What I’d do with $1K/month in marketing today

How to spend small and still scale

You don’t need a $50K ad budget to grow.
You need focus.
And a system that compounds.

I’ve had brands spend millions a year with me.
I’ve also helped teams with $1K/month outperform bigger competitors.

Here’s how I’d stretch a $1,000 marketing budget in 2025 — no fluff, just ROI:

💸 The $1K Budget Breakdown (2025 Edition)

1. $300 → Creator UGC (1-2 videos/month)
Find one niche creator on TikTok or Instagram who knows your customer inside out.
Get them to produce UGC that looks native, not polished. Use it for ads and organic.
👉 Message: “Here’s our product. Can you show how you’d use it as a [role]?”

2. $250 → Meta Ads Testing
Take that UGC and run it on Meta.
Start with 2-3 hooks + 1 conversion goal (site traffic or lead gen).
Let the algo do its job. Don’t over-target. Let content drive performance.

3. $150 → Landing Page Software (or Beehiiv/Email infra)
Whether you're collecting leads, pre-orders, or demo signups — direct traffic somewhere.
Use tools like Beehiiv, Carrd, or Framer to build fast, clean pages.

4. $200 → Ghostwriter or Content Intern
Pay someone to write 4 strong LinkedIn posts or one blog per week.
Use these to build authority and repurpose as email content.
Your founder's voice matters — don't silence it, scale it.

5. $100 → CRM + Automations (or Zapier stack)
If you’re not collecting, tagging, and following up — you’re leaking gold.
Use simple automations:

• New lead → Add to list
  

• No reply in 5 days → Auto follow-up
  

• Booked a call → Trigger thank you email

🧠 Optional Upgrades (if you have $2K+)

• Podcast tour for the founder (book 2 shows/month)
  

• Retargeting + email flow for warm leads
  

• A lightweight influencer whitelisting deal
  

• AI tools to repurpose video → copy → visuals

Why This Works

This stack:

• Builds a content engine
  

• Generates data quickly
  

• Sets you up to scale without burning cash
  

You’ll know what converts — and what to kill — by month two.

P.S. Found this useful? Forward it to a founder friend who’s bootstrapping hard right now. They’ll thank you.