Rule Explained · Origins Sourced
What Is the 70/20/10 Rule?
The 70/20/10 rule puts 70% of your marketing budget into proven channels, 20% into promising ones, and 10% into experiments.
It’s one of the few marketing rules with a traceable history: Google’s Eric Schmidt described it for how Google spends its time in 2005, and Coca-Cola made it a content strategy in 2011. Marketers borrowed it for budgets. Here’s the rule, the origins, and — the part most guides skip — what “proven” actually means for a small business in 2026.
Where the rule came from
| Who | When | Their 70 / 20 / 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Eric Schmidt, Google | 2005 (Business 2.0 interview) | 70% of time on core search and ads · 20% on adjacent businesses · 10% on new things |
| Coca-Cola “Content 2020” | 2011–2012 (Jonathan Mildenhall) | 70% low-risk content that “pays the rent” · 20% innovating on what works · 10% high-risk ideas |
| Marketing budget guides today | Current (Growth Method, upd. June 2026) | 70% proven channels · 20% emerging · 10% experimental |
Same shape every time: protect most of the resource, keep a little always in motion, and accept that the smallest bucket will usually fail. The rule isn’t about the exact percentages. It’s about having buckets at all.
What “proven” means for a small business
This is where most guides go wrong — they assume “proven” means the channels big brands use. For a local business the proven 70% is the foundation: a website that says what you do and where, a complete Google Business Profile, steady reviews, and being named when a customer asks Google or ChatGPT who to hire. 45% of consumers used AI tools like ChatGPT to find local business recommendations in the past year, up from 6% the year before (BrightLocal 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey). That’s not an experiment anymore. It’s rent.
What goes in the 20% and the 10%
The 20% is something you’ve seen early signs from and want to scale carefully — for many trades that’s a tightly targeted Google Ads campaign (see the $20-a-day math). The 10% is the thing you’re curious about: one short video, a local team sponsorship, a new directory. Budget it small enough that losing all of it changes nothing. When a 10% bet shows real results, promote it to the 20%; when a 20% bet proves itself, it earns a place in the 70%.
Worked example · our arithmetic
70/20/10 on a $1,000-a-month budget
| Bucket | Amount | One honest way to spend it |
|---|---|---|
| 70% proven | $700 | The complete AI Website at $297/mo (site, 24/7 AI receptionist, booking, reviews, listings, and Get Recommended included) — plus the rest on asking for reviews and keeping listings consistent |
| 20% promising | $200 | A tightly targeted Google Ads test on your single best service |
| 10% experimental | $100 | One experiment a month, small enough to lose |
Prices are our published menu — $297 / $97 / $29, flat, no setup fee, no contract. The split is plain arithmetic on $1,000, not a benchmark. If the budget is $500, keep the ratio and shrink the buckets; the proven bucket is still the foundation, and Get Recommended alone is $97 a month for owners keeping their own website.
Is your proven 70% actually working? Check free
The audit shows whether Google’s AI and ChatGPT name your business today — the clearest test of whether the foundation is done. No signup.
The 70/20/10 Rule — FAQ
What is the 70/20/10 rule in digital marketing?▾
Put 70% of your marketing budget (or content, or time) into what's proven to work, 20% into promising things you're testing at a small scale, and 10% into genuine experiments you expect to mostly fail. The rule keeps most of the money safe while guaranteeing you're always trying something new. Current budget guides frame it as 70% core channels, 20% emerging, 10% experimental.
Where did the 70/20/10 rule come from?▾
Two places. Google's Eric Schmidt described it in 2005 as how Google spends its time: 70% on core search and ads, 20% on adjacent businesses, 10% on new things. Coca-Cola then applied it to content in its 2011 'Content 2020' strategy — 70% low-risk content that 'pays the rent,' 20% innovating on what works, 10% high-risk ideas — presented by Jonathan Mildenhall, then Coca-Cola's VP of global advertising strategy. Marketers borrowed it for budgets from there.
How does a small business apply the 70/20/10 rule?▾
Be honest about what 'proven' means for you. For most local businesses, the proven 70% is the free foundation: a website that clearly says what you do, a complete Google Business Profile, reviews, and the work of getting named when customers ask Google or ChatGPT who to hire. The 20% is a channel you've seen early signs from — often a small Google Ads test. The 10% is the thing you're curious about (a short video, a local sponsorship) with a budget small enough that failing doesn't hurt.
What does 70/20/10 look like on a $1,000-a-month budget?▾
Plain arithmetic: $700 proven, $200 promising, $100 experimental. One honest way to fill it: $297 for a complete website-plus-receptionist-plus-AI-visibility package and the rest of the $700 on review generation and listings; $200 on a tightly targeted Google Ads test; $100 on one experiment a month. The numbers aren't magic. The discipline of not letting the experiment eat the rent money is.
Is the 70/20/10 rule still relevant in 2026?▾
More than when it was written, because the 'new things' bucket now has a clear candidate: AI answers. 45% of consumers used AI tools like ChatGPT to find local business recommendations in the past year, up from 6% the year before (BrightLocal 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey). For most businesses that started as a 10% experiment and has earned its way into the proven 70%. The rule is how you move things between buckets without betting the company.
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