How much does digital marketing cost?

Asking "how much does digital marketing cost" is a bit like asking how long a piece of string is; impossible to answer without digging a lot deeper. There are many different avenues of digital marketing that your business can use, and what you hope to get out of it will play a big role in how much it’s going to cost.

Digital marketing agency pricing can also depend on things like experience and specialisation of the agency. In this guide I will run through some of the main influences on cost, how your goals will affect the price, and what you can expect from your investment.

First things first; what are you expecting from your digital marketing?

Digital marketing is a pretty big field with a lot of different activities that can come under its umbrella. That’s why it’s really important that you know the areas of your business that you are looking to improve so that you can decide what work is going to help you best. For example:

• Are you looking for more leads to come through your website? Search engine optimisation (SEO) is going to be a key focus here.
• Are you getting a lot of website visits but people aren’t making enquiries? Getting some good content that is talking to your ideal customer will be important.
• Are people finding your website but not spending very long on it? You might need to look at the functionality of your site and whether your customers are able to navigate their way around it effectively.

Setting goals will mean your agency can better understand the work that’s needed to deliver success for your business, and price the work accordingly. Don’t worry, you’re not expected to know any of the technical stuff or even what area of digital marketing your problem relates to! Just be sure to have some clear ideas of what you would like improved.

What digital marketing resource do you currently have? 

The more you are looking to achieve with your digital marketing, the more it is going to cost. If you have a pretty tight marketing team, but there is a skill shortfall in one area then your digital marketing cost is going to be lower as you’re only looking to fill that one gap. If you are looking for a complete marketing solution you are going to need more members of the agency team and more time dedicated to your business, which is going to cost more.

Some of the services FINALLY offer are:

• SEO
• Paid advertising
• Social media
• Content writing and content marketing
• Strategy 
• Website development 
• Graphic design
• Hubspot marketing automation
• Videography

Think of the list like you would a menu; the more options you pick the more it is going to cost. Quite often, it’s going to a combination of these services that your business needs to achieve its goals. 

FINALLY offer retainers tailored to the area you need it most such as content, website optimisation or social media, as well as flexible growth retainers. Get in touch with the team to have a chat about what your business needs.

Small to medium business or global corporation?

Now, you may only need help with one area of digital marketing, for example content. If you are a small to medium business this may look like two blog posts a month and a social media calendar for your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn business pages. If you are a global corporation looking for content marketing this is going to be a much larger offering that may need to cover multiple different social accounts for country-specific business pages as well as translated content.

Your digital marketing costs are going to be relative to how much time your agency spends on the work they do for your business, as well as things like their level of expertise in the field. If you're a large company, expect a larger price tag even for one service as your agency will need to spend more time working towards your goals.

How much do digital marketing agencies charge?

Agencies will typically charge by the hour, although things like expertise and industry specialisms may also play a part too. 

There are two different types of arrangement that business often have with their agencies:

Retainers

Retainers are a long-term agreement, typically no less than a year, between an agency and a business to carry out a variety of marketing activity each month. These will be payable as a fixed fee each month, and will work towards agreed goals that the business has. Using a retainer means that you have a team of people thinking on behalf of your business and working towards long term goals. You can find out a bit more about how retainers work in our blog here.

Projects

Unlike retainers, projects are focused on just one activity such as a website build, a singular campaign, or asset creation (for instance, a video or presentation). They are charged as one fixed cost that will usually be payable as either one or two payments. The boundaries of projects are much more solid, and where with a retainer your agency will act as the marketing brain of your business, researching and thinking on your behalf, projects will work to a fixed goal decided beforehand.

At a glance: how much does digital marketing cost?

The cost of digital marketing takes into account a lot of different factors, but understanding the different considerations can make the process a lot easier to understand.

In summary, your digital marketing costs will be based on:

• What you want to achieve - your business goals and how long it will take to achieve them will play a big role in the cost of your marketing.

• How many services you require - do you need to fill a gap within your own marketing department or build a team from scratch?

• How big your business is - the bigger your business is, the more work will be needed to effectively carry out your marketing activity.
  
  
• The type of agreement you take on with your agency - whether you are taking out a long-term retainer contract to service many different areas or just need some short-term help with a specific project.

Want to find out a bit more about how much digital marketing will cost for your business? Get in touch with the FINALLY team for a chat.