The ultimate guide to marketing budget planning in 2025

2025 is just around the corner, and for marketing leaders, the pressure is on to create a budget that will set the enterprise up for success. But where do you start? It can be tempting to rely on last year’s numbers, but successful marketing budget planning for 2025 requires a more dynamic approach that reflects current market realities.

This means taking the time to understand your enterprise’s unique challenges and possibilities and creating a budget that reflects those circumstances. It also means being willing to make tough choices and prioritize investments that will drive long-term growth and success.

The stakes are high, and the pressure is on, but with a well-structured approach, you can confidently steer your enterprise toward success in 2025 and beyond.

A comprehensive guide to enterprise marketing budget planning for 2025: 3 core concepts

1. Set clear objectives that align with your business goals

Setting clear and well-defined marketing objectives is the foundation of any successful budget planning process. Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) is a powerful concept to help you integrate your marketing goals with overarching business objectives.

OKRs provide a framework to focus on what matters most, divide resources efficiently, and ensure that every marketing activity is contributing to the larger vision. It has two main components:

Objectives: Qualitative descriptions of what you aim to achieve. These have to be significant, concrete, and action-oriented to provide clear direction.

Key results: Quantitative metrics used to measure the achievement of the objective. Key results are specific, time-bound, and measurable, indicating whether the objective has been met.

For example, if a critical business objective is to increase market share, the marketing team could set an OKR like:

Objective: Expand into new customer segments
Key result 1: Acquire 10,000 new customers from target segment X
Key result 2: Increase brand awareness by 25% in region Y

This approach allocates your dollars toward impactful, goal-driven marketing activities.

As you plan your budget with the OKR framework, include agile marketing principles too. Agile marketing encourages an iterative, data-driven approach to budget planning and execution. Rather than committing the entire budget upfront, you can reserve a portion for experimentation and continuous optimization. This facilitates quickly testing new channels, campaigns or tactics, measures performance, and doubles down on what works while pivoting away from underperforming initiatives.

With a combination of OKRs and agile principles, marketing teams can plan and invest budgets strategically, stay in line with business objectives, and maintain a test-and-learn mindset for maximum return on investment (ROI).

2. Use historical data to inform budget decisions

To make smart decisions about your marketing budget, you must look at past information and review how well your campaigns have done. By figuring out what worked well before and finding any areas needing improvement, you can use your resources better and maximize your marketing budget.

Identify successful channels and tactics

Analyzing historical data helps identify the channels and tactics that consistently deliver solid results for your enterprise. Here are some key metrics you need to consider to identify the best channels and campaigns:

Return on investment (ROI): Tracking ROI across different channels and campaigns helps prioritize marketing investments. For example, suppose last year’s email marketing campaign generated an ROI of 300%, while the social media advertising campaign only yielded a 50% ROI. In that case, you might consider allocating a larger budget for email marketing, provided all other metrics like customer engagement, conversion rates, and overall brand awareness also align positively with your strategic objectives. By evaluating past campaign performance, you can prioritize channels and tactics that have proven to be most effective.

Cost per acquisition (CPA): Monitoring CPA across different channels and campaigns allows marketers to identify the most cost-effective acquisition strategies and earmark budgets accordingly. For instance, after analyzing last year’s data, you discover that your ad campaign on platform A had a CPA of $15, while your ad campaign on platform B had a CPA of $40. Based on this information, you can allocate a larger share of your budget to platform A since it is a more cost-effective channel for acquiring new customers.

Customer lifetime value (CLV): CLV measures how much revenue an enterprise can expect from a customer over the course of their relationship. For instance, if a meal subscription service charges $10 per meal and the average customer orders four meals per month for two years, the CLV would be $960 ($10 x 4 meals x 24 months).

Knowing the CLV helps determine an appropriate customer acquisition budget—if the cost to acquire a new customer (CPA) is lower than the CLV, it’s a profitable investment. A good rule of thumb is to maintain your CPA at one-third of your CLV. In this case, since the CLV of the meal subscription service is $960, it makes sense to prioritize marketing channels and strategies with a CPA of $320 or less (13% of $960) during your marketing budget planning for 2025.

Based on this data, you can strategically designate your budget to marketing strategies that are the most profitable and consistent with your business goals.

You also need to keep an eye on the buyer’s journey to identify which specific ads or campaigns generate the highest engagement and conversion rates. For example, on Yelp, you can track the entire customer journey from the point of interaction with your ads to the final conversion—be it offline visits, online purchases or bookings, or phone inquiries—even in cases of longer sales cycles. You can also analyze the effect of individual Yelp ad campaigns on brand lift.

