Marketing Budgeting: A Strategic Framework for Sustainable Growth

Marketing budgeting determines how businesses allocate resources to acquire customers, drive revenue, and scale efficiently. 

Yet most growth-stage companies approach budgeting reactively.

They copy competitors, match last year’s spend, or distribute funds based on who asks loudest rather than what drives results.

Effective marketing budgeting connects spending decisions directly to revenue targets, customer acquisition economics, and growth objectives. 

It answers these fundamental questions: 

• How much should we invest to hit revenue goals? 
• Which channels deserve more resources? 
• When should we reallocate from underperformers to winners? 
• How do we balance proven tactics with necessary experimentation?

Businesses that budget strategically grow 40-60% faster than those spending similar amounts without clear frameworks. 

It’s not the budget size that makes all the difference.

The growth comes from alignment between spending and business outcomes.

This guide provides a comprehensive framework for marketing budgeting that scales from startup to growth stage, connects marketing investment to revenue goals, and enables data-driven resource allocation decisions.

What Is Marketing Budgeting?

Marketing budgeting is the strategic process of allocating financial resources across marketing activities to achieve specific business outcomes.

Budgeting vs. Allocation

Budgeting determines total marketing investment (how much to spend overall).

Allocation distributes that budget across channels, campaigns, and initiatives (where to spend it).

Both matter, but budgeting comes before allocation. 

Organizations must first determine total investment level based on revenue targets and growth objectives. And then allocate resources to highest-ROI activities.

Many companies skip strategic budgeting and jump straight to allocation.

They divide last year’s budget across channels without questioning whether total investment is appropriate for current goals.

Strategic vs. Tactical Budgeting

Strategic budgeting connects marketing spend to business objectives:

• Revenue targets: how much pipeline and revenue marketing must generate?
• Customer acquisition economics: CAC, LTV, payback period.
• Market positioning: Building brand vs. direct response
• Growth stage: Startup experimentation vs. scaling efficiency

Tactical budgeting focuses on operational details:

• Which ad platforms to use
• Content production costs
• Tool and technology expenses
• Agency fees

Strategic budgeting drives what to achieve. Tactical budgeting determines how to execute.

Annual vs. Quarterly Budgeting

Annual budgeting establishes:

• Total marketing investment for fiscal year
• High-level allocation by category (paid, organic, brand, retention)
• Growth objectives and revenue targets
• Team hiring and capability building

Quarterly budgeting enables:

• Reallocation based on performance data
• Response to market changes or competitive dynamics
• Adjustment for seasonal patterns
• Course correction when results deviate from plan

Annual budgeting provides strategic direction. Quarterly re-forecasting ensures spending adapts to reality.

Why Marketing Budgeting Fails in Growing Companies?

Let’s look at common budgeting failures that create inefficiency and missed growth opportunities.

Channel-First Budgeting

Many organizations budget by channel without connecting channel investments to business outcomes.

For example, they will allocate $50K for paid ads, $30K for content, $20K for events.

Here are some issues with this approach:

A core issue with this approach is that it assumes last year’s channel mix was optimal. It ignores changing channel efficiency or saturation.

This approach prevents strategic reallocation to higher-ROI opportunities. And it optimizes channels in isolation rather than holistically.

This is why channel budgets should follow from revenue targets.

Budgeting Without Revenue Targets

Budgeting without clear revenue goals creates disconnected spending.

Due to this, there is no way to  determine if budget is sufficient or excessive. It also makes it difficult to calculate required pipeline or customer acquisition.

In this situation, the teams optimize for activity (leads generated) rather than outcomes (revenue delivered). And lastly, it becomes impossible to measure marketing’s ROI or contribution.

In contrast, revenue targets drive how much to spend and where to invest.

Underestimating CAC

Early-stage companies often underestimate customer acquisition cost as they scale:

The first 100 customers might cost $500 CAC through founder networks. The next 1,000 customers require paid channels at $1,500 CAC. Budget based on early CAC creates funding gaps as scaling progresses

Realistic CAC modeling prevents mid-year budget crises when acquisition costs exceed expectations.

Over-Investing in Short-Term Performance

Many companies allocate 80-90% of budget to short-term performance channels (paid ads optimized for immediate conversions) while under-investing in:

• Brand building (creating awareness and preference)
• Content and SEO (generating organic demand)
• Community and partnerships (building sustainable acquisition channels)

Short-term optimization maximizes this quarter’s results while weakening long-term growth efficiency.

