiatives, leaning on relationship-building activities and SEO to reach a broader audience.
Technology: Businesses in tech tend to invest heavily—often 10% or more of total revenue—on brand authority, online marketing, and targeted campaigns aimed at specific objectives.
Understanding industry benchmarks helps ensure your marketing plan remains realistic yet aggressive enough to compete in a crowded market.
Allocating Your Marketing Budget Effectively
A well-defined marketing budget ensures your marketing efforts are both efficient and strategic. Here is how Australian businesses are allocating funds in 2025:
Marketing Channel | Typical Budget Allocation | Key Benefits |
|---|---|---|
Digital Advertising (Google, Meta, LinkedIn) | 25–30% | Fast lead generation, measurable results |
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) | 15–20% | Long-term brand visibility and credibility |
Content Marketing (Blogs, Video, Articles) | 15–20% | Brand building and inbound lead generation |
Social Media Marketing | 15–20% | Increased brand awareness and community engagement |
Email Marketing | 10–15% | Direct communication and customer retention |
Traditional Advertising (Print, Radio, Outdoor) | 5–10% | Local presence and trust in traditional media |
This type of detailed budget allocation allows you to evaluate which marketing channels deliver the best performance metrics and adjust accordingly.
Setting Marketing Spend as a Percentage of Revenue
For most businesses, determining marketing spend comes down to understanding what percentage of revenue should support marketing activities. This approach provides transparency and helps align marketing investments with financial capacity.
You can use a simple formula to start planning:
Marketing Spend=Total Revenue×Target Percentage\text{Marketing Spend} = \text{Total Revenue} \times \text{Target Percentage}Marketing Spend=Total Revenue×Target Percentage
For instance, a company generating $3 million in annual revenue and allocating 8% toward marketing efforts would invest $240,000 annually. Within that, marketing spend can then be divided across campaigns and initiatives based on company goals and audience reach.
Balancing Short-Term and Long-Term Marketing Goals
A typical marketing budget should support both quick-win campaigns and longer-term brand building. Short-term activities like digital ads or influencer partnerships generate leads quickly, while strategies such as content marketing and SEO contribute to sustainable growth and improved brand reputation.
Businesses that successfully balance both achieve consistent lead generation, improved customer acquisition, and greater marketing success—even during periods of economic uncertainty.
The Growing Importance of Digital Marketing
In 2025, digital marketing remains the cornerstone of most marketing strategies in Australia. Consumers spend more time online than ever before, and businesses are investing heavily in channels like Google Ads, paid search, and personalised content delivery.
Social media marketing now accounts for a major portion of budgets, as platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn prove essential for reaching target audiences. Meanwhile, online marketing tools such as marketing automation and data analytics platforms enable greater insight and efficiency across campaigns.
This shift has caused a gradual decline in traditional advertising while reinforcing the dominance of digital advertising as the most cost-effective way to reach today’s consumers.
Why SEO and Content Marketing Still Matter
Search engine optimization and content marketing remain critical pillars of a successful marketing plan. These channels not only drive organic leads but also strengthen brand authority and visibility on search engines.
The vast majority of consumers begin their buying journey with online research, making content marketing one of the most valuable long-term marketing investments. Maintaining a consistent blog strategy, updating your website for SEO, and producing helpful, audience-focused content helps establish credibility while driving substantial organic traffic.
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Key Factors to Consider in Budget Allocation
Building a marketing budget that delivers consistent results requires more than just setting aside funds. It demands careful consideration of the factors that drive campaign performance and influence how effectively your marketing spend supports business growth.
1. Business Goals and Specific Objectives
Your marketing strategy should always reflect specific objectives, such as generating leads, improving brand recognition, or entering global markets. Businesses must align marketing funds with measurable outcomes.
2. Customer Acquisition Costs
Knowing how much you spend acquiring a new customer informs how aggressively you can scale your marketing spend. Reducing customer acquisition costs through automation and optimised marketing plays can improve profitability.
3. Market Competition and Economic Conditions
During times of economic uncertainty or increased competition, investing consistently in brand awareness can help your business maintain visibility and protect long-term growth.
Measuring Performance and Adjusting Marketing Investments
Tracking performance metrics is vital to ensure your marketing activities are working as intended. Regularly reviewing results allows you to reallocate funds where they produce the highest returns.
Key metrics to monitor include:
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
Conversion Rates (CR)
Cost per Lead (CPL)
Organic Traffic Growth
Engagement Across Social Media Platforms
By continuously adjusting your marketing efforts, you can build a more adaptive and effective marketing strategy over time.
Economic Trends and 2025 Budget Outlook
Marketing budget trends in 2025 show a steady increase in spending among Australian businesses despite market fluctuations. Many mid-sized and small businesses continue to focus marketing initiatives on digital-first approaches, while industries like retail, construction, and finance prioritise customer retention.
Marketing automation, data-driven campaigns, and local SEO are helping brands maximise their resources and reduce wasted ad spend. As companies continue refining their budgets, a flexible approach remains key to sustaining growth and profitability.
Conclusion
A well-defined marketing budget—shaped around realistic goals, clear segmentation, and the right marketing channels—enables consistent brand building and long-term revenue growth. Whether your focus is on increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or entering new markets, a data-led and customer-focused approach ensures better outcomes and higher returns.
ACT Marketing provides expert support in designing effective marketing plans tailored to your business objectives. Our strategies combine SEO, digital advertising, and data-driven insights to help businesses across Australia achieve measurable results.
Reach out today to create a marketing budget that delivers growth, strengthens brand reputation, and sets your business apart in 2025 and beyond.