Level Up Your Marketing With Level Up Your Marketing With The 70/20/10 Rule (2026 Edition)
It can be hard to strike the right balance in your marketing. You want to keep the reliable methods that pay the bills, but you also see how fast things are changing (especially with AI and new search habits) and you don’t want to get left behind.
Should you stick to your “bread and butter” campaigns, or take a chance on testing the latest technology?
If you need a simple way to decide how to spend your time and money in 2026, try the 70/20/10 Rule. It’s a strategy used by the world’s most successful brands to stay stable while they grow.
How the 70/20/10 Rule Works
Think of your marketing budget (and your time) as three separate buckets. Instead of guessing where to put your energy, you divide it by risk and reward:
70% – The “Now” (Your Foundation)
The biggest slice of your pie goes to what is proven to work. These are the reliable activities that bring in your steady leads and sales today.
What it typically looks like in 2026: This is your high-performing Google or Meta ads, your email newsletter that customers actually open, and your website’s core SEO.
The Goal: Consistency. This keeps the business running and provides the profit that allows you to experiment with the other 30%.
20% – The “New” (Smart Growth)
This is for taking what you already do and making it better or more modern. It’s about taking a “safe” risk on something that is starting to become mainstream.
What it looks like in 2026: If your static image ads are working, try turning them into short-form videos (like Reels or YouTube Shorts). If you have a blog, try updating it for AI Search (making sure tools like ChatGPT or Google Gemini recommend you).
The Goal: Improvement. You’re looking for the next “big thing” that will eventually move into your 70% bucket.
10% – The “Next” (Pure Innovation)
This is your “Wildcard” bucket. It’s for the ideas that are brand new, a bit experimental, or even a little “weird.”
What it looks like in 2026: Testing out an AI Agent to handle your initial customer enquiries, launching a hyper-local community group, or even experimenting with Spatial Marketing (content for headsets like the Apple Vision Pro).
The Goal: Discovery. Most of these might not work, but the ones that do will give you a massive head start over your competitors.
Why This Works for Business Owners
The 70/20/10 rule is the perfect antidote to “Shiny Object Syndrome.” It gives you permission to try that new AI tool you heard about on a podcast, but it limits that experiment to just 10% of your resources. This way, if the experiment fails, your business isn’t at risk. If it succeeds, you’ve just found your next major growth engine.
The Golden Rule: Always measure the results. Whether it’s in your 70% or your 10% bucket, if you aren’t looking at the data, you’re just guessing.
Need help filling your buckets?
Marketing in 2026 is evolving faster than ever, and it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind. If you aren’t sure which “Next” activities are worth your 10%, or if your 70% “Foundation” needs a tune-up, let’s talk.
We’re evolving too in 2026 to help business owners strategically align their marketing efforts across Paid, Owned and Earned Media, supported in the background with some smart AI tools.
This article is updated from December 2021 – read the original article here.