Lack of Executive Ownership

When no executive owns marketing budgeting, decisions happen reactively. This means leaders respond to requests rather than strategic planning.

In such a situation, the budget allocation reflects politics rather than performance.

No one connects spending to revenue outcomes, and reallocation happens too slowly or not at all.  In contrast, executive ownership ensures budget decisions align with business priorities.

Related Posts:

Marketing KPIs every CEO should track

How to improve LTV:CAC ratio

The Strategic Marketing Budgeting Process

Here’s a step-by-step framework for strategic budget development.

Step 1: Define Revenue Targets

Start with clear revenue objectives:

• What revenue must the company achieve this year?
• How much comes from existing customers vs. new customer acquisition?
• What’s the monthly or quarterly revenue trajectory?
• Are there specific product or segment targets?

Revenue targets determine required customer acquisition and therefore marketing investment.

Example:

• Target: $15M revenue
• Existing customer base: $6M
• New customer revenue needed: $9M
• Average customer value: $50K
• New customers required: 180

This clarity drives the rest of budgeting.

Step 2: Model CAC & LTV

Calculate customer acquisition economics:

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC):

• What does it currently cost to acquire a customer?
• How does CAC differ by channel or customer segment?
• What CAC is sustainable given customer lifetime value?

Lifetime Value (LTV):

• What revenue does the average customer generate over their lifetime?
• How does LTV differ by acquisition source or segment?
• What’s the LTV:CAC ratio? (Target: 3:1 minimum, 4:1+ healthy)

Budget implication: 

If you need 180 customers at $8,000 CAC = $1.44M marketing budget minimum (plus overhead for testing, team, tools).

Step 3: Forecast Demand by Channel

Break down customer acquisition by channel:

• Which channels will contribute how many customers?
• What’s the expected CAC by channel?
• How much budget does each channel require?
• What’s the ramp timeline for new channels?

Example breakdown:

• Paid ads: 80 customers at $7K, CAC = $560K
• Content/SEO: 40 customers at $5K, CAC = $200K
• Partnerships: 35 customers at $6K, CAC = $210K
• Events: 25 customers at $10K, CAC = $250K
• Total: 180 customers, $1.22M direct acquisition spend

This creates evidence-based channel budgets rather than guessing.

Step 4: Allocate Core vs. Experimental Budget

Divide budget between proven and experimental activities:

Core budget (70-80%):

• Validated channels showing consistent ROI
• Known tactics with predictable performance
• Essential team, tools, and infrastructure
• Activities required to maintain baseline performance

Experimental budget (20-30%):

• New channel testing (can we make TikTok/LinkedIn/podcast work?)
• Audience experiments (different segments or verticals)
• Creative testing (new messaging or positioning approaches)
• Strategic bets (brand building, community, thought leadership)

This balance maintains current performance while building future growth engines.

Step 5: Build Reallocation Checkpoints

Establish regular budget review cadence:

Monthly: Review performance data and make tactical adjustments (pause underperformers, increase budget to winners).

Quarterly: Comprehensive reallocation based on:

• Actual CAC vs. projected by channel
• Pipeline and revenue contribution
• Market changes or competitive dynamics
• Strategic priority shifts

Triggers for immediate reallocation:

• Channel CAC increases 30%+ beyond projections
• New channel validates faster than expected (scale quickly)
• Major market shift (platform changes, competitive moves, economic conditions)

Rigid annual budgets waste resources. Dynamic reallocation optimizes spend.

How Much Should a Company Spend on Marketing?

Total marketing investment depends on the growth stage, industry, and business model.

Marketing Budget as % of Revenue

General benchmarks by business type:

B2B SaaS:

• Early-stage (under $5M revenue): 30-50% of revenue
• Growth-stage ($5M-$20M): 20-35% of revenue
• Scaling ($20M-$50M): 15-25% of revenue
• Mature ($50M+): 10-15% of revenue

B2C/Ecommerce:

• Early-stage: 40-60% of revenue
• Growth-stage: 30-45% of revenue
• Scaling: 20-35% of revenue
• Mature: 15-25% of revenue

These ranges reflect growth intensity.

