Plan Line Items
How to plan the marketing budget in detail? Review existing items and add new ones based on your marketing strategy for this year.
Review Existing Expenses First
Start with importing the previous year's budget. Decide which expenses to keep, reduce, or scale.
Consider price increases, especially for software tools. Most SaaS companies raise prices annually by 10-20%. Add this to your calculations.
Add new line items
Focus first on new channels and experiments you want to test. Map out marketing initiatives and campaigns before deciding on additional headcount or contractor needs.
Plan your headcount category
Create a separate category for headcount costs. Split your workforce budget between full-time employees and contractors. During budget approval and analysis, you'll need to know what percentage of your total budget goes to FTEs (hardest to reduce) versus contractors (quickest to cut if needed).
Each marketing role must align with a clear business goal: acquisition, conversion, or retention. In a growth-driven company, most of your team should focus on acquisition activities.