Where is My Money Going? A 10-Step Marketing Budget Audit

Categorizing Spend: Media, Tools, People, Production

Break down your budget into categories:

Media Spend (Paid Advertising)

• Google Ads
• Facebook/Instagram Ads
• LinkedIn Ads
• Other paid channels
• Track: Spend, ROAS, ROI by channel

Tools & Software

• CRM subscriptions
• Email marketing platforms
• Analytics tools
• Design tools
• Other SaaS tools
• Track: Monthly/annual costs, usage

People (Salaries & Contractors)

• Marketing team salaries
• Freelancers and contractors
• Agency retainers
• Track: Total people costs

Production Costs

• Content creation (blog, video, design)
• Website development
• Events and conferences
• Other one-time costs
• Track: Production spend

Identifying Waste (Unused Tools, Bad Ads)

Find where money is wasted:

Unused Tools

• Tools no one uses
• Duplicate tools (doing the same thing)
• Overpriced tools (paying for features you don't use)
• Action: Cancel unused, consolidate duplicates

Bad Ads

• Ads with negative ROAS
• Ads with high spend, low conversion
• Underperforming campaigns
• Action: Pause or optimize

Reallocating from Low to High Performance

Move money to what works:

The Process

1. Identify top performers (high ROI channels)
2. Identify low performers (low/no ROI)
3. Reduce spend on low performers
4. Increase spend on high performers
5. Test new channels with freed-up budget

Benchmarking Your Spend

Compare to industry standards:

Typical Budget Allocation

• Media/Advertising: 40-60%
• People/Salaries: 25-35%
• Tools: 5-10%
• Production: 10-20%

Planning for Experimentation

Set aside budget for testing:

Experimentation Budget

• 10-20% of total budget
• Test new channels
• Test new tactics
• Scale what works, kill what doesn't

Conclusion

Audit your marketing budget regularly. Categorize spend, identify waste, reallocate from low to high performance, benchmark against industry, and plan for experimentation. The result? More efficient spend and better ROI.