01What the quoted percentages actually measure
Two figures get passed around. Gartner's 2026 CMO Spend Survey, published on 11 May 2026, found marketing budgets at 7.8% of company revenue, up slightly from 7.7% in 2025. It surveyed 401 CMOs and other marketing leaders in North America, the UK and Europe between January and March 2026, and the vast majority of the companies reported annual revenue above $1 billion. That is a large-company number, not a small-business one. The US Small Business Administration (SBA) has a post on marketing budgets, dated 9 July 2019. It says there is no hard and fast answer, that many businesses use a percentage of revenues as a guide, and that you need to budget more when your business is just starting out. It also passes on a Web Strategies figure: average marketing spending in 2018 was 7.9% of revenues. We did not open the Web Strategies report, so we cannot say whose spending it averages. You will also see 7 to 8 percent credited to the SBA. We could not open an SBA page that states it, so we do not cite it. We opened the Gartner release and the SBA post on 15 October 2026.
- Gartner 2026: 7.8% of revenue, 401 CMOs and marketing leaders, North America, UK and Europe, vast majority of companies above $1 billion in revenue (Gartner press release, 11 May 2026)
- SBA post, 9 July 2019: no hard and fast answer, a percentage of revenues is a common guide, budget more when starting out
- Neither figure is Romanian, and neither is a recommendation for a business your size
- We opened no Romanian benchmark, so we quote none
03A way to set the number without a benchmark
Work from the bottom up. First, write down what one new customer is worth to you in profit, not revenue. Second, decide the most you can spend each month without putting rent or wages at risk. That is your ceiling. Third, split it into two lines: fees for whoever does the work, and media, meaning the money paid to Google or Meta for ads. Fourth, pick a review date before you start and decide what you will count, such as enquiries received or calls from your Google profile. Nobody controls a Google position, so judge the spend by numbers you can check in your own inbox. How the ad money itself behaves is a separate subject, covered in our post on Google Ads for a small local business.
- Profit per new customer: the number the rest depends on
- A monthly ceiling: what you can spend without risking rent or wages
- Two lines: fees for the work, and media paid to the ad platforms
- A review date and a count you can check yourself, both set before you start
04What PROOF48's plans look like against monthly revenue
PROOF48's marketing plans are priced in EUR a month. FOUND is 297 EUR: Google Business Profile management and local SEO on five target keywords. BROADCAST is 597 EUR and adds 12 AI videos a month. GROWTH is 1,497 EUR for Meta and Google ad management, with ad spend billed separately. AUTOMATE is 2,997 EUR and adds a website chatbot, DM and email auto-responders, and booking automation with a CRM. PARTNER is 7,497 EUR. Each tier includes the one below it. Say your business takes in 20,000 EUR a month, an example and not a benchmark. The fees alone are about 1.5% (FOUND), 3.0% (BROADCAST), 7.5% (GROWTH) and 15.0% (AUTOMATE) of that, and on GROWTH the ad spend comes on top. Against a monthly ceiling of 1,000 EUR, FOUND and BROADCAST fit and GROWTH does not, even before a euro goes to ads.
- FOUND 297 EUR a month: about 1.5% of 20,000 EUR monthly revenue
- BROADCAST 597 EUR: about 3.0%
- GROWTH 1,497 EUR: about 7.5%, with ad spend billed separately on top
- AUTOMATE 2,997 EUR: about 15.0%. It does not cover WhatsApp or phone
- The 20,000 EUR is an example to show the arithmetic, not a benchmark
05Where PROOF48 is the wrong choice
If your monthly ceiling is under 297 EUR, a plan is not for you yet. Put that money into a Google Business Profile you manage yourself and into asking satisfied customers for reviews. If you have no website, start there: a business website of up to about five pages costs 500 to 2,500 EUR, you see a live preview in 48 hours and you pay after it. The marketing plans are built for a site that is already live. If most of your customers reach you through WhatsApp or phone calls, AUTOMATE does not cover either. And if you want a promised ranking or a promised number of customers, we are the wrong choice, because nobody can promise either and PROOF48 does not. Stores (2,500 to 4,500 EUR) and web apps (from 5,000 EUR) are separate projects with their own timelines, and larger projects may need a deposit as agreed in our terms.
- Ceiling under 297 EUR a month: no plan yet, manage your Google profile and ask for reviews yourself
- No website yet: start with the 48-hour website, 500 to 2,500 EUR, paid after the preview
- Customers who reach you by WhatsApp or phone: AUTOMATE covers neither
- A promised Google position or customer count: nobody can promise it, and we do not
A campaign system, and no spend figures
FreshBatch is a food marketplace PROOF48 built in Romania, with more than 19 businesses publishing fresh batches on it. It includes a campaign system that lets producers run offers. We do not publish its transaction volume, and we hold no marketing spend or revenue figures for FreshBatch or its producers, so this case gives you no budget benchmark. What it shows is a marketing channel built into the product itself.
See the build: FreshBatchQuestions, answered
Is 7 to 8 percent of revenue the right marketing budget?
Not by default. Gartner's 7.8% comes from a survey where the vast majority of companies earn over $1 billion a year, and the SBA says there is no hard and fast answer. Set your number from the profit you can spare.
How much should a brand new business spend?
The SBA post says a business needs to budget more for marketing when it is just starting out, and it gives no amount. Set a monthly ceiling you can afford and a review date, and count what comes in.
Do the plan fee and the ad spend count together?
Yes, count both. On GROWTH the 1,497 EUR covers the management and ad spend is billed separately, so your real monthly figure is the fee plus the media.
Is there a Romanian benchmark for marketing spend?
We opened none, so we quote none. The two figures in this post are from a survey of mostly large companies in North America, the UK and Europe and from a US government post. Work from your own profit.
Can PROOF48 promise me customers for the money?
No. We do not promise a Google position or a number of customers, and nobody else can either. The plans list what we do each month, and you judge the spend by what you can count.
Where PROOF48 fits
The percentages that circulate are not made for you: Gartner's 7.8% of revenue comes from a 2026 survey of mostly companies above $1 billion, and the SBA says there is no hard and fast answer. Set a monthly ceiling from the profit you can spare, split it into fees and media, and judge it by numbers you can check. PROOF48's monthly plans start at 297 EUR for FOUND, and GROWTH ad spend is billed separately.
Cosmin Tiu · Founder, PROOF48
Cosmin has worked in online marketing and software development since 2018, and has built with AI every day since January 2023. He still writes code from scratch daily, in Python, React, Rust and C#. PROOF48 ships business websites in 48 hours and invoices afterwards, so every opinion on this blog was paid for in real builds, not in theory.