Aggressive growth requires higher investment as percentage of revenue.

Stage-Based Differences

Startup (pre-PMF to $5M):

• Focus: Prove acquisition channels work
• Investment: 30-50% of revenue or more
• Priority: Experimentation over efficiency
• Accept higher CAC to validate markets and channels

Growth-stage ($5M-$20M):

• Focus: Scale validated channels efficiently
• Investment: 20-35% of revenue
• Priority: Balance growth and efficiency
• Target sustainable CAC and positive unit economics

Scaling ($20M+):

• Focus: Optimize proven systems
• Investment: 15-25% of revenue declining over time
• Priority: Efficiency and profitability
• Drive CAC down while maintaining growth

Stage determines appropriate investment level and success metrics.

Profitability Considerations

Marketing budget must align with profitability goals:

Venture-backed growth:

Prioritize market share over profitability. Accept losses for rapid customer acquisition.

At this stage, investors evaluate growth rate and market position.

Therefore, the marketing budget can exceed 40-50% of revenue.

Bootstrapped or profitability-focused:

This requires positive unit economics from the start. That is why the marketing budget must deliver profitable growth, and hence, should be 15-25% of revenue. 

At this stage, businesses cannot afford extended payback periods.

Path to profitability:

In this case, there should be higher investment early (30-40%) to build brand and channels. As organic channels and brand equity reduce CAC, the investment declines to 15-20%.

And eventually it reaches 10-15% for mature, profitable companies

Financial strategy determines appropriate marketing investment level.

Industry Variation

Some industries require structurally higher marketing investment:

High competition:

Consumer apps, fintech, ecommerce require 30-50%+. Intense competition drives up acquisition costs. Also, brand differentiation becomes critical.

Long sales cycles:

Enterprise B2B with 6-18 month sales cycles require sustained nurture programs and sales support. That is why 20-30% marketing investment is typical.

Low competition:

Niche B2B with clear differentiation do well with marketing investment of 10-20% of revenue.

In this case, word-of-mouth and reputation drive significant acquisition, and industry dynamics shape required investment.

Marketing Budgeting by Company Stage

Budget priorities differ by growth stage.

Early-Stage Companies (Under $5M Revenue)

Primary goal: Prove scalable customer acquisition exists.

Budget priorities:

• 70% experimentation: Test multiple channels, audiences, messages
• 20% core execution: Operate validated channels at small scale
• 10% infrastructure: Minimal tools and measurement

Typical allocation:

• $15K-$50K/month total marketing spend
• 30-50% of revenue going to marketing
• Accept high CAC ($2K-$5K+ for B2B) to validate markets
• Focus on learning, not efficiency

Key decisions:

• Which 3-5 channels to test?
• What’s the minimum viable budget per channel? ($5K-$10K/month for 90 days)
• How to measure and learn quickly?

Early-stage budgeting optimizes for discovery.

Growth-Stage Companies ($5M-$20M Revenue)

Primary goal: Scale validated channels while improving efficiency.

Budget priorities:

• 60% core channels: Double down on proven acquisition sources
• 25% optimization: Improve CAC and conversion rates
• 15% new channel validation: Test 1-2 new channels per quarter

Typical allocation:

• $40K-$150K/month total marketing spend
• 20-35% of revenue to marketing
• Target CAC improvement of 10-20% annually
• Balance growth rate with unit economics

Key decisions:

• How to allocate across 3-5 validated channels?
• When to hire specialists vs. use agencies?
• How to build attribution and reporting systems?

Growth-stage budgeting optimizes for efficient scaling.

Scaling Companies ($20M+ Revenue)

Primary goal: Maintain growth while driving profitability.

Budget priorities:

• 70% optimized channels: Maximize efficiency in proven channels
• 20% brand and organic: Build long-term acquisition advantages
• 10% strategic experiments: Test transformational opportunities

Typical allocation:

• $150K-$500K+/month total marketing spend
• 15-25% of revenue to marketing (declining percentage as revenue grows)
• CAC stable or declining despite scale
• LTV improvement through retention and expansion

Key decisions:

• How to maintain growth without proportional spend increases?
• When to invest in brand vs. performance?
• How to build a marketing team and organizational capabilities?

Scaling budgeting optimizes for sustainable, profitable growth.

For scaling, see how to scale a company with a fractional CMO.

