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Marketing Budget Tracker

Spot Wasted Spend. Redirect Resources. Drive Real Growth.

Why You Need to Track Every Pound You Spend

As a founder... every pound you spend matters.

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The problem is...

 

>>> most businesses have no clear visibility on where their marketing budget is actually going.

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You might be...

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  • Paying for ads that don't convert

  • Funding marketing channels out of habit rather than results

  • Continuing to work with agencies or freelancers who focus on vanity metrics instead of real customers

  • Spending on tools or subscriptions your team barely uses

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The result?


Your budget slowly bleeds away, and you're left feeling frustrated, wondering why all your hard work isn't paying off.

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The Marketing Budget Tracker fixes this by giving you complete clarity.


It shows you where every pound is going, highlights wasted spend, and helps you reallocate funds to what genuinely works.

The Goal of the Marketing Budget Tracker is Zero-Waste Marketing

Your marketing budget isn't just numbers on a spreadsheet... it's fuel for your growth.


If it's burned inefficiently, your business will always struggle to scale.

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This marketing budget tracker helps you...

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  • Identify wasted spend before it drains your profits

  • Measure ROI for each channel, campaign, or tool

  • Reallocate budget to the activities that actually generate customers

  • Simplify decision-making by showing what's working - and what isn't

  • Build a streamlined, focused marketing strategy that delivers maximum impact with minimum cost

When to Use This Marketing Budget Tracker

This isn't a tool you use once and forget about.


To truly eliminate waste, you should use it...

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  • Monthly - Review your current marketing spend and performance

  • Quarterly - Reallocate budgets for the next growth phase

  • Before any new campaign - Check if there's room to optimise existing spend first

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Think of it as your financial compass for marketing. It keeps you on track and stops you from wandering into costly dead ends.

How the Marketing Budget Tracker Works

The Marketing Budget Tracker is designed to be simple, practical, and built for founders with no financial or technical background.

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Here’s the step-by-step process...

Step 1: List All Marketing Costs

Capture every marketing-related pound you currently spend on...

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  • Paid ads (Google Ads, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)

  • Agencies or freelancers

  • Software subscriptions and marketing tools

  • Content production

  • Sponsorships or offline marketing

  • Any other related expenses

Step 2: Assign a Goal to Each Expense

Every cost must be tied to a clear, measurable goal such as...

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  • Lead generation

  • Customer acquisition

  • Brand awareness

  • Retention or upselling

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If you can't identify a goal, flag it for review - this may already be wasted spend.

Step 3: Track Performance

Add performance metrics such as...

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  • Leads generated

  • Sales conversions

  • Cost per lead

  • Cost per customer acquired

  • Revenue generated directly from this spend

Step 4: Highlight Wasted Spend

The tracker automatically highlights areas where the cost is higher than the return, showing you exactly where money is being lost.

Step 5: Reallocate Funds

Once you've identified waste... move that budget into...

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  • The marketing channels with proven ROI

  • New initiatives with high potential but low cost

  • Customer retention and upsell activities, which often cost less than acquisition

How to Get the Marketing Budget Tracker

This tool is completely free for founders who are serious about growing without the waste.

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  1. Download the file

  2. Add your own numbers

  3. Review and reallocate every month

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It's that simple.

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>>> Download Your Marketing Budget Tracker →

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What's inside?

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  • Instructions

    • Clear steps, formula explanations, cadence, and how thresholds work.

  • Tracker (Blank)

    • 20 ready rows with formulas for:

      • Cost per Result

      • ROI £

      • ROI %

      • Waste Level

      • Plus a totals row.

  • Tracker (Example)

    • 10 founder-relevant items prefilled, all formulas working:

      • Google Ads Search

      • Meta Ads Facebook and Instagram

      • LinkedIn Ads

      • SEO Freelancer

      • Blog Writing

      • Micro Influencer Collab

      • Email Platform ESP

      • CRM Software

      • Landing Page Builder

      • Local Event Booth

    • Includes totals and Waste Level colouring.

  • Config

    • Edit thresholds to fit your unit economics:

      • B2 Critical ROI% default −0.20

      • B3 Moderate ROI% default 0.10

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Quick start...

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  1. Open Config and confirm thresholds.

  2. Go to Tracker (Blank) and enter your month’s numbers.

  3. Review Waste Level colours and the totals row.

  4. Reallocate budget from Critical to Low performers.

The Downloadable Marketing Budget Tracker

This tracker is ready for you to use in Excel, Google Sheets, or your preferred spreadsheet tool.

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When you open the file, it will look like...

Marketing Budget Tracker

Next Steps After Using the Tracker

Once you've downloaded and filled in your marketing budget tracker and have a good understanding of your marketing waste...

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>>> Follow 'Step 2: Map Your Customer Journey' on the 'Ground' page →


Or visit the Founders Resource Hub to download other tools to help you to grow without the waste.

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