Many business owners are choosing to outsource their digital marketing to a professional firm because it can help grow their business and increase revenue. You may be considering the same thing, but what are the costs involved in this process?
The final cost depends on the services you need, the size of your business, your industry, and how competitive your market is. Current digital marketing pricing data from Clutch also shows that agency costs can vary significantly depending on project scope, services, and provider experience.
The Cost of Different Digital Marketing Strategies
These are some of the primary strategies managed by a digital marketing agency. In a customized arrangement with your marketing partner, you may only utilize some of these strategies or have them manage other services based on your industry and target audience.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is the ongoing process of building website authority and improving visibility in search engines. The better visibility your web pages have in search results, the more likely you are to attract prospective and existing customers to your business.
SEO can help your business rank higher for targeted keyword phrases and attract customers looking for the products or services you offer.
The cost of having an outsourced marketing agency handle SEO depends on the size of your business and your competitive landscape. For smaller businesses, SEO services may cost approximately $1,000 to $3,000 per month, while more competitive campaigns can cost considerably more.
Businesses that are unsure where their biggest organic search opportunities are may want to begin with an SEO audit.
Paid Advertising Management
Paid advertising is a strong strategy for many businesses because it allows you to display ads to people who are actively searching for your products or services.
From search engine results pages to shopping ads and remarketing campaigns, paid advertising can help businesses reach their intended audience at the right point in the buying process.
Costs vary based on the platform, industry, advertising budget, competition, and level of campaign management required. It is also important to separate agency management fees from media spend, since digital advertising costs are typically billed separately from agency fees.
Website Development
One indispensable asset for a business owner is an understandable and visually appealing website that showcases products and services in a way that makes them appealing to customers.
Having an outsourced marketing agency build your website from scratch can cost anywhere between $5,000 and more than $35,000. The final price depends on the size of the website, functionality, design requirements, integrations, and level of customization.
Some common web development features include:
- Custom contact forms for capturing online inquiries
- Integration with a back-end database or CRM
- A fully functional blog for easy publishing and content sharing
- The ability to update your website 24/7
- Creation and optimization of navigational paths, messaging, calls to action, and conversion funnels
- Implementation of web analytics
Content Writing
Whether you're in IT, HVAC, heavy industrial, healthcare, or another industry, having a blog section on your website is a useful way to connect with your target audience and share information about your products and services.
Businesses should focus on producing quality content that resonates with their intended audience and helps customers find useful information about topics they care about.
Content writing may be priced per word, per hour, per article, or as part of a larger content package. In many cases, outsourced content starts around $200 or more per article, with more technical or research-heavy content costing more.
Social Media
An increasingly important aspect of digital marketing, social media is a useful way to interact with your target audience on a more personal level.
Your outsourced digital marketing partner can publish content regularly and respond to messages as a representative of your business across several platforms.
Basic social media management may start around $700 per month, while more extensive strategies involving paid advertising, frequent content creation, and multiple platforms can exceed $5,000 per month.
Graphic Design
A digital marketing agency with graphic design experience can help make sure your business has a recognizable visual identity that fits your products, services, and overall brand.
Graphic design may include:
- Logos
- Infographics
- Social media graphics
- Advertising creative
- Website graphics
- Sales materials
Whether you are in real estate, lifestyle, moving, cosmetics, or another industry, design plays an important role in how your business communicates with its audience.
Graphic design services are commonly billed hourly, with experienced professionals often charging around $100 to $150 per hour, although pricing varies widely.
Email Marketing
Email marketing consists of sending emails to current and potential customers with the goal of encouraging further purchases, engagement, or interactions with your business.
Effective email marketing also requires technical knowledge around deliverability, segmentation, automation, and performance measurement.
The cost of outsourcing email marketing may range from approximately $500 to $2,000 per month, depending on the number of campaigns, size of the email list, and level of automation required.
Web Analytics
As a business owner, it is important to ask yourself: are you accurately measuring your marketing and advertising spend?
If you're not measuring what you do, how do you know if it's actually working?
Web analytics allows business owners to understand where leads or purchases are coming from and reallocate their budgets toward the strategies that are generating results.
One of the most important behind-the-scenes responsibilities of a digital marketing agency is analyzing campaign data and determining the true return on investment.
The cost of analytics and reporting is often included within an outsourced marketing agency's monthly retainer based on the contracted services.
Agency or Freelancer?
One of the main decisions business owners face when outsourcing digital marketing is whether they should hire a professional agency or a freelancer.
Both options have their own advantages and drawbacks.
Hiring an Outsourced Marketing Agency
An outsourced marketing agency can provide access to a broader range of expertise and resources.
Because agencies typically work with multiple established companies and marketing departments, they often have established processes for managing campaigns, reporting, implementation, and communication.
Due to their depth of experience, agencies may also be able to apply lessons from previous campaigns to new accounts, helping businesses avoid common mistakes.
A digital marketing agency may also have more resources available when a project needs to be completed quickly. By leveraging a larger talent pool, tasks involving SEO, advertising, design, development, and content can often be handled simultaneously.
Industry pricing data also shows a wide spread in agency rates, with digital marketing agencies charging different amounts depending on specialization, scope, and experience.
The tradeoff is that an agency typically costs more than hiring a single freelancer.
Hiring a Marketing Freelancer
Marketing freelancers are often less expensive than agencies and can be a good option when you need help with a specific discipline or clearly defined project.
A skilled freelancer may provide work that is just as strong as an agency's.
However, because a freelancer is one individual, businesses may need to spend more time managing the relationship and may eventually need multiple freelancers if they require support across SEO, content, advertising, development, and design.
The right choice depends on your business's needs, internal resources, budget, and ability to manage outsourced work.
What About an Outsourced CMO?
Many businesses are also turning to an outsourced or fractional CMO as a viable option.
A seasoned marketing executive can help a business plan marketing activities with a deeper understanding of the competitive environment, market risks, budgets, and quantitative goals.
Instead of hiring a full-time Chief Marketing Officer, businesses can use an outsourced CMO for strategic guidance at a fraction of the full-time employment cost.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, marketing managers earn six-figure salaries in the U.S., before accounting for benefits, payroll taxes, bonuses, recruitment costs, and other employment expenses.
Potential benefits of an outsourced CMO include:
- Experienced outside perspective
- Marketing strategy and planning
- Budget guidance
- Campaign oversight
- Coordination between internal teams and external agencies
- Clearer performance goals
For businesses that need senior-level strategy but do not require a full-time executive, this can be a practical alternative.
The Cost of Outsourcing vs. Doing Your Own Digital Marketing
Although outsourcing digital marketing can seem expensive, it may save money compared with building an entire internal marketing team.
Rather than hiring full-time employees for SEO, paid advertising, content, graphic design, web development, social media, and analytics, businesses can access experienced specialists only when those skills are needed.
For comparison, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that marketing management roles alone can carry substantial annual salary costs, before additional expenses such as benefits and payroll taxes are considered.
In addition, professionals who specialize in digital marketing may have more experience with campaign strategy, tools, platforms, and performance measurement than an employee who manages marketing alongside several other responsibilities.
The final cost of hiring a digital marketing partner depends on what tasks and strategies you need them to manage, whether you work with a freelancer or agency, and the complexity of your campaigns.
Ultimately, outsourcing makes the most sense when your marketing partner can generate enough measurable business value to justify the investment.