These insights allow you to focus your budget on the most effective campaigns—the ones that drive high conversions or better brand recall. For instance, if you identify that a particular Yelp ad campaign leads to a significant increase in foot traffic or online orders, you can increase its budget to further amplify its reach, helping you deliver marketing efforts that are both efficient and impactful.

Determine areas for optimization and improvement

Historical data analysis also reveals areas where marketing efforts have fallen short or could be optimized for better performance. By identifying these opportunities for improvement, you can refine your strategies and distribute resources more efficiently.

For example, if a retail brand notices high cart abandonment rates on its e-commerce website, it may invest in remarketing campaigns and email nurture sequences to recover lost sales. If a SaaS company sees low engagement rates on its blog content, it may reevaluate its content strategy, conduct audience research, and develop more targeted and valuable resources for its target personas.

It’s essential to consider short-term and long-term performance when evaluating channels and tactics. While some initiatives may generate immediate results, others may require a more prolonged investment to build brand equity and drive sustainable growth. For instance, content marketing and SEO efforts may take several months to yield significant traffic and lead generation, but they can provide a strong foundation for long-term organic growth.

Forecast future trends based on historical patterns

While historical data provides an insightful analysis of past performance, it’s also essential to consider emerging advertising trends and consumer behavior shifts when planning future marketing budgets. By analyzing historical patterns and combining them with industry research and market intelligence, you can make informed predictions about future trends and adapt your strategies accordingly.

For example, if a beauty brand has seen a steady increase in demand for clean and sustainable products over the past few years, it may forecast continued growth in this segment and designate more resources to promote its eco-friendly products and practices.

Predictive analytics and machine learning tools can help marketers leverage historical data to forecast future trends and optimize budget allocation. Platforms like Salesforce Einstein and IBM Watson use advanced algorithms to identify patterns, predict customer behavior, and recommend optimal marketing strategies based on historical data and real-time insights.

You can also use external resources like publications and reliable websites to forecast future trends. For example, the Yelp Trend Tracker is published each month and the Trend Forecast report each year to show rising trends based on search metrics. You can use this information to identify the expected trends for 2025 to plan your budget appropriately.

3. Set aside funds to include the advancements in tech and user preferences

As we step into 2025, the marketing landscape is set to be reshaped by the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and the evolving user preferences for voice and visual search. Enterprises must not only stay ahead of these trends but also strategically plan their budgets to leverage these innovations effectively.

The 2024 Gartner CMO Spend Survey highlights the growing importance of AI in marketing, with a staggering 95% of chief marketing officers (CMOs) prioritizing investments in this transformative technology.

To harness the power of AI, CMOs should set aside funds for AI-powered tools that aid marketers in creating high-quality, engaging content at scale. Additionally, investing in AI-driven predictive analytics platforms and data infrastructure will be crucial to anticipating customer needs, predicting churn, and optimizing campaigns in real time.

Alongside the AI revolution, user preferences are shifting towards voice and visual search. A recent study by NPR found that 62% of Americans above 18 years old use a voice assistant on any device—including smartphones, laptops, speakers, smart devices, tablets, and TV remotes.

To cater to these evolving user preferences, enterprises must assign resources for voice and visual search optimization tools and create content tailored to these emerging search behaviors. This could involve investing in structured data markup, schema optimization, and visual content creation to enhance visibility across voice and visual search platforms.

However, while embracing these advancements, you need to maintain a balanced approach, allocating resources to traditional search optimization and these new frontiers to maximize reach and impact.

How to strategically allocate budget across various marketing channels

A survey of chief marketing officers about their allocation of online marketing budgets found that 10.1% went to social advertising, 9.8% to search advertising, and 9.3% to digital display advertising.

This data provides a valuable starting point for CMOs to allocate their budgets strategically. However, it’s essential to recognize that these allocations may vary depending on factors such as industry, target audience, and specific business objectives. For instance, B2B companies may prioritize search and email marketing, while B2C brands focus more on social media and influencer partnerships.

You can also leverage the 70-20-10 rule as a guiding principle for agile marketing budget allocation across channels. This rule suggests allocating the budget in the following proportions:

• 70% to proven, high-performing channels and tactics
• 20% to emerging trends and experimental initiatives
• 10% to high-risk, high-reward innovations

The 70% allocation keeps most of the budget invested in channels and tactics consistently delivering strong ROI, such as traditional, search, social, and email marketing. This provides a stable foundation for driving predictable results and maintaining market share.

The 20% allocation allows testing and learning with emerging trends like voice search, AI-powered personalization, or AR/VR customer experiences. By dedicating a portion of the budget to these experimental initiatives, you can stay ahead of the curve, identify new growth opportunities, and gain a competitive edge.