Marketing Budget Allocation by Channel

High-level guidance on distributing budgets across channel types.

Paid Acquisition

Typical allocation: 40-60% of total marketing budget for growth-stage companies.

Includes:

• Paid search (Google, Bing)
• Paid social (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok)
• Display and programmatic
• Retargeting

Budget considerations:

• Scales quickly but requires continuous investment
• Track CAC and contribution margin, not just ROAS
• Diversify across 2-3 platforms reducing platform risk
• Reserve 20% of paid budget for creative testing

SEO & Content

Typical allocation: 15-25% of budget.

Includes:

• Content creation (blog posts, guides, resources)
• SEO optimization (technical, on-page, link building)
• Content distribution and promotion

Budget considerations:

• Long payback period (6-12 months to see results)
• Compounding returns over time
• Lower long-term CAC than paid channels
• Requires sustained investment, not one-time projects

Brand

Typical allocation: 10-20% of budget.

Includes:

• Thought leadership (speaking, podcasts, bylines)
• PR and media relations
• Brand campaigns and awareness initiatives
• Sponsorships and events

Budget considerations:

• Difficult to attribute directly but reduces CAC long-term
• More important for consumer brands than B2B
• Increases conversion rates across all channels
• View as long-term investment, not quarterly expense

Lifecycle & Retention

Typical allocation: 10-15% of budget.

Includes:

• Email and SMS marketing
• Customer onboarding and activation
• Upsell and cross-sell campaigns
• Loyalty and referral programs

Budget considerations:

• Often under-invested despite high ROI
• Improves LTV dramatically (often 30-50% improvement possible)
• Enables higher CAC by improving customer economics
• Lower cost than acquisition but requires dedicated resources

Partnerships

Typical allocation: 5-15% of budget.

Includes:

• Affiliate programs
• Strategic partnerships
• Referral programs
• Co-marketing initiatives

Budget considerations:

• Variable cost structure (often performance-based)
• Can scale efficiently once validated
• Requires relationship building and management
• Often overlooked opportunity for growth

How to Calculate and Adjust a Marketing Budget

Here are three primary models to assess the right marketing investment.

Revenue-Based Model

Formula: Target marketing spend = Target revenue × Industry % benchmark

Example:

Let’s say a growth-stage SaaS has a target revenue of $20M. And the industry benchmark is 25% for growth-stage SaaS.

In this case, the marketing budget: $5M annually ($417K/month)

Pros & Cons:

This model is simple and fast, provides reasonable starting point, and is comparable across companies.

On the flip side, it ignores company-specific economics. It doesn’t account for CAC or LTV. And benchmark ranges vary widely

This model is best when you want quick estimates or companies without detailed CAC/LTV data.

CAC-Based Model

Formula: Marketing budget = (New customers needed × Target CAC) + Overhead

Example:

• New customers needed: 200
• Target CAC: $7,500
• Direct acquisition budget: $1.5M
• Overhead (team, tools, brand): $500K

In this case, the total marketing budget: $2M annually ($167K/month)

Pros & Cons:

The cac-based model connects spend directly to customer acquisition. It enables channel-level planning, and reflects actual economics.

On the downside, this model requires accurate CAC data. It doesn’t account for existing customer revenue, and can under-invest in brand and organic if not careful.

This model suits growth-stage companies with clear CAC data and customer acquisition targets.

Contribution Margin Model

Formula: Maximum marketing spend = (Revenue × Contribution margin %) – Fixed costs – Target profit

Example:

• Revenue: $20M
• Contribution margin: 70% = $14M
• Fixed costs (non-marketing): $8M
• Target profit: $2M

Based on our formula, Maximum marketing budget: $4M annually ($333K/month)

Pros & Cons:

The contribution margin model ensures spending doesn’t destroy profitability.

This model accounts for full business economics, and provides a clear ceiling on marketing investment. However, its conservative approach may under-invest for growth. Also, it doesn’t work for early-stage burning cash for growth.

This model is best for bootstrapped or profitability-focused companies.

Reforecasting Cadence

The budget should not be a static document:

Monthly review (tactical):

• Performance vs. targets by channel
• Immediate reallocation opportunities (pause underperformers, scale winners)
• Budget pacing (spending too fast or slow?)

