How Much Does Advertising Cost? A 2026 Breakdown by Channel

The short answer

Advertising is usually priced one of two ways: a flat rate for a placement (like a radio spot), or a CPM — the cost per thousand people reached. Across the channels most local businesses use, 2026 CPMs run roughly paid search ~$20–$80, paid social ~$8–$15, streaming TV (CTV/OTT) ~$15–$35, radio ~$5–$15, and out-of-home ~$3–$10. Lower CPM does not mean "better" — search costs more per impression because it reaches people who are actively searching to buy, while radio and outdoor cost less because they build broad awareness.

For a real monthly number tied to your market and goal, run the free advertising budget calculator — it turns your revenue and goal into a recommended budget and a channel-by-channel plan.

What the main channels cost

• Search / PPC (Google Ads): you pay per click, not per impression; effective CPMs are high (~$20–$80) because the audience is high-intent. Most local search campaigns start around $1,000–$2,500/mo in ad spend. See search engine marketing.
• Paid social (Meta, TikTok, and more): ~$8–$15 CPM, with flexible budgets from a few hundred dollars a month. See social media advertising.
• Streaming TV — CTV/OTT: ~$25–$45 CPM, often startable around $500–$1,000/mo. See CTV/OTT advertising.
• Geofencing: ~$3.50–$15 CPM for display, with typical managed budgets ~$1,500–$10,000/mo. See geofencing advertising.
• Radio: a 30-second local spot ~$100–$5,000 depending on market, CPM ~$5–$15. See radio advertising.

How much should you actually budget?

Cost per channel is only half the question — the other half is how much of your revenue to commit. There are two numbers, and they are not the same. The common 5–10% of revenue benchmark (higher for newer or fast-growing businesses) is your marketing budget — it also has to cover your website, SEO, content, tools, and the people doing the work. Your advertising budget is the slice of that which actually buys media: only about 30-50% of a marketing budget buys media, varying by industry. Plan your channels against the smaller number, or you will over-commit by two to three times. We break that down in How Much Should a Small Business Spend on Advertising?

The honest part

Published ranges like these are starting points, not quotes. What you actually pay depends on your market, your competition, the season, and how tightly you target. The most expensive mistake isn't paying a high CPM — it's spreading a budget so thin across channels that none of them reaches enough people to work. That's the specific problem the budget calculator is built to solve: it concentrates your budget where it earns the most incremental result first, then widens the mix as the budget grows.