How Much Should You Spend in 2024

There are two types of marketing agencies — traditional and digital. Traditional marketing companies work with print media like magazines or newspapers, while digital marketing agencies work with online media like social media or email.

There are also hybrid agencies that work with both print and digital media.

What does a marketing agency do?

Marketing agencies also fulfill contract requirements that are based on the client’s goals. Before you work with a marketing agency, you outline your goals and work with them to determine the necessary steps to achieve them.

Some typical marketing agency responsibilities include:

A marketing agency will handle all aspects of your marketing and advertising plans while removing the workload from your team.

Marketing agency costs range anywhere from $900 to $20,000 per month on average.

Digital marketing agency costs will vary based on numerous factors, but it helps to know the averages of each service before you reach out. This way, you can make sure the company you choose falls within the typical range and get the services you need.

Depending on your contract and package, you might use one or more of the following tactics:

• Social media marketing
• Email marketing
• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Content marketing

This table breaks down the different prices for each method:

Let’s dive into each one below.

Social media

Social media marketing pricing can include everything from management to one-time projects. Businesses typically invest $4000 to $7000 per month on social media management. Social media services typically cost $900 to $20,000 per month, and social media consultants cost $75 to $500 per hour.

Some services you might get from outsourcing with a marketing agency include:

• Social media management
• Content creation
• Post scheduling
• Customer service via social media

This video further breaks down the cost of social media marketing:

Email marketing

Email marketing costs vary depending on what services you outsource. You can expect to spend $1000 a month for self-managed email marketing or $300-$1500 if working with an agency.

Many companies write and send out newsletters in-house for free, but when you’re wrapped up in normal day-to-day business operations, that kind of in-house marketing can be challenging. If you want to upgrade your marketing emails, you might consider working with a team.

Some types of email services include:

• Email automation software
• Email monitoring and scheduling
• Content creation

That said, email marketing has a substantial return on investment (ROI) — companies earn $44 for every $1 spent.

PPC

PPC advertising averages at around $2.59 per click and $3.12 per 1000 impressions. PPC is a type of advertising where you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. You can run these ads on search engines, ecommerce sites, and even social media.

With PPC, you must plan a campaign, find your target audience, launch your ads, and track their progress at minimum. A lot of companies don’t have the time on their hands to keep up, so they rely on marketing agencies for help.

SEO

SEO services costs range from $1500-$7500 per month to $100-$150 per hour to $5000-$35,000 per project.

Focusing on SEO can help you boost your website rankings in the search engines. SEO is an ongoing process, so while you might pay more upfront to create campaigns and build your site, you will see more ROI down the road.

This video breaks down the cost of SEO:

Content marketing

Content marketing services costs can range anywhere from $5001-$10,000 per month on average.

Content marketing is an important part of digital marketing that can positively impact other strategies, like social media, SEO, and email. In a nutshell, content marketing is all about building out your website with helpful content relevant to your audience and industry.

Some of the key services you’ll get when you enlist in content marketing services include:

• Copywriting
• Video marketing
• Content promotion
• Graphics creation
• And more!

Digital marketing agency cost factors

Multiple factors go into how much working with a digital marketing agency will cost. Understanding what goes into marketing agency costs can help you look for an agency that gives you the most service for their price.

Here are some of the most common digital marketing agency cost factors:

Let’s dive into each below.

The strategies you choose is a prominent factor in how much your marketing agency experience costs. There are numerous ways to drive revenue with marketing, and each one has a different cost and timeline. You will pay less if you use a bare-bones strategy, but the results will have an impact.

For example, let’s say that you have a marketing team in-house that writes your email content and handles your social media. However, your SEO isn’t what it could be. If you partner with an agency, you can save on email and social media and focus your outsourced budget on SEO.

When you partner with an agency, they will determine what strategies your company could benefit most from while considering your budget.

Your goals and strategies are closely related. Depending on what you want to accomplish, you might use different strategies, which affect your budget.

Some example marketing goals include:

• Earning more social media impressions
• Getting more clicks on your paid ads
• Receiving more contact form submissions from your website
• More purchases from your ecommerce store

These are just a few goals that a marketing agency can help with. However, since each one may need a unique approach, they will affect your budget.

When you’re looking for an agency, you want to find one with some experience in marketing. Newer agencies might charge less, but they might not have the tools, software, or team to augment growth the way an established agency does.

If you work with a larger marketing firm, you might pay more for your services, but they will likely be backed by years of experience and a larger team of experts. A large company will have more resources and connections to help their clients.

Many marketing companies have their own software and technology to improve your experience, gather and store data, and collect analytics. If you want access to these technologies, you might have to pay a premium that covers their function.

Agencies can adopt different specializations, like by:

Depending on the specialization, the agency’s rates may be higher than more general competitors. How much the specialization matters will depend on your business and its goals.

Learn more about marketing agency costs with WebFX

If you want to get the most out of every dollar spent on marketing services, WebFX can help. When you choose our digital marketing services, you get access to a range of services that help you achieve your marketing goals.

Our team will work with you to determine what service could benefit your company the most. Then, we build a plan that optimizes your budget to achieve your goals and drive more revenue. So far, we have driven $10,085,355,239+ for our clients — you could be next.

View our pricing page to get a look at our digital marketing prices by service, and contact us online to speak with a strategist about your goals!