--- title: "Wasted Ad Spend Statistics 2026: SMB Marketing Benchmark" description: "Wasted ad spend statistics for 2026: 74 published case highlights by industry and spend, lower medians, model quantiles, assumptions and limits." url: https://marginfix.ai/benchmark/ lastmod: 2026-10-12 --- [Home](/) › Benchmark The 2026 SMB marketing benchmark # Where SMB marketing budgets actually leak. [Wasted ad spend](/glossary/wasted-ad-spend/) statistics from **74 published case highlights** across 9 industries. Compare annual case figures with separately published spend ratios and their definitions. - 74 published cases - 9 industries - 2026 edition ![Portrait photograph of Cristian Bragau](/assets/founder/cristian-bragau-2026-10.jpg) **[Cristian Bragau](/about/cristian-bragau/)** Founder & Lead Auditor · Reviewed Oct 2026 [Explore by industry](#explorer) [Estimate your own leak](/estimator/) The headline number $58k lower median of the published annual highlight figures from 74 cases. Outcome types and recovery periods differ; this is not a median cash recovery. **74** audits **9** industries **5 to 7** working days to find it Interactive ## Explore the benchmark by industry and spend. Monthly marketing spend Published case outcome type ### Model leak share curve at $40k a month Model p10 **$57k** Model median **$82k** Model p90 **$110k** No pooled curve is published for all industries. Pick an industry to see its model quantiles; the strip shows every published case. Model quantiles for the selected industry and spend. Not a measured peer distribution. [Your estimate is marked on the curve. Open your results](/estimator/) #### Read this chart as a table Model quantiles at $40k a month by industry, and published cases | Industry | p10 | p25 | Median | p75 | p90 | Published cases | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | DTC / Ecommerce | $57k | $72k | $82k | $92k | $110k | 10 | | B2B SaaS | $42k | $53k | $60k | $67k | $81k | 8 | | Marketplace | $53k | $67k | $76k | $85k | $102k | 7 | | Subscription | $50k | $63k | $71k | $80k | $96k | 7 | | Retail | $58k | $73k | $84k | $93k | $112k | 8 | | Services | $54k | $68k | $78k | $87k | $105k | 8 | | Fintech | $49k | $62k | $71k | $79k | $95k | 7 | | Pharma | $54k | $68k | $77k | $86k | $104k | 9 | | Manufacturing | $54k | $67k | $77k | $86k | $103k | 10 | | All industries | No pooled curve; see each industry | 74 | | | | | ### Published cases: DTC / Ecommerce (10) Lower median of the published figures $53,000 One highlight figure per case. Outcome types differ. Each dot on the strip above opens its case study. [See all 10 DTC / Ecommerce cases](/industries/dtc-ecommerce/) ### Model reference vs published lower median Model reference **$54k** per year Case lower median **$53,000** per year The industry reference amounts are model references, distinct from the lower medians of published case figures. Equal figures in some sectors do not make these the same statistic. ### Where $100 of spend goes Effective spend **$62** Wasted paid spend **$22** Mispriced offers **$9** Leaky retention **$7** Other published categories: about $38. It is a separate allocation from the 18.7% statistic. Spend denominators, overlap and weighting are not available in the case highlights; the remaining $38 is not a verified cash recovery rate. ### Continue in the DTC / Ecommerce estimator Your industry and spend carry over into the calculator. No login, no account access. [Estimate my leak](/estimator/ecommerce/?sp=40000) Model quantiles are scenarios from stated assumptions, not a measured peer distribution, and each dot is one selected figure per published case. [Population, statistics and limitations](#definitions) · [Data dictionary](/benchmark/definitions.json). Finding 02 · Median leak by industry ## Every category leaks, just in a different place. [Fintech](/industries/fintech/) **$83k** [Marketplace](/industries/marketplace/) **$66k** [Pharma](/industries/pharma/) **$64k** [Manufacturing](/industries/manufacturing/) **$64k** [Retail](/industries/retail/) **$54k** [DTC / Ecommerce](/industries/dtc-ecommerce/) **$53k** [B2B SaaS](/industries/b2b-saas/) **$52k** [Subscription](/industries/subscription/) **$51k** [Services](/industries/services/) **$47k** Lower median annual highlight figure by industry, computed from the 74 published cases. These dollar figures do not establish a ranking by share of spend or realized recovery. Each row opens its industry page. Finding 03 · The five leaks we find most ## The same culprits, again and again. 68% **Non incremental paid** Spend buying conversions that would have happened anyway. 54% **Attribution inflation** Channels overcredited for demand they did not create. 47% **Mispriced offers** Landed cost and freight never passed into pricing. 41% **Retention leaks** Churn and dunning quietly erasing acquisition gains. 