Quarterly re-forecast (strategic):

• Update CAC assumptions based on actual data
• Adjust total budget if revenue targets change
• Reallocate between channels based on 90 days of performance
• Update assumptions for new channels or strategic shifts

Annual planning:

• Comprehensive budget development for next fiscal year
• Team hiring and capability planning
• Major strategic direction changes

Dynamic budgeting outperforms static annual plans by 30-50% because resources flow to what’s actually working.

Who Should Own Marketing Budgeting?

Budget ownership determines strategic rigor and alignment.

Founder-Led Budgeting

When it works:

• Companies under $2M-$5M revenue
• No dedicated marketing leadership
• Founder deeply understands customer acquisition

Limitations:

• Founder becomes bottleneck as complexity increases
• Lacks specialized marketing expertise
• Time better spent on product, fundraising, or partnerships
• Usually can’t scale past $5M-$10M

Founder-led budgeting works early but must transition as the company scales.

VP Marketing

When it works:

• Companies with VP Marketing owning execution
• Clear strategic direction from CEO or CMO
• Budget decisions made within defined frameworks

Limitations:

• VPs typically optimize execution, not set strategy
• May lack authority for cross-functional budget decisions
• Can optimize locally (channel efficiency) while missing strategic opportunities

VP Marketing can manage budget within strategic parameters but often shouldn’t set overall investment level or allocation philosophy.

CMO

When it works:

• Companies $20M+ revenue with full-time CMO
• Complex marketing organizations (10+ team members)
• Marketing as strategic function not just tactical execution

Advantages:

• Strategic oversight connecting spend to business outcomes
• Authority to make cross-functional decisions
• Can balance short-term performance with long-term investment

Full-time CMO ownership works at scale when marketing complexity and investment justify C-suite executives.

Fractional CMO

When it works:

• Companies $5M-$30M revenue
• Need CMO-level strategic oversight without full-time cost
• Existing team executes but lacks strategic budgeting expertise

Advantages:

• Executive-level strategic framework
• Pattern recognition from budgeting across multiple companies
• Objective perspective on allocation without organizational politics
• 40-60% lower cost than full-time CMO

A fractional chief marketing officer provides strategic budgeting rigor during scaling phase when founder-led becomes insufficient but full-time CMO isn’t justified.

Suggested Read:  what does a fractional CMO do and fractional CMO responsibilities.

Common Marketing Budgeting Mistakes

Avoid these frequent errors that waste resources.

Copying Competitors

Many companies benchmark competitor spending and copy their allocation.

Why this fails:

For starters, your competitors may have different business models, target customers, or growth stages. Maybe, you cannot see competitor performance. Note, copying their budget doesn’t mean copying their results. 

It is also possible that your competitors might be making mistakes you’re now replicating. Or, your competitive advantage comes from doing things differently.

Learn from competitor strategies but budget based on your economics and objectives.

Ignoring Payback Period

CAC payback period determines cash flow requirements and sustainable growth rate.

The mistake:

A common mistake is budgeting for customer acquisition without considering when revenue recovers the cost. An 18-month payback with rapid growth creates massive working capital needs.

This can bankrupt otherwise profitable companies

The fix:

• Calculate CAC payback period (months to recover acquisition cost through gross margin)
• Target under 12 months for SaaS/subscription businesses
• Ensure working capital can fund growth at current payback period

Cash timing matters as much as profitability.

Overfunding One Channel

Many companies put 70-90% of their budget into one channel (often paid ads).

Risks:

• Platform changes destroy acquisition overnight (iOS privacy, algorithm updates)
• Channel saturates and CAC rises without alternatives
• Competitive intensity drives up costs
• No diversification protection

Best practice:

• No single channel should exceed 40-50% of acquisition budget
• Validate 3-5 channels reducing concentration risk
• Balance quick-scaling (paid) with sustainable (organic, partnerships)

Not Budgeting for Experimentation

Some companies allocate 100% of their budget to current activities with no room for testing.

Why this fails:

• Current channels will eventually saturate or decline
• Miss opportunities in emerging platforms or tactics
• Cannot adapt to market changes
• Competition evolves while you stay static

Best practice:

• Reserve 15-25% of budget for experiments
• Test 1-2 new channels per quarter
• Kill failed experiments quickly (within 90 days)
• Scale winners aggressively

Experimentation budget is insurance against channel saturation and competitive evolution.

