How to Budget for Aviation Marketing (Updated for 2025)

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2024 and has been updated for 2025 to include the latest Gartner data and aviation marketing benchmarks.

Most aviation and defense companies don’t struggle to spend their marketing budgets — they struggle to spend them strategically.

At AERPOWER, one of the first questions we hear is:
“’How much should we really be spending on marketing?’”

The better question is:
“’How can we allocate it to drive visibility, credibility, and sales?’”

Here’s how aviation marketers can think differently — and more effectively — about budgeting in 2025 and for 2026.

Quick Take

Growth-focused aviation companies typically allocate 7–10% of revenue to marketing. The most successful ones structure that spend around visibility, credibility, and consistency, not tactics.

1️⃣ Start with Strategy, Not Spend

Budgets should follow objectives, not the other way around. Before assigning numbers, clarify what success looks like this year:

– Expanding into a new market or region
– Building visibility with a specific buyer segment
– Launching a new product or service line

Tie every marketing investment to a measurable business goal.

At AERPOWER, we align every plan around this framework:

Goal → Strategy → Channel → Budget → KPI

Once your business goals are clear, the next step is understanding where your buyers spend their attention and how they make decisions.

2️⃣ Plan Around Buyer Behavior

Your marketing budget should reflect where your buyers actually research, compare, and decide. Not what’s trending.

In aviation and defense, that typically means:

• LinkedIn and industry media → for credibility and thought leadership
• PR and earned media coverage → for third-party validation and AI visibility
• SEO and content ecosystems → for education and long-cycle nurturing
• Trade shows and events → for visibility and relationship building
• Targeted digital advertising → for brand recall and retargeting

Pro tip: Treat content as infrastructure. If your site, messaging, and blog aren’t optimized for trust and search visibility, no ad budget will fix it.

3️⃣ Prioritize the Essentials

Not every marketing tactic carries the same weight.

To spend strategically, you need to distinguish between what’s foundational (the systems that build lasting credibility and visibility) and what’s amplifying (the efforts that enhance reach once the foundation is strong).

We use a Must-Have vs. Nice-to-Have framework to guide how clients allocate marketing budgets based on maturity and goals.

Must-Haves (Credibility Foundation)
– A strategically structured website with analytics tracking
– Consistent, credible content (blogs, pillar pages, case studies)
– SEO and visibility programs
– Clear, differentiated messaging

Nice-to-Haves (Amplifiers)
– Paid ad testing or campaign experiments
– Industry sponsorships
– Larger video or event campaigns

Most aviation and defense brands jump to Stage 2 or 3 before Stage 1 is in place and that’s why results stall.

When you invest first in clarity, credibility, and discoverability, every other tactic performs better and costs less over time.

4️⃣ Communicate Value to Stakeholders

Budgets don’t get cut when marketing leaders can show impact.

Before your next budget meeting:
– Bring performance data (traffic, leads, conversions, visibility growth)
– Tie results to business goals
– Use third-party benchmarks to ground the conversation

2025 Aviation Marketing Budget Benchmarks

At AERPOWER, we encourage clients to benchmark against verified industry data. Here’s what the 2025 Gartner CMO Spend Survey reveals about where budgets are shifting:

• Average marketing budgets remain steady at 7.7% of company revenue. (Source: Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey, May 2025)
• Digital channels now account for 61.1% of total marketing spend — the highest share on record. (Source: BusinessWire, Gartner Digital Spend Report 2025)
• Paid online channels lead the digital mix (~69% of digital spend), with search, social, and video driving the majority of investment. (Source: BusinessWire, Gartner Digital Channels Breakdown 2025)
• Offline channels make up the remaining ~39%, with trade shows and experiential events regaining strength across B2B sectors.
• CMOs are leaning on AI, data, and automation to raise productivity as budgets stay flat. (Source: Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey, May 2025)
• Brand investment is rebounding, with renewed emphasis on thought leadership and visibility across B2B sectors.

How to Use These Benchmarks

Use these numbers as context, not a formula. For aviation and defense companies, where sales cycles are long and credibility drives every decision, marketing budgets between 7–10% of revenue are common for organizations focused on growth. This range is anchored to Gartner’s 7.7% average and supported by Forrester’s 2025 B2B benchmark of ~8%.

Example: Aviation Budget Framework

For a mid-sized aviation services firm:

5️⃣ Measure and Adjust Quarterly

Marketing budgets are living systems not annual checkboxes.

Every 90 days, review:
– Which channels are producing measurable engagement or leads?
– Where are you overspending for minimal return?
– What can be reallocated to strengthen long-term authority?

Quarterly reviews let you evolve spend in real time but also give tactics long enough to provide metrics.

6️⃣ Final Thought: Strategy Over Spend

Effective aviation marketing budgets aren’t about guessing what’s “normal.” They’re about creating clarity, consistency, and credibility around your goals.

At AERPOWER, we help aviation brands build marketing systems that make budgets work smarter — not just look bigger.

FAQs

Q: How much should aviation companies spend on marketing?
Most allocate 7–10% of total revenue, but fast-growth or new-market entrants may invest more heavily early on.

Q: How can smaller aviation companies budget effectively?
Start by investing in the foundation — a professional website, clear messaging, and 1–2 visibility channels (typically SEO and LinkedIn).

Q: How often should aviation marketing budgets be reviewed?
Quarterly is best. Regular review ensures alignment with evolving buyer behavior and performance data.

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Originally written by: Lisa Sifuentes, Founder and CEO of AERPOWER Aviation Marketing
Updated by: Sarah Stanczyk, Digital Marketing Director at AERPOWER Aviation Marketing (2025 edition)

✍️ About the Author(s)

Lisa Sifuentes is the Founder and CEO of AERPOWER Aviation Marketing. With over 20 years of experience in aerospace and defense marketing, she has partnered with OEMs, MROs, and aftermarket companies across multiple sectors to build visibility and drive growth. Lisa specializes in aligning marketing and sales strategies so brands can strengthen their positioning, reach long-cycle buyers, and achieve measurable results.

Sarah Stanczyk is the Digital Marketing Director at AERPOWER Aviation Marketing, a strategic partner to aerospace and defense companies navigating complex, long-cycle sales. With 12+ years of experience in B2B and technical markets, she helps brands clarify their positioning, amplify their visibility, and align marketing with how real buyers evaluate and decide.