34% **Discount habits** Always on promos training buyers to wait for the code. Published prevalence figures. Audit level flags, eligible counts and the materiality threshold are not supplied here. Categories may overlap; percentages do not establish counts or a representative market rate. Cite these numbers ## Quoting the report? Take the sentence with you. 2026 edition · refreshed every January · next: Jan 2027 18.7% MarginFix publishes an 18.7% median marketing spend leak share. Underlying spend denominators, weighting and measurement periods are not supplied in the published case highlights. $62 / $100 MarginFix publishes a $100 allocation of $62 effective spend, $22 paid spend, $9 pricing and $7 retention. This separate breakdown does not establish a 38% cash recovery rate; weighting and overlap are not supplied. $58k The lower median annual highlight figure across 74 published MarginFix cases is $58k. Each case contributes one figure; outcome types and periods differ, and the statistic does not imply realized cash recovery. 68% MarginFix publishes 68% prevalence for non incremental paid spend. Eligible counts, audit level flags and measurement periods are not supplied in the case highlights; this is not a market wide rate. $47k to $83k Lower median annual highlight figures across the nine published MarginFix industry groups range from $47k to $83k. These are selected case figures, not typical cash recovery forecasts. ### Benchmark summary (CSV) Free · 2026 SMB Marketing Benchmark · 74 published cases · tidy CSV, plus the data dictionary. [Download the CSV](/benchmark/marginfix-2026-smb-marketing-benchmark.csv) The full report ## Get the full 40 page benchmark report. Every benchmark broken down by industry and spend band, with the working method behind each figure. One email, no drip sequence. - Median leak by industry and spend band - The 5 leaks, with detection method - A self check worksheet for your account Work email and phone Leave this empty: Work email Phone ### We’ll send it to your inbox. It lands in your inbox within one business day. While you wait, [book your own audit](/book/) and get your real number. Next kickoff slot: Mon, **next week**. We email the report within one business day. No spam. Unsubscribe in one click. CCPA and GDPR ready. ## Benchmark population, statistics and limitations The population is the 74 published case studies, with one selected highlight figure per case. It is not a representative sample of all SMBs or a total of every finding in each audit. A lower median is the middle value after sorting, using the lower of the two middle values for an even count. Published annual figures include different outcome types; they are not all collected cash, profit or recurring savings. Case publication dates do not establish common observation, implementation or recovery periods; use each case for its supported timing and outcome. The published 18.7% leak share and 11–28% spend band use a spend basis; the 1–3% revenue band uses a different denominator. The $62/$22/$9/$7 allocation is a separate published $100 breakdown, not the complement of the 18.7% figure. Underlying spend totals, weighting, category overlap and common measurement periods are not published here, so these figures cannot be independently reconstructed from the 74 case highlights. Published prevalence percentages likewise lack audit level flags and eligible counts; do not infer counts, add overlapping percentages or treat them as market wide rates. The 2026 edition is a publication label, not a shared measurement window. Selection criteria and underlying audit dates are not supplied by the case value dataset. Scroll horizontally to compare all columns on a narrow screen. Model references and published case lower medians | Industry | Published cases | Model reference / year | Case lower median / year | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [DTC / Ecommerce](/industries/dtc-ecommerce/) | 10 | [$54k](/estimator/ecommerce/) | $53,000 | | [B2B SaaS](/industries/b2b-saas/) | 8 | [$60k](/estimator/saas/) | $52,000 | | [Marketplace](/industries/marketplace/) | 7 | [$66k](/estimator/marketplace/) | $66,000 | | [Subscription](/industries/subscription/) | 7 | [$51k](/estimator/subscription/) | $51,000 | | [Retail](/industries/retail/) | 8 | [$56k](/estimator/retail/) | $54,000 | | [Services](/industries/services/) | 8 | [$47k](/estimator/services/) | $47,000 | | [Fintech](/industries/fintech/) | 7 | [$83k](/estimator/fintech/) | $83,000 | | [Pharma](/industries/pharma/) | 9 | [$64k](/estimator/pharma/) | $64,000 | | [Manufacturing](/industries/manufacturing/) | 10 | [$67k](/estimator/manufacturing/) | $64,000 | The CSV is a summary, not raw audit records. Its legacy recovered metric names mean published annual highlight figures, not proof of realization. [Download the data dictionary](/benchmark/definitions.json).