06/08/2025
Whether you are just starting a digital marketing campaign or thinking about hiring a marketing agency for your small business, one of the questions you might be asking is: "Is marketing tax-deductible?"
The answer is yes. The government allows you to deduct marketing expenses used to generate or keep customers.
Marketing and advertising expenses qualify as ordinary, reasonable, and necessary tax deductions. And they aren't a particularly tricky write-off as long as they are directly related to your business activities. This means that — when done right and with professionals — marketing and advertising can have a high return on investment (ROI).
Below, we'll break down what the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers marketing, plus provide marketing and advertising expense examples that are tax-deductible.
8 Tax Deductible Marketing Expenses
1. Website Expenses
One marketing expense you can write off on your taxes is the cost of creating and maintaining your business website, which includes:
Designing, developing, and creating your website
Website fees for hosting and maintenance
Ongoing website content creation
Be sure to document all of the different accounts and companies you pay each month to deduct website expenses if you use more than one.
2. Marketing and Advertising Expenses
Is advertising a tax write-off? Yes. Here are some common marketing and advertising expenses examples that are tax-deductible:
Marketing strategy and planning
Content writing
Sales enablement
SEO services
Email marketing
Newsletters
Graphic design and branding
Display banner ad campaigns, excluding political sites
Paid media marketing, including Google Ads or search pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns
3. Consultant or Marketing Agency Retainer
Are marketing services taxable? Actually, the costs of hiring a marketing agency or consultant to conduct any of the campaigns above or below can be written off on your taxes.
4. Social Media Expenses
Social media marketing tax deductions include:
Paying a consultant, marketing agency, or anyone else outside your company to run your social media
Content-creation expenses
Fees to companies that manage your social media accounts
Subscription-based social media sites like LinkedIn Pro
Paid ad campaigns on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Influencer marketing (this may require a 1099 contract depending upon the amount paid)
5. Technology and Marketing Software Expenses
Any customer relationship management (CRM) system, social scheduling tool, or marketing software is on the tax-deductible marketing expenses list.
6. Print Advertising Expenses
Another type of advertising tax deduction is print advertising expenses, which include:
Ad space in newspapers, magazines, or billboards
Creation and printing of advertising materials like brochures, mailers, or business cards
7. Multimedia Advertising Expenses
Multimedia advertising expenses examples include ads on television or the radio.
8. Special Promotions
This type of advertising expense may include:
Carrying out publicity campaigns
Sponsoring a local event that exposes people to your business, such as paying to have your logo featured on a local sports jersey
Hosting seminars, webinars, or workshops promoting your business's services
Purchasing swag for clients, influencers, and staff to promote your brand, including promotional items like water bottles, t-shirts, and notebooks!
