When a company’s balance sheet looks like the Browns’ win-loss ratio, marketing often doesn’t figure in the budget.

But the marketing budget should be one of the first things to re-up before you have to start auctioning the furniture. In this brief introduction to my company’s philosophy, I will explain our approach to the often garbled pseudo-science of budgeting your marketing spend and how to get the most out of a marketing budget.

Taking it seriously

For many companies, the marketing budget is cash the CEO feels he can pitch to an outside agency after the other “essentials” have been paid for, up to and including a hefty spend on a sales team. I’ve been offered the accounts of companies with 100 sales reps and three people in marketing.

Often when a company owner takes this approach, he gets to the point where no amount of marketing can save him. I’m not joking when I say the...