What Is a Marketing Expenditure?

by Neil Kokemuller, studioD Google

A marketing expenditure is simply a payment made for a marketing-related investment or expense. Market research, product development, promotions, sales and service are all areas in which companies make marketing investments. Companies often allocate certain amounts toward marketing expenditures through a set budget amount.


Paying for an industry research document or investing in a market research study are examples of research-related marketing expenditures. Much of a company's marketing expense comes through promotion, and more specifically advertising. Money paid for the development and placement of TV or radio commercials, print ads, billboards and online ads constitute advertising-specific marketing expenditures. Additionally, money spent to operate customer loyalty programs, including provision of rewards and bonuses, adds to marketing expenditures.

Return on Investment

The real key with optimizing marketing expenditures is measuring return on investment from various marketing activities. This is often difficult in a traditional dollars and cents perspective. However, companies can decide whether research expenditures pay off by offering more customer and product insights that lead to more sales and revenue. In advertising, companies research the results of ad campaigns to see if they met communication or sales growth objectives. When marketing expenditures don't produce desired returns, company leaders become leery about allocating money toward the marketing budget.

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