How long is a piece of (strategic) string?
How much you should really be investing in your marketing strategy and why.
Jumping straight into marketing execution, without first formulating strategy, is akin to setting fire to your precious marketing budget. Deeply understanding business, customer and competitive context, and triangulating this insight to determine how, when and where to engage with your target audience is essential if you don’t want to just ‘spray and pray’ when it comes to putting anything out to market.
But while many marketers can confidently put together a marketing plan (the ‘what’)- the strategic process (‘the why’) can prove far more challenging. Lack of experience, lack of confidence and lack of time can all result in a laundry list of activities that ‘feel right’... but are they really the best use of limited resources and will they maximise return on investment? (spoiler alert- the answer is, probably not).
It’s precisely because of this challenge that developing marketing strategy (brand, customer value proposition and go-to-market) is how we happily spend the vast majority of our time at Wingmaven. Our customers have all cottoned onto the value of bringing in external, experienced big brand leadership to help them set clear strategic goals and guardrails so that they can move forward with confidence.
But with every new engagement, we find ourselves helping customers get comfortable with what proportion of their marketing budget they should be allocating to strategy. Because you can’t attribute the strategic work itself to a direct outcome e.g. leads, sales etc, the right level of investment can be difficult to determine and justify to the purse-string holders.
While the ideal allocation will vary based on industry, company size, and market dynamics, there are some good rules of thumb when it comes to figuring this out, which we’ve shared below.
If you’re an established brand that wants to maintain performance while laying a foundation for the future:
Recommendation: Allocate 70% of the budget to proven marketing execution (ongoing campaigns), 20% to innovative or growth-driving activities, and 10% to purely strategic planning and testing.
Why? This approach ensures most of the budget supports active campaigns while leaving room for innovation and strategy to guide future initiatives. Make the most of your relative stability, and get a head start on planning for future growth.
If you’re a company undergoing transition or embarking on a significant growth phase:
Recommendation: Dedicate about 10-15% of the marketing budget to strategic planning at the start of the fiscal year, especially if entering a new market, launching a significant new product, or facing considerable market change.
Why? Having a clear strategic foundation at the outset allows for better use of the remaining budget on aligned, effective execution efforts. Not doing the right amount of thinking upfront about how to market through change, is like stepping onto a dodgy rollercoaster blindfolded. Hold on tight, it’s going to be a bumpy ride, and you’ll probably lose the contents of your pockets along the way.
If you’re a newer, or high growth company:
Recommendation: For high-growth or newer companies, consider dedicating roughly one-third of the marketing budget to strategy initially. As the market position solidifies, reduce this proportion in favour of execution.
Why? Newer companies benefit from a heavier upfront investment in strategy to establish positioning and competitive differentiation, which can then be fine-tuned with a heavier execution focus as the brand matures. Being confident you’ve identified competitive ‘white space’ and the most compelling and effective way to get prospects to pay attention and engage is essential. You don’t get a second chance at a first impression, as they say.
If you’re an established company revisiting your core positioning:
Recommendation; During rebranding or other major transitions, consider an even 50-50 split between strategy and execution for one cycle. The high strategic investment helps ensure alignment with new objectives and messaging.
Why? By balancing strategy and execution equally, brands navigating a shift can ensure both internal clarity and effective external messaging. You can’t just press pause on your current state while you work out your new path forward. But you also can’t underestimate the effort required to determine the right positioning (evolution or revolution) and how you’ll take customers and employees alike on the change journey without giving them whiplash.
If you’re a mature organisation, in a stable market:
Recommendation: Opt for a lean strategy allocation (around 5-10%) with quarterly or biannual adjustments. Invest more in execution but revisit the strategic allocation as market conditions change.
Why? This approach emphasises execution, ideal for mature companies with minimal need for strategic overhaul, while periodic strategic reviews keep execution aligned with any subtle shifts in market dynamics. It’s easy to get lazy with strategy when there isn’t an immediate catalyst for change. But this is exactly when you’re most vulnerable to disruption. Start-ups and international competitors can smell ‘comfortable’ a mile off so you need to invest in figuring out how to stay ahead, not just get ahead.
When in doubt, consider the following:
Market complexity: In highly competitive or rapidly changing markets, a higher proportion dedicated to strategy may yield better results- so you are crystal clear how you can cut through the noise.
Product lifecycle: Allocate more to strategy when launching a new product or entering a market, then shift to execution as the product gains traction. And for Pete’s sake, get marketing involved upfront in strategic product development… not just when it’s time to go to market. It’ll save them trying to ‘lipstick the pig’, aka desperately trying to find an audience/appeal for a product with low relevance or differentiation.
Budget size: Smaller marketing budgets (<$100K) may necessitate a leaner strategy allocation, with a focus on efficient execution methods.
Wherever you land, know that there’s no shortcut around a strategy-first approach, if you want to pave the way for effective, goal-aligned execution. And if we can help you figure out where to start, or how to squeeze every drop out of your strategic marketing investment (big or small), let’s chat!
