A business has a budget for the year. Last year most of it went to one channel because that is where it went the year before, and the year before that it was chosen because somebody from that platform rang.
Nobody has ever asked what the business is actually trying to achieve with it.
Start with the objective
More enquiries, better enquiries, a new market, a launch or defending a position. Each implies a completely different allocation and almost nobody states it first.
Split by intent rather than by channel
Capturing existing demand and creating new demand are different jobs. A business spending everything on capture has a ceiling and does not know why.
Establish where customers actually come from
Which requires measurement that works, and which is why allocation arguments are frequently tracking problems wearing a strategy costume. A business that cannot see where enquiries originate is allocating a budget on impressions rather than evidence.
Fund the proven channel first
Whatever reliably produces customers, to the point where it stops producing them efficiently. It is the least exciting advice and the most reliable.
Then fund the constraint
If the website converts poorly, more traffic is wasted. If enquiries are not followed up, more enquiries change nothing. Spending on the constraint beats spending on volume.
Reserve a testing budget
A stated proportion, protected, so that testing happens. Without a ring fence it is always postponed to next quarter.
Explain the concentration risk
That a business dependent on one channel is exposed to a change it does not control, and that diversification costs efficiency in exchange for resilience.
Explain the time horizons honestly
That some channels produce signals within days and others take months, and that comparing them on a monthly report punishes the slower one unfairly.
Explain the brand and demand argument
That the channel capturing the conversion frequently gets credit for demand something else created, which is why the cheapest channel appears best.
Explain what the budget cannot fix
A weak proposition, a slow response to enquiries or a product problem. Saying so honestly is what distinguishes an adviser from a vendor.
Ask what they have tried and abandoned
Because most businesses have a channel they decided does not work, and frequently it was run badly rather than being wrong.
Review quarterly rather than monthly
With a stated basis for moving money, agreed in advance, so reallocation is a decision rather than a reaction to one bad month.
Say what you would do with half the budget
A client asking how to split a figure is frequently asking whether it is enough. Being willing to say what you would drop entirely, rather than spreading the same money thinner across everything, is the answer that distinguishes advice from a proposal designed to justify a retainer.
Publish how you approach it
Because businesses comparing agencies cannot tell them apart, and a documented method is what differentiates, as in businesses asking which marketing channel they need and reporting questions from marketing clients.
Qualify the budget at enquiry
Kindly and early, which is the approach in qualifying by budget without being pushy, and the same allocation logic customers face in returns between stores and online order questions.
Getting started
Publish your allocation method, start from the objective and protect a testing budget, then qualify budgets at any hour. SpideyChat for marketing agencies answers from your published pages, plans are on the pricing page, and the chatbot ROI calculator works through the numbers.