People, Talent & Outsourcing:
How Much Budget Should Be Allocated to People?
Anchor your plan to revenue coverage and capacity. Most B2B teams invest the largest share of marketing spend in people—employees plus partners. Balance in-house skills with outsourcing to hit goals efficiently and de-risk execution.
As a rule of thumb, plan 45–60% of the total marketing budget for people (salary, benefits, taxes), specialists (freelancers/contractors), and partners (agencies/outsourcing). Early-stage or transformation programs may peak at 60–70% while heavy paid-media strategies can run 30–45%. Build from capacity math (work hours × skill mix × service levels) and tie it to revenue coverage and payback.
Principles for Budgeting People & Partners
The People Allocation Playbook
A practical sequence to size teams, choose partners, and keep spend tied to outcomes.
Step-by-Step
- Quantify demand — Translate revenue goals into required pipeline, programs, channels, and service levels.
- Build a capacity model — Estimate hours per work type, load factors (meetings, admin), and utilization targets.
- Price the team — Apply fully loaded compensation, enablement costs, and productivity ramp for each role.
- Select sourcing mix — Decide in-house vs. partner by criticality, scarcity, variability, and time-to-impact.
- Contract for outcomes — Set SLAs, KPIs, and scopes (retainer vs. project) with clear change-control.
- Govern with quarterly reviews — Rebalance headcount, freelance, and agency allocations based on ROMI and capacity gaps.
- Plan continuity — Create succession, documentation, and budget buffers for backfills and peak seasons.
In-House vs. Outsourcing vs. Hybrid
| Model | Best For | Pros | Limitations | Budget Signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-House | Core IP, brand voice, always-on programs, RevOps, data quality | Continuity, culture fit, lower unit cost at scale, deeper domain knowledge | Slower to hire, ramp time, fixed cost during demand swings | Stable roadmap, long horizon, need for institutional knowledge |
| Outsourcing | Specialist skills (analytics, martech), surge work, rapid experiments | Speed, breadth of expertise, flexible capacity, outcome SLAs | Higher rate per hour, knowledge leakage risk, vendor dependency | Spiky demand, skill scarcity, aggressive timelines |
| Hybrid | Most B2B orgs: core in-house + partner pods for spikes and rare skills | Balance cost, control, and speed; resiliency and coverage | Requires tight governance, clear ownership, and documentation | Scale and complexity with changing priorities |
Suggested People Allocation by Context
| Context | People % of Mktg Budget | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Early-Stage / Build | 60–70% | Heavy creation, systems setup, brand build; outsource for speed and scarce skills. |
| Mid-Market Growth | 45–60% | Blend in-house with partner pods; rising paid media and lifecycle programs. |
| Enterprise / Media-Heavy | 30–45% | Larger media and sponsorship lines; keep RevOps, content, and analytics core. |
| Transformation / Turnaround | 55–65% | Short-term lift in consulting and enablement to reset operating model and skills. |
Client Snapshot: Hybrid Team, Faster Impact
A global SaaS firm shifted from ad-hoc contractors to a hybrid model: core brand, content, and RevOps in-house; specialist analytics and martech pods via managed partners. People spend moved from 66% to 52% while time-to-launch dropped 35% and ROMI improved within two quarters.
Align roles, partners, and SLAs with Revenue Operations so your talent mix maps cleanly to pipeline, bookings, and payback.
FAQ: Budgeting for People, Talent & Outsourcing
Straightforward answers for planning and executive reviews.
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