How Much Should a Central Texas Small Business Spend on Marketing? (Real Numbers)
Most marketing budget advice for small businesses is useless because it's written as a percentage of revenue with no context. "Spend 7 10% of revenue on marketing" tells a $50k/month restaurant in Waco and a $500k/month restaurant in Austin to do completely different things, but the percentage rule treats them as equivalent. This guide is real numbers. Specific ranges by business type and revenue level, based on what we actually see working for Central Texas operators in 2026. Key takeaways Restaurants under $50k/month should spend almost nothing on paid ads. Organic + GBP first. $100k 200k/month restaurants are the sweet spot for paid Meta — $1,500 3,000/month. Home services have higher CPLs but also higher LTV. Different math. Austin CPMs are 30 50% higher than Waco. Don't copy Austin budgets to Waco campaigns. The single biggest waste of money we see agencies charging $3k+/month with no real attribution. How to think about marketing spend Before talking dollars, here's the framing that matters. Marketing spend isn't an expense — it's a cost of customer acquisition CAC calculation. You're trading dollars for customers. The question is whether the math works. If a restaurant customer is worth $400 in lifetime value LTV and you can acquire one for $80 in marketing spend, you're winning. If they're worth $100 in LTV and you're spending $80 to acquire them, you're not. The percentage of revenue isn't the right number — your LTV to CAC ratio is. Healthy ratios for Central Texas operators we've worked with Restaurants 4 1 minimum, 6 1 healthy Home services 5 1 minimum, 8 1 healthy Coffee shops/QSR 6 1 minimum, 10 1 healthy low ticket, high frequency Real estate agents 10 1 minimum high ticket, infrequent purchase If you don't know your LTV, that's the first thing to figure
Service areas include Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Liberty Hill, Hutto, Taylor, Westlake, Buda, Kyle, Waco, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, and nearby Texas markets.