Not sure if this is what's really spent, but this is what a marketing executive believes should be spent (so take it with a little bit of salt):

“How much should I be allocating toward marketing?” To answer this question, Scott C. Margenau, CEO of ImageWorks Creative, gives the following breakdown for marketing budgets compared to revenue:

• If your revenue is less than $5 million, your marketing budget should be 7-8 percent


• If your revenue is $5-10 million, your marketing budget should be 6-7 percent


• If your revenue is $10-$100 million, your marketing budget should be 5-6 percent 


• If your revenue is $100-$300 million, your marketing budget should be 3-5 percent 


• If your revenue is $300 million or more, your marketing budget should be 3-4 percent


For example, if your total company revenue is $10 million, your total marketing budget would be 6 percent, or $600,000.

Your digital marketing should compose 2.5 percent, or $250,000, of this 6 percent, while all other marketing expenses should make up 3.5 percent, or $350,000.

But, how much do you need to spend on each type of digital marketing specifically?

According to McKinsey & Company, businesses are spending about 30 percent of their marketing budgets on paid media and 50 percent on content. For example, if your marketing budget totals $600,000, you would allocate $300,000 a year to content. This budget will include the cost of content development, either through freelancers, in-house writers and designers or an agency.

So, to estimate this conservatively, let's use the 3%. That's about $65.96 billion per year.