Budget Split Calculator
Knowing your benchmark is step one. This is step two: a recommended starting split across funnel stage and platform, based on your budget, business model, and how mature your account already is.
Your setup
Recommended funnel split
By platform
Illustrative starting point, not a media plan — actual splits should shift based on your account's real performance data within 2–4 weeks of launch. Platform list reflects Google Search, PMax, Meta Advantage+, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube.
Two things drive a healthy budget split: how mature your account is, and what industry you're in. Newer accounts need more weight in prospecting to build the audience and pixel data everything else depends on; mature accounts can afford to fund remarketing and retention too. Layered on top of that is a platform mix based on where your industry's buyers actually spend their time.
It means splitting spend across three jobs: prospecting (finding new people), remarketing (converting people who've shown interest), and retention (keeping existing customers). Funding only prospecting is the most common mistake — it burns budget on people who were never going to convert on the first touch.
A brand-new account has no pixel data and no retargeting audience yet, so nearly everything should go to prospecting. As data accumulates, shifting budget into remarketing (and eventually retention) gets more efficient — the audiences exist now and convert cheaper than cold traffic.
No — this tool weights platforms differently by industry because buyer behavior differs. A B2B brand leans harder into LinkedIn and Google Search; an ecommerce brand leans harder into Meta and PMax. Applying one generic split across all platforms wastes budget on channels your buyers don't actually use.
Pick the closest comparable business model — the split is meant as a defensible starting point, not a rigid rule. Real performance data from your first 2-4 weeks should override this recommendation as it comes in.
Zeller Media
A split like this is a starting point — the real work is building the tracking and structure that lets you find the winning mix fast. That's what Bradley does.
Talk to Bradley → Paid Search & Paid Social Consulting · zellermedia.com