I want to take this opportunity to discuss your marketing budget. While speaking with other companies in Charlotte I’m surprised to find that many don’t have one, and if they do they’re unsure of the appropriate amount to be allocated; usually ranging anywhere from 1 to 20%.

Of course your budget should depend on several different factors such as your growth stage, competitive landscape and industry. Inc. produced a great article found here about avoiding things like your marketing budget ratio (MBR), and instead looking at your marketing dollars as an investment. Understand your sales process and that fact that you’ll incur revenues in subsequent periods, and create a quantifiable best/worst case scenario to work from.

Are you curious to know what your marketing budget should be? What you should be investing in? What other Charlotte companies are doing compared to you? If so, please fill out this anonymous 5 question survey below. It should take less than 2 minutes. I will report back in my next post and share the results with you.