Failing to Reallocate

Many companies set annual budgets and never adjust despite performance data.

Why this fails:

• Underperforming channels continue receiving funding
• Winners don’t get additional resources to scale
• Budget allocation reflects January assumptions not December reality
• Waste 20-40% of budget on things not working

Best practice:

• Review performance monthly
• Reallocate 10-20% of budget quarterly based on results
• Set clear criteria for increasing or decreasing channel investment
• Make reallocation decisions quickly (within 30 days of identifying issue)

Static budgets waste resources. Dynamic reallocation optimizes spending.

FAQ: Marketing Budgeting

What percentage of revenue should go to marketing?

It depends on the growth stage, business model, and strategic priorities. 

Here are the general guidelines. 

Early-stage companies (under $5M revenue) typically invest 30-50% of revenue in marketing to validate channels and build initial growth engines. 

Growth-stage companies ($5M-$20M) invest 20-35% balancing growth with improving unit economics. Scaling companies ($20M+) invest 15-25%, declining over time as brand equity and organic channels reduce acquisition costs. Venture-backed companies optimizing for growth over profitability often exceed these ranges, while bootstrapped companies stay at the lower end. 

B2C and ecommerce businesses typically require 5-10% higher investment than B2B SaaS due to lower average customer values and higher CAC.

How often should marketing budgets be updated?

Marketing budgets should follow a tiered review schedule.

Monthly tactical reviews identify immediate reallocation opportunities (pause underperformers, scale winners) within the existing budget framework. 

Quarterly strategic re-forecasts adjust total budget and major allocation decisions based on 90 days of performance data, changing market conditions, and revenue trajectory updates. 

Annual planning establishes total investment level, team hiring, and major strategic direction for the fiscal year. This approach balances stability (annual strategic plan) with flexibility (monthly and quarterly adjustments based on actual performance). 

Companies that re-forecast quarterly outperform those with static annual budgets by 30-50% because resources flow to what’s actually working rather than January’s assumptions.

How do startups approach marketing budgeting?

Startups prioritize learning and validation over efficiency. 

Pre-product-market-fit (typically under $1M-$2M revenue), startups should minimize marketing spend and focus on customer development, product iteration, and proving retention. 

Once PMF is validated (70-80%+ retention), allocate 30-50% of revenue to marketing with 70% focused on experimentation-testing multiple channels ($5K-$10K/month per channel for 90 days), audiences, and messages to discover what scales. 

Accept high CAC ($2K-$5K+ for B2B) during validation phase. 

As channels prove out (approaching $5M revenue), shift to 60% core validated channels and 40% continued testing while improving CAC by 15-30%. Startups fail by either under-investing in discovery (trying to bootstrap growth) or over-investing before PMF (scaling broken acquisition). 

The key is matching investment level to learning stage.

How do you calculate a marketing budget?

I recommend these three primary approaches to calculate the marketing budget.

 Revenue-based: Multiply target revenue by industry benchmark percentage (e.g., $20M target × 25% = $5M budget). Fast but ignores company-specific economics. 

CAC-based: Multiply new customers needed by target CAC, add overhead (e.g., 200 customers × $7,500 + $500K overhead = $2M budget). Most accurate for companies with clear acquisition data.

Contribution margin: Calculate maximum affordable spend without destroying profitability (Revenue × Contribution margin % – Fixed costs – Target profit = Marketing budget). Best for bootstrapped or profitability-focused companies. 

Most companies should use the CAC-based model for direct acquisition spending plus revenue-based benchmarking to validate total investment is reasonable. Then they should add contribution margin constraints if profitability matters. 

Reforecast quarterly as actual CAC, conversion rates, and market conditions change.

Closing Thought: Marketing Budgeting

Marketing budgeting separates companies that scale efficiently from those that burn cash without clear returns. 

Strategic budgeting connects every dollar spent to revenue goals, customer economics, and growth objectives. 

It enables evidence-based decisions about channel investment, provides frameworks for reallocation as performance data emerges, and ensures marketing spending drives sustainable, profitable growth. Companies that approach budgeting strategically grow 40-60% faster than peers spending similar amounts without clear frameworks

The difference isn’t how much you spend. It’s how strategically you allocate resources and how quickly you reallocate based on what’s working.