The typical financial advisory firm spent roughly 11 percent of revenue on marketing in 2023, according to Kitces research. But that number hides the real split: high-growth RIAs spent 12.5 percent of revenue, while average firms spent 9.7 percent, and the gap in results between those two groups was not marginal. Firms with a written marketing strategy acquired 67 percent more new clients and 68 percent more new client assets than firms without one, per Charles Schwab’s 2025 RIA Benchmarking Study of 1,288 firms representing more than $2.4 trillion in assets under management.
If you run an RIA in Wayzata, Elk River, or anywhere in the Twin Cities metro and you are guessing at your marketing number every January, this is the data that should set it instead.
What financial advisors actually spend, by firm size
Broadridge’s 2024 advisor research put the average marketing spend at $15,908 per advisor, with teams closer to $23,200 and solo advisors under $9,000. As a percentage of revenue, Kitces’ advisor marketing survey breaks the same number down by firm size, and the pattern is consistent: smaller firms spend a larger share of revenue, not a smaller one, because fixed costs like a website and CRM do not scale down with a smaller book.
| Annual Firm Revenue | Typical Marketing Budget (Low) | Typical Marketing Budget (High) | Approx. % of Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $2,500 | $7,500 | 1% to 3% |
| $500,000 | $5,000 | $15,000 | 1% to 3% |
| $1,000,000 | $10,000 | $30,000 | 1% to 3% |
| $2,000,000 | $20,000 | $60,000 | 1% to 3% |
| $3,000,000+ | $30,000 | $90,000+ | 1% to 3% |
That table covers hard-dollar costs only, meaning website hosting, paid search, design, and video, not advisor time. It is also the low end of the range. Kitces’ separate finding, that the typical firm spent 11 percent of revenue on marketing in 2023 and high-growth firms spent 12.5 percent, suggests firms serious about growth are budgeting well above the 1 to 3 percent hard-dollar baseline once staff time, content production, and paid media are counted together.
What it actually costs to bring in a client
Median client acquisition cost across the industry was $3,800 in 2024, after rising roughly 75 percent in a single year, per Kitces. That number varies a great deal by channel. Referral-driven clients averaged around $4,272 to acquire, general networking ran closer to $4,494, and clients sourced through centers of influence, like CPAs and estate attorneys, cost about $9,144 on average, reflecting the time it takes to cultivate those relationships.
Set against a client relationship that runs 20-plus years at retention rates above 90 percent industry-wide, even a four-figure acquisition cost is inexpensive. Measured only against first-year revenue, the same number looks expensive enough to make advisors freeze on spending anything at all. That mismatch is the actual reason most RIA marketing budgets get set by anxiety rather than by a plan.
Where the growth firms differ, and it is not the dollar amount
The Schwab 2025 study is specific about what separates Top Performing Firms, the top 20 percent by growth and efficiency, from everyone else. Those firms are more likely to have a written strategic plan, a defined ideal client persona, an integrated marketing plan, and a written referral plan. Firms with all four in place saw 67 percent more new clients and 68 percent more new client assets at the median than firms without them.
Spend alone does not predict growth. A written plan predicts growth, and the plan is what tells you how much to spend and where. Firms without one tend to buy tactics piecemeal: a website refresh one year, a paid search test the next, a lead-gen network subscription the year after, none of it compounding because none of it was built to work together.
Where advisor marketing dollars actually go
| Channel | What the data shows |
|---|---|
| Client referrals | Used by roughly 9 in 10 advisors; about two-thirds of new clients still arrive this way. Free to acquire, but capped by the size of your existing book. |
| Organic search and content (SEO) | One 2025 industry growth study found organic marketing narrowly ahead of referrals as a new-client source for the first time, the lowest long-run cost per client of any channel measured. |
| Centers of influence | Highest quality referral source outside existing clients, also the most expensive to cultivate at roughly $9,144 per client acquired. |
| Paid lead-generation networks | Real volume at scale, but conversion runs in the low single digits. One widely cited case, a San Diego RIA and SmartAsset, converted at roughly 3.5 percent. |
Only about 23 percent of advisors report having a defined marketing strategy at all, per Broadridge, despite 90 percent saying marketing matters. That gap between belief and execution is where budget gets wasted: money spent on a website, then a boosted post, then a directory listing, with no single plan tying the spend to a specific type of client or a specific acquisition cost target.
How to set your own number for 2026
Start with the range, not a single figure. If your firm runs $1 million to $2 million in revenue, the hard-dollar data above puts you between $10,000 and $60,000 depending on growth ambition, and the Kitces revenue-share data suggests firms trying to grow faster than the industry average should plan closer to 10 to 12.5 percent of revenue once staff time and content production are included, not just paid media.
Then work backward from acquisition cost. If your average client is worth $8,000 to $15,000 in first-year revenue and your firm can tolerate a 3:1 to 4:1 revenue-to-CAC ratio, comfortable spend per new client lands in the $2,000 to $5,000 range, in line with the industry’s referral and networking averages. A budget with no target CAC attached is a budget set by habit, not by math.
FAQ
How much should a financial advisor spend on marketing in 2026?
Most firms spend 1 to 3 percent of revenue on hard-dollar marketing costs like a website, paid search, and design. Firms trying to outgrow the industry average tend to budget closer to 10 to 12.5 percent of revenue once staff time and content are included, per Kitces research on advisor marketing spend.
What is a healthy client acquisition cost for an RIA?
The median was $3,800 in 2024 industry-wide, with a healthy target ratio of 3:1 to 4:1 between client revenue and acquisition cost. Cost varies by channel, from roughly $4,272 for referrals to $9,144 for centers-of-influence relationships.
Does a bigger marketing budget guarantee more growth?
No. Schwab’s 2025 RIA Benchmarking Study found the firms that grew fastest were defined by having a written strategic plan and an integrated marketing plan, not simply by outspending peers. Firms with a plan in place saw 67 percent more new clients than firms without one.
Are client testimonials allowed in financial advisor marketing?
Yes, since the SEC Marketing Rule took effect in November 2022, advisors can use client testimonials and third-party ratings with proper disclosure. Fewer than 10 percent of advisors currently use them, which makes it one of the more underused channels available heading into 2026.
What is the biggest gap between average and high-growth RIAs?
Planning, not spend. Only about 23 percent of advisors have a defined marketing strategy despite 90 percent saying marketing matters, and the firms that do have one consistently outgrow the ones that do not.
Where BSPKN fits
BSPKN works with 360 Financial, a Wayzata and Elk River, Minnesota RIA, on compliant content strategy and attribution built inside LPL and SEC marketing rule constraints, connecting spend to consultations rather than guessing at a channel mix. If your firm is setting next year’s number without a plan behind it, that is the conversation worth having before the budget gets built.
Explore our financial services marketing approach, see how GEO and AI search visibility factor into where advisor prospects actually start looking, or view client results across the industries we work in.
Related reading: PPC vs SEO for Financial Advisors and Email Marketing Compliance for Financial Advisors.
Book a 15-minute strategy call to walk through where your firm’s number should actually land for 2026.
