Marketing Budget Allocation 2026

It’s December… the year is coming to an end. For people working in marketing, that doesn’t mean things are slowing down. It’s usually the opposite. There are too many things to finish and not many days left. At the same time, you already need to get things in order for 2026.

Q1 is usually a strong period for forex brokers and prop firms. It’s the time when people had a break over Christmas, reflected on their finances, made new year resolutions and, in many cases, received end-of-year bonuses.

For a forex broker or prop firm, that means you need to have everything prepared. Some teams take additional leave and only get back to full capacity around the second week of January. By that time, the best media deals might already be taken by thoughtful marketers like yourself who planned their campaigns well before the year ended.

In this article, I outline three marketing budget plans for different stages, whether you are just starting out or want to grow in your target market.

$100,000 Marketing Budget as a new Prop Trading Firm

A yearly budget of $100,000 can make marketing difficult for a new prop firm. In reality, active firms often work with far larger monthly budgets for prop trading marketing activities. However, I completely understand why founders see it differently, especially in the early stages.

Marketing often feels like something you can add later. Setting up a prop firm is simple, and if you keep operations lean, the running costs stay low. So many founders want to test the waters first, see some traction, and then invest more. It’s an understandable approach.

In practice it can slow growth. Marketing works when you show up consistently, and the cumulative effect takes time to show results.

Users need several touchpoints before they convert. They might notice your brand at an event, then see your logo on comparison sites, check your website, get retargeted with ads, and in the end, they finally convert through an influencer campaign. The attribution will say “Affiliates,” but it was the whole journey that made the conversion happen.

Review sites like Proptraders.de play an important role in the onboarding funnel.

It would never have worked on its own. All channels contribute to the conversion because they build trust together. That’s why it’s crucial to diversify your marketing and take a holistic approach.

I’m not saying you need to be everywhere. Instead, find a strategy that fits your company’s DNA and invest more into the channels that help your brand grow.

For a brand-new prop firm that is just starting out, this is how I would allocate a $100,000 marketing budget:

Budget Allocation Focused on Market Entry

Your first year in business is all about generating learnings and surviving. You want to invest your marketing budget where it creates meaningful impact instead of disappearing without results. All the measures described above help increase your domain ranking and build early brand awareness.

This is not abstract. You can track everything: more impressions, more traffic, higher traffic value. Once the foundations are in place, you can take the next step and scale up.

Launching a New Prop Firm?

Get support with marketing setup, early-stage visibility, listings and everything you need to get traction fast.

Book a Marketing Consultation

$1,000,000 Marketing Budget as a New Forex Broker

Tech providers make it easy to launch your own brokerage, including licensing and payment solutions, thanks to turnkey setups. Marketing is the hardest part today: how do you actually get traders to use your product?

As a new broker, it makes sense to focus on a specific target region. Choose a market where you have the strongest network, a capable sales team, existing business contacts, and where you understand the demographic, mindset, behaviour and media landscape.

There is no point trying to target the entire world when you have a limited budget.

Top Forex Brokers spend more than 100 Million USD per year on Marketing
(Screenshot: Plus500 Earning Report 2024)

Therefore, you need to be smart about your spending and have a clear understanding of your product offering. Know where you are strong and where you are not.

Then match this with regions where you have expertise and where competition is not as aggressive.

Budget Allocation Focused on Growth

Connect with your audience during expos and in-person events.

Looking to Scale Your Forex Broker?

Get support with acquisition strategy, placements, partnerships and everything needed to grow traffic, leads and funded accounts in 2026.

Book a Growth Consultation

$10,000,000 Marketing Budget as an Established Brand

Let’s assume things were going well for you in the last few years. Maybe you caught a strong market wave, or a specific segment reacted positively to your product because you showed up at the right time in the right place.

Now you want to shift your focus toward owning your marketing funnel and reducing your dependence on partners and external factors. Instead of only serving existing demand, you want to create your own search volume and build steady interest in your brand.

Budget Allocation for Scaling Up Globally

OOH can be a powerful way to increase interest in your brand and spark discussions online

Ready to Scale in 2026?

Get support with scaling strategy, budget planning, partnerships and everything needed to grow faster as a Prop Firm or Forex Broker. Build a plan that’s realistic, efficient and built for scale.

Book a Strategy Call

Final Thoughts On Marketing Budget Allocation

No matter where you are in your growth journey, as a broker or prop firm it’s crucial to have your strategy ready before 2026 begins. It doesn’t need to be perfect or set in stone. Markets change fast and your strategy needs room to adapt.

The examples in this article are just that: examples. They are meant to show how each growth phase requires a different allocation and a different mindset. When you’re just getting started, you’ll naturally rely more on partners, affiliates, and external reach. As you grow, you should aim to become more independent by building your own marketing channels, owning your traffic, and using partners as an additional boost rather than your foundation.

Just like in trading and investing, the same rule applies: don’t put all your eggs in one basket.