High-risk, high-reward innovations that have the potential to disrupt the market and drive outsized returns make up the remaining 10%. These could include cutting-edge technologies like AR/VR, blockchain-based loyalty programs, or pioneering new business models. While these initiatives may not always pan out, the potential upside and lessons learned justify the calculated risk.

The 70-20-10 rule provides a structured yet flexible framework for budget allocation, enabling CMOs to balance stability, experimentation, and innovation. However, adapting these proportions based on industry dynamics, company size, and risk tolerance is essential.

A go-to template for marketing budget planning 2025

This template for marketing budget planning in 2025 provides a structured framework to organize your budget across your marketing channels. With clear categories and simple classifications, you can designate resources effectively and easily map out your budget.

Download marketing budget planning template

The 5-step approach to plan your enterprise marketing budget

As enterprises embark on the critical task of marketing budget planning for 2025, a well-structured approach can ensure optimal resource allocation. By following these five fundamental steps, organizations can navigate the complexities of the evolving business landscape and position themselves for long-term success.

Step 1: Review the current financial situation

The first step is to conduct a thorough analysis of the current financial situation, including a review of historical performance, an assessment of the competitive landscape, and an evaluation of the macroeconomic environment—using tools like Anaplan and Tableau BI. This analysis should involve gathering input from various stakeholders, such as business unit leaders, customers, and industry experts, to understand the organization’s opportunities and challenges.

Step 2: Create detailed financial projections for the next year

Based on the analysis of the current financial position, the next step is to develop detailed financial projections for the upcoming year. This involves forecasting revenue, expenses, and cash flows based on numerous assumptions and scenarios. Tools like Adaptive Planning and Anaplan make it easier to analyze and plan your budget.

To ensure the accuracy and reliability of these projections, enterprises must leverage advanced forecasting techniques—like predictive analytics and machine learning algorithms—to help identify patterns, detect anomalies, and generate more precise estimates. Additionally, organizations should conduct sensitivity analyses to assess the impact of various risk factors, such as changes in market conditions, regulatory shifts, or technological disruptions, on their financial performance.

Step 3: Allocate resources for different projects, channels, and business units

Once the financial projections are established, the next step is to assign resources across various business units, projects, and initiatives based on their strategic importance and expected ROI.

You can choose from the different marketing budgeting models available for enterprises to decide the exact method of allocating the budget.

Once you have the budgeting model ready, you can use the following metrics to evaluate the potential benefits and risks of each investment across each channel or project:

• Net present value (NPV) looks at how much money an investment will make in the future, adjusted for the time value of money. It helps determine if a project will be profitable.
• Internal rate of return (IRR) calculates the expected yearly return or profit an investment will generate. The higher IRR, the better.
• Payback period shows how long it will take for an investment to repay its upfront costs from the money it generates. While shorter payback periods are often preferred, a longer payback period may still be viable if they offer significant long-term value.

These numbers help evaluate investments based on projected profits, returns, and how quickly costs are recovered. Using such clear data points helps make smarter decisions on where to spend money.

Step 4: Develop a strong monitoring system

With the resources allocated, you need to establish a robust performance monitoring and reporting framework to track the progress of the budget plan and identify areas for improvement. This involves setting up key performance indicators (KPIs) and benchmarks for each business unit and initiative, as well as defining clear roles and responsibilities for data collection, analysis, and reporting.

To facilitate timely and accurate monitoring, enterprises should invest in real-time dashboarding and analytics tools. These tools provide a consolidated view of financial and operational performance and enable managers to make data-driven decisions. You can use the same tools, like Adaptive Planning and Anaplan, for this purpose.

Step 5: Establish an agile culture of experimentation and growth

Finally, you need to foster a culture of continuous improvement and adaptability in the budget planning process. Given the rapidly evolving nature of the business environment, enterprises must be prepared to adjust their budgets and strategies in response to new challenges and opportunities.

A flexible and agile approach to budgeting, with regular reviews and updates based on the latest data and insights, is required. To support this culture of adaptability, organizations should encourage experimentation, innovation, and learning from failures, as well as promote open communication and collaboration across different functions and levels.

Start strong: Lay the groundwork for marketing success

As the old expression goes, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” For enterprises, this has never been more true than when it comes to marketing budget planning for 2025.

An effective budget hinges on the integration of solid foundational guiding principles with a structured, data-driven process. By optimizing your marketing spend with strategic business objectives and leveraging advanced forecasting techniques to optimize resource allocation while still creating the space to experiment with new advancements and trends, you can position yourself for long-term success.

For multi-location enterprises facing the challenge of planning the budget across different locations and verticals, check out these seven location-based budgeting strategies.