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Plan a budget with the Budget Optimizer
Open a model in the Budget Optimizer, enter a total budget and press Optimize Allocation. Orbit recommends how much to put into each channel and what that should add.
Before you start
- Who can do this
- Anyone at your agency, for clients in their Client Access
- You need
- A model for the client that has finished training.
- Availability
- If enabled for your agency
- Where in Orbit
- Sidebar › Workspace › Marketing Mix Modeling
Steps
Tick a step’s number when it’s done. We’ll remember where you were.
Open Marketing Mix Modeling and press Open Tool on Budget Optimizer. From a model’s dashboard, press Scenario planning instead and go to step 3.
Under Select a Model, press Optimize Budget on the client’s model.
In , enter the budget to plan. It starts at the “Current total” shown underneath.
Press Optimize Allocation.
Read Expected Revenue Lift and Optimized ROI, then Recommended Budget Reallocation for each channel’s Current Spend, Optimized Spend and Action.
When it worked
The results appear under the budget: the expected lift, the optimized ROI, and a row for each channel marked Increase, Decrease or Maintain.
If something goes wrong
Orbit showsYou need to train at least one Marketing Mix Model before you can use the Budget Optimizer.
Press Train Your First Model and train one first.
Optimize Allocation is greyed out.
Enter a budget above 0.
Orbit showsNo channel-level reallocation is available for this model yet.
Try another model for the client, or train a new one.
Orbit showsBudget optimization failed
Press Optimize Allocation again. If it keeps failing, email support.
Orbit showsClient is outside your assigned scope
You can optimize only for clients in your Client Access. Ask an Owner or Admin to add the client in Team.
How it works
Explainer: What the Budget Optimizer does
The Budget Optimizer takes a total budget and uses a model’s response curves to split it across channels for the most return. It shows how much to move and what that’s expected to add.
| Item | What it is |
|---|---|
| Total Marketing Budget | The total to split. It starts at the “Current total”: the model’s spend across channels over its dates. |
| Expected Revenue Lift | The extra return the model expects from the new split, compared with the current one. |
| Optimized ROI | The return on investment the model expects from the new split. |
| Total Budget | The budget the plan spreads across channels. |
| Current Spend and Optimized Spend | Each channel’s spend now, and in the recommended split. |
| Change ($) and Change (%) | How far each channel moves. The biggest moves are listed first. |
| Action | Maintain if the change is under 5%, otherwise Increase or Decrease. |
- Each model’s dashboard already shows the best split of its current spend under Optimal allocation at your current budget. Use Scenario planning to try a different total.
- You can’t set a minimum or maximum for a channel, and results aren’t saved. Run it again to see them.
- Orbit’s own notes advise: “Consider practical constraints (minimum spends, contracts) when implementing” and “Re-run optimization quarterly or when market conditions change significantly”.
Explainer: ROI, marginal ROI and response curves
Average ROI is what a channel has returned per dollar. Marginal ROI is what the next dollar would return. Response curves show how returns flatten as spend grows.
Orbit defines them on the dashboard: “Average ROI = Total return divided by total spend (historical performance)” and “Marginal ROI = Return from the next dollar spent (current efficiency)”.
A channel can have a high average ROI and a low marginal ROI. It has paid off so far, but extra spend there returns less.
| Label | When it shows |
|---|---|
| 🚀 High Performers | ROI above 2.0x. |
| 📈 Growth Potential | Marginal ROI above ROI, with ROI above 1. |
| ⚠️ Needs Attention | ROI below 1, under the break-even line at 1.0x. |
| Opportunity! Room to scale | Doubling the channel’s spend would add more than 150% to its return. |
| Moderate efficiency - maintain | Doubling spend would add between 80% and 150%. |
| Diminishing returns - consider reallocating | Doubling spend would add less than 80%. |
- Each response curve plots Marketing Spend ($) against Incremental Revenue ($), with a dashed line at the channel’s current spend.
- Under the chart, each channel shows “If you double spend:” and the change in return.
Limits: Marketing Mix Modeling: availability and limits
Orbit switches Marketing Mix Modeling on per agency. Where it’s on, anyone at the agency can train and use models, up to 10 training runs in any 24 hours.
- It’s off until Orbit switches it on for your agency. Until then, it isn’t in the sidebar.
- Every role can train models, open them and use the Budget Optimizer. Training and optimizing work only for clients in your Client Access.
- Your agency can start 10 training runs in any 24 hours. Every run counts, including ones that fail.
- One model can train at a time for each client.
- Models are national only.
- Models can’t be cancelled, deleted, renamed, compared or exported, and their advanced settings can’t be changed.
- The Budget Optimizer can’t take per-channel minimums or maximums, and doesn’t save scenarios.
- Clients don’t see Marketing Mix Modeling in their portal.