Whilst it is hard to generalise, there is a strong indication that a small business should be spending around 5% of its annual revenue on advertising. This is about the average ad spend by SMEs in the UK. Big companies often spend a much higher percentage than that. (Later, we will look in more detail about budgeting and how to spend it).
This is just a guideline of course. If it is not affordable it does not mean that you should not be advertising at all. Lower spend levels can still work, although we would not recommend spending less than £100 on media for a short campaign. (Later on we will discuss the difference between having a media budget and a budget to paying an ad agency or a freelancer).