How to Plan Next Year's Real Estate Marketing Budget: What to Keep, Cut and Start

It's that time of year. You open the bank statement, scroll through the card charges, and count the subscriptions. A lead service. A portal. A postcard vendor. A social tool you signed up for in March and opened twice. Some of them paid for themselves. Some of them you honestly can't tell.

So you tell yourself you'll sort it out in January. Then January is busy, the renewals hit, and next year looks a lot like this year. Am I close?

That isn't a discipline problem. Most agents were never given a simple way to judge a marketing line. Here is one.

The short answer

Split every line into two piles: what you own and what you rent. Owned marketing keeps working after you stop paying attention: your website, your Google profile, your reviews, your online profiles and the content that explains your market. Rented marketing stops the day you stop paying: portal leads, most paid ads, pay-per-lead services. Then keep what pays, cut what you can't measure, and start the owned pieces that compound, because they take six to twelve months to reach full strength.

AI doesn't pick the best agent. It picks the agent it can understand. Rented leads don't teach Google or ChatGPT anything about you. Owned marketing does.

Step 1: Run the 10% test before you touch a line

Take last year's closings. Count how many came from someone who found you online on their own: Google, ChatGPT, your website, a video, your reviews. Not referrals, not your sphere, not leads you paid for. As a rule of thumb, about 10% of a full-time agent's business should arrive this way. If you came in well under that, you have your first budget priority. The full 10% test walks through the math.

Step 2: Sort every line into keep, cut or start

Keep: anything you can trace to a closing

If a line brought you closings you can name, keep it for now, even if it's rented. Write down what each closing cost you. That number is your yardstick for everything else. Here is how to work out what you really pay per closing for portal leads.

Cut: anything you can't measure or haven't opened

The tool you forgot about. The lead source that sends names nobody answers. The ad that runs because nobody turned it off. If you can't say what it did, it doesn't get another year by default.

Start: the owned pieces you have been putting off

A website that explains who you are and where you work. A complete Google profile with steady reviews. Matching online profiles. Content that answers the questions sellers in your town ask. These rarely pay off in month one. They are the lines that are still paying in year three.

Think of it like renting versus owning the house you live in. Rent gets you a roof this month, and that is sometimes exactly right. But every rent check is gone the day you write it. A mortgage payment builds something. Marketing works the same way. Rented leads are a roof. Owned visibility is equity.

Video transcript: Nobody wants to admit this, but commissions didn't change. Visibility did. Because now everything is negotiable, which means if a seller doesn't already know you, you're a commodity, and commodities get negotiated. But the agents who show up first on Google, on AI, they're not compared, they're chosen. JoinBulletProof.com, where sellers call you. And we'll see you at the top.

Step 3: Plan around the real timeline

Here is the honest part. Owned visibility takes six to twelve months to reach full strength. That is why the start pile belongs at the top of the year, not the bottom. If you begin in January, you are building through the quiet months and arriving at spring already visible. If you wait until the market heats up, you spend the best months of the year catching up. That is the whole case for using the slow season well.

It also means you shouldn't cut every rented line on day one. Build the owned side first, then trim the rented side as the owned side starts carrying weight.

Keep the plan to one page. Three columns, keep, cut and start, with one line per item and the closing count written next to every keep. If a line doesn't clearly belong in any column, that tells you something too. Look at the page again in April, and again in July.

What it looks like when the budget shifts

Mandy, a 5X eXp ICON agent, cancelled $60,000 a year of Zillow. She didn't cut it and hope. She built her own presence, and then landed 7 listings in her first 8 months.

Tony and Pam sell in Marietta, Georgia. They spent nothing on ads and grew from 52 to more than 113 reviews in 90 days. Their words: "It's the best money we've ever spent."

Kristina and Scott sell in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. On a late-September call Kristina said, "this year alone, we've closed 14 deals off of Google." That is a line on the budget that keeps paying without a new invoice per lead.

Matt, a William Raveis agent in Massachusetts, called it the "best ROI in my 12 years of real estate." And Dale put it in one sentence: "Out of the 25 of my closings so far this year, 10 came from Google and 7 were listings!" You can find more stories like these in our case studies.

What we tell our clients about next year's budget

Here is our own view, the same thing our team says on client calls. A budget is a decision about what you want to own a year from now.

• Owned first. Your website, Google profile, reviews and online profiles are the base. Rented leads sit on top, never instead.
• Judge rented lines by cost per closing, not by how many names they send.
• Plan for six to twelve months. Anyone who promises the full result in weeks is selling you rent.
• Budget your time, not just your money. The standard we hold clients to is one review ask a week and one call with us a month. That time is part of the plan.
• Ask for a guarantee you can understand. Ours is page one in your market within 12 months. We never promise a number of deals, and nobody honestly can.

Who this is for, and who it isn't

This is for agents who want next year's marketing to build something they keep. If you need closings in the next 30 days to cover the bills, keep the rented lines that work and add the owned pieces as you can. That is a sensible plan, not a failure. If you want to see what a full owned setup includes, our pricing page lays it out.

Not sure what you already own online? Get a free AI visibility audit before you set the budget, so you know where the gaps are.

The bottom line

Later is not a decision. The agent who starts building in January has a head start you'll be chasing in June. Keep what pays. Cut what you can't measure. Start what compounds.

AI doesn't pick the best agent. It picks the agent it can understand. Picture next December. You open the statement, and the biggest line is one you own. The calls came from people who found you, read about you and decided before they dialed. Sellers call you. Not you calling sellers.

Frequently asked questions

How much should a real estate agent spend on marketing?

There is no single right number. Start by measuring what each current line costs per closing, then shift money toward owned marketing like your website, Google profile and reviews, which keeps working after you stop paying for a campaign.

What is the difference between owned and rented marketing?

Owned marketing, such as your website, Google profile, reviews and content, keeps working over time. Rented marketing, such as portal leads and most paid ads, stops the day you stop paying.

Should I cancel Zillow or other portal leads?

Not on day one. Build your own online presence first, then trim portal spend as owned leads start to carry weight. Mandy, a 5X eXp ICON agent, cancelled $60,000 a year of Zillow and landed 7 listings in her first 8 months.

When should agents plan next year's marketing?

Before January. Owned visibility takes six to twelve months to reach full strength, so starting in winter means you arrive at spring already visible.

How do I know if my marketing is working?

Count how many closings came from someone who found you online on their own. About 10% of a full-time agent's business should arrive that way.