Average marketing budgets run roughly 7-10% of company revenue, per multi-year CMO survey data — with growth-stage companies spending above the band and mature ones below it. (Gartner / Deloitte CMO surveys)
B2C companies consistently budget a higher revenue share for marketing than B2B — commonly 9-12% versus 6-9%. (Deloitte CMO Survey, multiple waves)
Digital now takes roughly 55-60%+ of total marketing spend on average, and over 70% for SMBs that skip traditional media entirely. (Gartner spend surveys / SMB studies)
Consumer packaged goods, retail, and tech report the highest marketing intensity — often 10-15%+ of revenue — while energy, manufacturing, and B2B industrials sit at 2-6%. (Deloitte CMO Survey by industry)
Search (SEO + paid search combined) is the single largest line inside digital budgets for most industries, commonly 30-40% of digital spend. (Multiple digital budget allocation studies)
Median Ottawa SMB digital marketing spend in 2026 is $4,200/month, up 28% from 2024. (Ottawa SEO Inc. 2026 SMB Benchmark, n=142)
The multi-year average marketing budget across industries sits around 7-10% of company revenue. (Source: Gartner CMO Spend Survey / Deloitte CMO Survey)
B2C product companies budget the most aggressively — commonly 9-12%+ of revenue. (Source: Deloitte CMO Survey)
B2B product and services companies typically allocate 6-9% of revenue to marketing. (Source: Deloitte CMO Survey)
Growth-stage and newly launched companies commonly spend 12-20% of revenue on marketing to buy share; mature brands maintain at 5-8%. (Source: SBA guidance / VC benchmark reports)
Marketing budgets contracted sharply as a share of revenue in 2024-2025 amid economic caution, and 2026 survey waves show partial recovery rather than a return to pre-2023 highs. (Source: Gartner CMO Spend Survey commentary)
Consumer packaged goods and consumer services report the highest marketing intensity — frequently 10-15%+ of revenue. (Source: Deloitte CMO Survey by industry)
Technology and SaaS companies commonly budget 8-15% of revenue, with early-stage SaaS far above that during land-grab phases. (Source: Deloitte CMO Survey / SaaS benchmark reports)
Retail and e-commerce typically spend 8-12% of revenue, weighted heavily to performance channels. (Source: Deloitte CMO Survey / retail industry analyses)
Healthcare and professional services cluster in the 5-9% band, with regulated-industry constraints shaping the mix. (Source: Deloitte CMO Survey by industry)
Manufacturing, energy, and B2B industrials report the lowest marketing intensity — commonly 2-6% of revenue. (Source: Deloitte CMO Survey by industry)
Law firms are an outlier within professional services: competitive consumer practice areas (personal injury, family law) often push marketing to 10%+ of revenue. (Source: Legal marketing industry surveys)
Digital channels take roughly 55-60%+ of total marketing budgets on average, and the share rises every survey wave. (Source: Gartner CMO Spend Survey)
SMBs skew far more digital than enterprises — many under-50-employee businesses put 70-100% of marketing spend into digital channels. (Source: SMB marketing surveys, multiple sources)
Search (organic + paid combined) is the largest digital line for most industries, commonly 30-40% of digital spend. (Source: Digital budget allocation studies, multiple sources)
Paid social and paid search together consume over half of many SMB digital budgets — which is exactly why owned-asset channels like SEO compound in relative value as ad prices inflate. (Source: WordStream / LocaliQ SMB advertising analyses)
Marketing technology (tools, analytics, automation) absorbs roughly one-quarter of marketing budgets at the enterprise level — a line SMBs routinely underestimate. (Source: Gartner CMO Spend Survey)
Median Ottawa SMB digital marketing spend in 2026 is $4,200/month — up 28% from 2024. (Source: Ottawa SEO Inc. 2026 SMB Benchmark (n=142))
Higher-LTV Canadian verticals (legal, medical, real estate) budget $5,500-$7,800/month for digital; trades and retail sit at $2,800-$3,800/month. (Source: Ottawa SEO Inc. 2026 SMB Benchmark)
47% of surveyed Ottawa SMBs rank local SEO + Google Business Profile as their single highest-ROI channel — ahead of paid search and social. (Source: Ottawa SEO Inc. 2026 SMB Benchmark)
Only 11% of surveyed SMBs have a dedicated GEO/AI-search budget line in 2026, even though 64% already receive attributable AI-engine traffic — an allocation gap that first movers are exploiting. (Source: Ottawa SEO Inc. 2026 SMB Benchmark)
SMBs that allocate at least 30% of digital budget to owned assets (SEO, content, email) report lower blended cost-per-lead within 18 months than paid-only peers. (Source: Ottawa SEO Inc. client portfolio analysis (2026))
Anchor to your industry band — 7-10% of revenue on average, higher for B2C and growth-stage, lower for B2B industrials.
Digital should be the majority of spend for nearly every SMB; search deserves the largest digital line in most verticals.
As ad prices inflate, shift margin into owned assets — SEO, content, email — that compound instead of expiring.
Budget a GEO/AI-search line now: 64% of SMBs already get AI traffic but only 11% fund it deliberately.
Revisit allocation quarterly against cost-per-lead by channel, not annually against habit.
Multi-year CMO survey averages sit around 7-10% of revenue. B2C and growth-stage companies typically spend more (9-15%+), B2B services and industrials less (2-9%). The right number for you depends on growth targets and customer lifetime value — use the industry band as a sanity check, not a rule.
In our 2026 Ottawa benchmark, the median SMB spends $4,200/month on digital marketing, with high-LTV verticals like legal and medical at $5,500-$7,800 and trades/retail at $2,800-$3,800. US SMB surveys show comparable bands adjusted for market size.
Search overall (organic + paid) commonly takes 30-40% of digital budgets. Within that, businesses leaning on compounding growth typically put at least 30% of digital spend into owned assets — SEO, content, email — which our portfolio data links to lower blended cost-per-lead within 18 months versus paid-only strategies.
Consumer packaged goods, consumer services, retail/e-commerce, and technology consistently report the highest marketing intensity — often 10-15%+ of revenue. Manufacturing, energy, and B2B industrials report the lowest at 2-6%. Competitive consumer legal practices are a notable high-spend outlier within professional services.
Yes — the allocation gap is the opportunity. 64% of SMBs in our benchmark already receive attributable traffic from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, but only 11% fund GEO deliberately. Early citation authority in AI answers is durable, so a modest dedicated line now buys position that will cost far more to win later.