By FANNIT Marketing | Featuring insights from Tony Lael, Partner at FANNIT
How to Establish a Marketing Budget
A Smart Budget Works No Matter Where You Are in Your Growth Journey
Whether you’re a start-up mover building brand awareness, a steady-operation company, or a multi-market van line scaling nationally, the budgeting process remains the same.
The difference?
How much you should budget — and where you invest those dollars — changes as your company grows.
According to the FANNIT Service Matrix, marketing budgets evolve by stage:
- Start-Up: 8–15% of revenue
- Steady Operation: 5–8%
- 7-Figure Growth Company: 4–5%
- 1-Percenters: 3–5%
No matter where you fall, following a structured process is what creates predictable growth.
“Marketing isn’t a guessing game — it’s a system. The process of building your budget doesn’t change, but how much you invest at each stage determines how fast you grow.”
- Tony Lael, Partner at FANNIT
Step 1: Review Your Past Performance
Start with your data — because every dollar you spend should be guided by results, not feelings.
Let’s look at a sample moving company that generated $1.2M in revenue last year and spent 4% on marketing ($48,000) across several channels:
| Channel | Leads | Quotes Sent | Jobs Closed | Avg. Job Value | Revenue Generated | ROI |
| Google Ads | 520 | 460 | 280 | $1,200 | $336,000 | 7x |
| SEO/Organic | 360 | 310 | 200 | $1,200 | $240,000 | 9x |
| Facebook Ads | 240 | 200 | 115 | $1,200 | $138,000 | 5x |
| Referrals | 590 | 569 | 385 | $1,200 | $462,000 | 12x |
| Totals | 1,710 | 1,539 | 980 | $1,200 | $1,176,000 | 8.5x |
From this, we can see:
- Lead to Quote Rate: 90% (1,539 ÷ 1,710)
- Quote to Close Rate: 64% (980 ÷ 1,539)
- Cost per Lead (CPL): $46.78 ($80,000 ÷ 1,710)
- Average ROI: 8.5x overall
This data forms the foundation for setting realistic growth targets and marketing spend for the next year.
Step 2: Set Your Annual Revenue Goals
Let’s say you want to grow from $1.2M → $2M in the next 12 months.
- Average Revenue per Move: $1,200
→ That means you completed roughly 1,000 moves last year ($1,200,000 ÷ $1,200). - To hit $2M, you’ll need 1,667 moves ($2,000,000 ÷ $1,200).
- Lead to Quote Rate: 90%
- Quote to Close Rate: 65%
Using these, you can reverse engineer how many leads you’ll need:
1,667 ÷ 0.65 = 2,565 quotes
2,565 ÷ 0.90 = 2,850 leads
With a Cost per Lead of $46.78, your estimated marketing spend will need to increase to $133,353 to hit your growth goal.
Step 3: Allocate by Channel
In this example, a $133,000 marketing budget might look like this for a moving company scaling from $1.2M to $2M:
| Channel | % Allocation | Investment | Notes |
| Google Ads & LSAs | 40% | $53,200 | Capture high-intent leads |
| SEO & Content Marketing | 30% | $39,900 | Build long-term demand |
| Email, CRM, & Reviews | 20% | $26,600 | Improve conversion & retention |
| Brand, Social, & Experiments | 10% | $13,300 | Support awareness & community |
Your exact allocation may vary depending on your market, service mix, and business stage — but this framework ensures your investments are diversified and intentional.
Step 4: Track ROI Relentlessly
Tracking ROI means tracking your entire sales funnel — from lead to booked move — and it requires a reliable CRM system such as Go High Level, Jobber, or similar tools that can automate and measure each metric.
Here’s what your ROI funnel might look like when tracked properly:
| Metric | Example |
| Annual Revenue Goal: | $2,000,000 |
| Average Job Revenue: | $1,200 |
| Lead to Quote Rate: | 90% |
| Quote to Close Rate: | 65% |
| Leads Needed: | 2,850 |
| Cost per Lead Benchmark: | $46.78 |
| Total Marketing Spend: | $133,353 |
| Estimated ROI: | 8–10x |
Tracking these metrics consistently gives you a clear picture of what’s working — and ensures you never waste a dollar.
Industry Leaders Who Get It Right
Some of the best-run moving companies are represented in the American Trucking Associations’ Moving & Storage Conference (MSC). These companies can be looked to as leaders.
Heather Paraino – UniGroup (Chair)
Oded Carmi – DN Van Lines (1st Vice Chair)
John Chipman Jr. – Chipman Relocation & Logistics (2nd Vice Chair)
Bill Lovejoy – Republic Moving & Storage (Immediate Past Chair)
Mark Kirschner – Wheaton | Bekins | Stevens
Jack Griffin – Atlas Van Lines
Steven McKenna – SIRVA
David Marx – New World Van Lines
Spero Georgedakis – Good Greek Moving & Storage
JD Morrissette – American Red Ball Transit Company
Michael Gilmartin – Olympia Moving & Storage
Russ Watson – Hilldrup Moving & Storage
Mark Duke – Apex Moving + Storage
Bill Paxton – Paxton Companies
John Chipman Jr. – Chipman Relocation & Logistics
Tim Helenthal – National Van Lines
Griselda Gonzalez – CG Moving Company
Derrick Potter – Firefighting’s Finest Moving & Storage
Alison McDaniel – Alison’s Relocation
Lisa Rivard – Gentle Giant Moving & Storage
Lacy Brakefield – Coleman Worldwide Moving
Jordan McDaniel – Hilldrup Moving & Storage
Jeremy Day – Ace Relocation Systems
Chris Higdon – California Moving Systems
Jeffrey Barber – J. Barber Moving & Storage
Bob McCabe – UniGroup
Larry Vinzant – A-1 Freeman Moving Group
David Morse – Morse Moving & Storage
Judd Levine – Maffucci Moving & Storage
Sofia Marr – CMS Relocation & Logistics
Ian Imlach – The Imlach Group
Steve Weitekamp – California Moving & Storage Association
Brian Ferguson – MoveHQ
Chris Loran – MSC Driver
Justin Hart – Just-In Time Moving and Storage
Jason Moyer – Moyer and Sons
John Alianello – MiniMoves
Corby Lawrence – Western Moving & Storage
AJ Schneider – Olympia Moving & Storage
David Sabada – A-Mrazek Moving Systems
Ryan McConnell – Atlas Van Lines
Jim Gaw – Wheaton | Bekins | Stevens
Mark Chesser – Conser Moving and Storage of Jacksonville
Mark Doyle – National Van Lines
These companies have proven that sustainable growth in the moving industry isn’t luck — it’s built through disciplined marketing and smart budgeting.
Ready to Build Your Predictable Growth System?
Join us for our free webinar: How to Establish a Marketing Budget for Your Home Service Business
You’ll learn how to:
- Build a goal-based budget
- Compare your spend to industry benchmarks
- Use the FANNIT Service Matrix to guide your next growth stage
- Track ROI with precision
[Reserve Your Spot Now]
About the Author – Tony Lael
Tony Lael is a Partner at FANNIT, a digital marketing and growth systems agency that helps moving and storage companies scale predictably. With over 20 years of experience leading marketing agencies and consulting on business growth strategies, Tony has helped hundreds of service-based business owners turn chaotic marketing into measurable systems that drive consistent results.
When he’s not guiding agencies and moving companies toward 7-figure growth, Tony speaks at industry events and contributes thought leadership on marketing systems, AI adoption, and entrepreneurial growth strategy.
Follow Tony on LinkedIn for more insights on building scalable marketing systems.
