How much should a prop firm budget for marketing in its first three months?
Quick answer
There is no standard figure; it depends on your channels and audience. A useful approach is to set a test budget per channel, measure cost per sale, and only scale channels that pay back within your payout assumptions. Many firms rely on affiliates first because they pay only on sales.
Detailed answer
Plan marketing as experiments rather than a single number:
- Pick two or three channels your audience uses: affiliates, YouTube creators, Discord communities, search content, paid social where permitted.
- Set a fixed test budget for each and a target cost per sale.
- Track sales by channel with codes or tracking links.
- Compare cost per sale with profit per sale after payment fees, platform cost and expected payouts.
- Scale what works and stop what does not.
Affiliate programs cost nothing until they produce a sale, which suits a tight budget. Keeping platform costs low also leaves more for marketing. On PropExecutor the platform is paid once, so every later dollar can go to acquiring traders.
A worked test plan
Suppose each sale contributes $40 after costs and expected payouts. A channel that brings sales at $30 each is worth scaling; one at $60 is not. Run each test until it has produced enough sales to judge, then decide, rather than judging on a few days.
Keep a reserve separate
Never let marketing spend draw on the payout reserve.
PropExecutor team · Updated