How Much Should I Pay for Digital Marketing?

One of the first questions we get from business owners, and one of the most common questions asked by people that are new to working with an agency. Is “How much should I pay for digital marketing?”

It’s a fair question, and one we’ve all asked when it comes to something we’re not familiar with. However, the honest answer is, it depends.

Digital marketing isn’t like buying a sofa. It isn’t a set product, with a set price that everybody charges. It’s a fluid, customised service, which is priced according to your goals, target market, and the scale of what you’re trying to achieve. There’s no magic number (which is why packages are put together that take into account different scopes of work, rather than flat fees for everything).

In this article, we’re going to explain the pricing variables that go into digital marketing so you know what you’re paying for.

Packages: Why You Shouldn’t Compare Prices Line-By-Line

In the digital marketing space, agencies don’t offer their services on an hourly or per-item rate. Instead, we mainly package them up as monthy retainer packages, and the pricing is determined by:

The number of different services that you’re booking
The level of work involved in each of those services
The amount of time and expertise it takes
Whether you’re building from scratch or utilising pre-existing assets

These packages could be for a single service (e.g. SEO), or a mix of a few (SEO, social media marketing, PPC, content creation, email marketing, etc.).

The key difference between these is scope. You can pick a package with less than you need, or choose the one that’s right for you. But don’t stop there, you should also be asking what you’re getting for that money and what you should be doing with it.

Web Design: Understand the Biggest Up-Front Investment

If your digital marketing also includes building a new website or redesigning an old one, then this is the part that’s likely to cost the most, especially up-front.

Website design involves more than just picking colours and fonts:

Branding and design consultations
Copywriting
UX (user experience) design
Responsive website development for mobile/tablet/desktop
SEO-optimised architecture
CMS integrations (WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, etc.)

Building an e-commerce site also costs more, because of the additional features it requires, including:

The hundreds of products and product uploads
Category creation and management
Inventory syncing
Secure payment gateways
Shipping & returns integrations
Product filtering and search functions

All of these layers require additional development time, and also ongoing management (which is why e-commerce websites usually cost more and require ongoing technical support even after they’re “complete”).

You’ll pay less for a simple, brochure-style website that contains your services and generates leads. But a badly designed website will lead to a bad user experience and fail to drive sales. Conversely, a strategically-designed site with a clear call-to-action will generate and nurture leads in a way that a basic site won’t.

SEO: Depth of Work Matters More Than Checkbox-Lists

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is also commonly part of digital marketing packages, but there’s a lot of variation in what’s included.

A cheaper SEO package might include the following:

Keyword research
On-page optimisation (titles, meta descriptions, alt text, headers, etc.)
Google Business Profile set-up

Premium SEO packages are more likely to include:

Technical audits and remediation (schema markup, speed, mobile-friendliness, etc.)
Content strategy and production
Competitor analysis
Backlink outreach
Performance tracking and tuning

It’s all a question of depth and time. Effective SEO is not a one-off project. It’s an iterative process which may take weeks, months or even years to start seeing significant results. It can be done quickly, but it won’t give good or consistent results unless it’s maintained, and maintaining it requires more time and effort.

Content, PPC, Social Media: Other Add-Ons That Increase Cost

Beyond SEO and web design, you may also be paying for:

Content production (blog posts, case studies, downloadable guides, etc.)
Paid advertising (Google Ads, Facebook/Instagram Ads, etc.)
Social media management
Email marketing and automation

Each of these is billed according to its own variables. For example:

One blog post a month is cheaper than a full editorial calendar.
Targeting three cities/towns with one ad group and a few landing pages is cheaper than a national campaign with split tests and multiple landing pages.
Managing one Instagram profile is much simpler than four channels with customised content, stories, reels, performance tracking, etc.
It’s important to note that some services (like PPC advertising) will cost not just an agency management fee but also ad spend which goes directly to the platform. The total cost must include both.

E-commerce vs. Basic Business Sites: Recognising the Difference

There’s generally a difference in pricing between a basic business website and a full-fledged e-commerce store. These are the differences in terms of features and time/cost investment:

Basic Business Website

Includes 5–10 pages: Home, About, Services, Contact, etc.
Tends to include static content which is easier to update and maintain
Less complex and faster to build
Minimal ongoing management required
SEO focused on local/niche search terms and less competitive

E-commerce Website

Includes dozens, if not hundreds of product pages
Requires categorisation, products uploads, pricing, descriptions and images
Includes a shopping cart, secure payment, shipping & returns, filterable search, etc.
Needs regular management to keep stock, offers, or products updated
SEO focuses on product-based terms in more competitive space

The latter, as you can imagine, is more work, and thus more expensive. It also requires a higher level of on-going optimisation, and support, even after the initial build is finished.

Key Takeaways: The Real Cost of Digital Marketing

Asking “how much should I pay for digital marketing?” is like asking “how much does a car cost?”. It depends on what you need, how fast you want to drive it, and how far you need to go.

A few tips when looking at quotes:

Don’t just look at the numbers. Ask what’s included in a package.
Check that the strategy and services being recommended align to your goals.
Look for the experience, time and tools required.
Most importantly, How will it impact your growth?

The real value of a service isn’t in how much it costs, but how it drives your business forward.

Work With a Partner, Not Just a Provider

We work with you to understand your needs and your budget. Then we build a customised strategy that will give you measurable results. Whether you’re looking to launch an e-commerce store, improve your SEO, or just get noticed online, we’re here to help.