Planning Your 2026 Paid Advertising Budget

By: Brendan Finegan

A 2026 advertising plan needs to accommodate multiple layers of costs, social media channels, and marketing content. It can be a lot to manage, and sometimes business owners are unsure of where to start. Having an idea of where you want your paid ads to land can look different once 2026 begins. Starting the new year off strong with an advertising budget will make all the difference in being competitive. 

The key is to have a 2026 paid advertising budget that incorporates metrics and analytics that keep Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) high. There are no prerequisites you need to meet to partner with Marketing Choices. You can be a new business owner heading into 2026 or needing to revise your advertising budget from 2025. Wherever you are with your marketing tactics, we can give you a logical outline to start 2026 on the right foot.

Start With a Bottom-Up Paid Advertising Approach

Backwards planning gives you a clear target to hit when determining your 2026 marketing budget. When you can see the landing mat, you can allocate dollars efficiently and justify budget requests. Heading into 2026, forecasting ad spending should start with the revenue trajectories you want to reach. Be realistic, and it is alright to start with smaller, measurable goals. You can still reach for the stars while also balancing pragmatic budgeting strategies.

Once you have defined your revenue goal, you will then develop your plan for money spent on advertisements. Pay-per-click (PPC) will be critical to reach your marketing goal. PPC budget planning should accommodate if your money spent on clicks is converting to webpage views, in-person store visits, and sales. This will help with maximizing your ROAS as you evaluate your 2026 marketing budget. Once you have your PPC-to-ROAS conversion created with Marketing Choices, it will be easier to justify budget proposals.

Before reaching your end goal of maximizing revenue, you will need to know what marketing channels to use. Every platform you use varies depending on who your target audience is and where you feel PPC will be most effective. Your dollars spent on platforms should be based on where your viewers will see ads most often. Sometimes it makes sense to break your spending into percentages and determine if your target audience is using social media or connected TV.

Use Core Metrics to Guide Your 2026 Paid Advertising 

Your performance in 2025 is a strong indicator of what your marketing team will need to do in 2026. Regardless of where you landed in 2025, Marketing Choices can assist with your strategies and current budget state going forward. Multiple metrics can be used to measure your success in generating high levels of ROAS. They can be confusing, so be mindful of each metric’s key features.

• Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC): CAC will be something that your marketing team will have to monitor consistently. Determining how much it costs to gain new customers will help with deciding how much money you are earning after each sale. This can be calculated by dividing total revenue from new and existing customers by the money spent on advertising.
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Longevity is what separates effective ad campaigns from ineffective marketing strategies. Retaining customers over the course of the year will help increase ROAS and can spread your business through word of mouth. To keep customers throughout the new year, send out regular newsletters and membership programs. Assess the CLV of your marketing campaign monthly and quarterly.
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): The end goal of your marketing campaign, ROAS is the final assessment of whether your advertisements paid off. The numbers and data you gather are objective measurements that can guide your next moves. Subgoals for measuring ROAS can help with the long-run success of increasing revenue. Marketing Choices can help you calculate paid ad ROAS to keep costs low and sales high.

Utilize Channel Optimization in Your Paid Advertising

As stated before, determining where to spend your ad money across channels is a part of your bottom-up approach. Some channels will be more useful than others, so plan where to allocate your advertising dollars. You can propose actionable steps of your marketing budget justifications to your board members, executive team, or social media managers. Depending on the number of customers that use a certain channel, such as different social media pages, you can distribute equal percentages of ad money.

Start Your 2026 Paid Advertising with Marketing Choices Today

The 2026 year is going to zoom by just as quickly as the 2025 year did. Trying to determine customer acquisition cost forecasts on your own can be a cumbersome experience. Having the aid of professionals from Marketing Choices can keep your vision clear and siphon off wasteful spending. Contact us to start 2026 with confidence and knowledge in advertising budgets.