A 4,000 pound a month retainer with a performance marketing agency, a 12,000 pound monthly media budget and a blended return on ad spend of 3.2 produces 38,400 pounds of revenue against 16,000 pounds of cost. At a 45 per cent gross margin, that is 17,280 pounds of gross profit against 16,000 of spend. The agency reports it as a win. The owner’s accountant does not. ADSK Media is for the owner caught between them.
This site covers the finance of marketing for small and medium-sized UK businesses. It is written for owners and finance leads who already run a P&L and know what a CAC is, and it skips the introductory material. What it gets into: how agency fees are structured and benchmarked, media budgets as a percentage of revenue by sector, attribution and what it does and does not prove, the cashflow timing of ad platforms billing in arrears, R&D tax relief under the merged scheme and whether marketing technology spend qualifies, and how to build a marketing budget the bank will accept in a funding application.
Relief and regulation are cited by section. Benchmarks are published with their sources and sample sizes.
ADSK Media is edited by Chloe Darnell, who has spent years on both the agency and the client side of marketing finance. It is an independent UK publication and does not provide advice on any specific business.