How much does a marketing agency cost? Marketing agencies charge between $2,500 and $15,000 per month for ongoing work, or $5,000 to $50,000+ for project-based work. The actual cost depends on which services you need, how big your business is, how complex the campaigns are, and whether you choose monthly retainers, project fees, or hourly rates.
Here's what makes agency pricing so frustrating: one agency quotes you $3,000 monthly while another quotes $12,000 for what sounds like the exact same thing. Without knowing what actually drives these differences, you're stuck guessing.
The price gaps usually come down to whether you're getting junior staff or people who've actually done this before, how much real strategy gets included versus just executing tasks, and whether the agency has proven results or just nice portfolios.
Key Takeaways:
- Small businesses spend $2,500-$7,500 monthly
- Mid-market companies spend $7,500-$25,000 monthly
- Enterprise organizations spend $25,000-$100,000+ monthly
- Project work ranges from $5,000-$50,000+
- Most agencies lock you in for 3-6 months minimum
Average Marketing Agency Costs in 2026
Agency costs break into three tiers:
Small Business Tier: $2,500-$7,500/month
This covers businesses under $2 million in revenue. You'll get 2-3 marketing channels with some strategy and execution. Maybe social media, email, and a bit of paid ads. Or SEO and content with limited ad management.
At $2,500-$4,000, expect mostly execution with minimal strategy. At $5,000-$7,500, you actually get strategic thinking plus more channels.
The problem? At the low end, you're often paying for someone to post content and send emails without much thought behind why or whether it's working.
Mid-Market Tier: $7,500-$25,000/month
This works for businesses doing $2-10 million annually. You get multi-channel campaigns, someone dedicated to your account, regular strategy sessions, and team members who've done this before.
This usually means full-funnel marketing across 4-6 channels, real analytics instead of vanity metrics, conversion optimization, and custom creative work. The agency becomes part of your team instead of just a vendor checking boxes.
Enterprise Tier: $25,000-$100,000+/month
Large companies with complex needs land here. You get senior strategists, multiple specialists, extensive testing, and support across every channel that actually matters for your business.
This includes things like account-based marketing for specific targets, sophisticated attribution modeling, extensive creative production, and campaign management across all relevant platforms.
Project-Based Pricing
One-time projects vary wildly:
- Website design: $5,000-$50,000
- Branding and identity: $10,000-$75,000
- Kickstarter campaign: $15,000-$50,000
- Video production: $2,000-$25,000 per video
- Marketing strategy: $5,000-$25,000
MTHD Marketing ran a Kickstarter campaign for Studio52 that brought in $485,000+ in 21 days. That project included everything: strategy, video production, packaging design, copywriting, ad campaigns, and managing the whole thing. Work like that runs $30,000-$50,000.
Before you stress about costs, figure out if an agency even makes sense for you. Read our guide on how to choose a marketing agency first.
Understanding Marketing Agency Pricing Models
Agencies price their work four different ways. Each makes sense for different situations.
Monthly Retainer Model
How it works: You pay the same amount every month for defined services.
Typical range: $2,500-$15,000+ monthly
What you get: Ongoing support, regular deliverables, consistent execution, monthly reports and strategy sessions
The upside:
- You know what you'll spend each month
- Continuous optimization instead of one-and-done campaigns
- The agency learns your business over time
- Regular communication and support
The downside:
- You pay the same amount even when things are slow
- Extra work means extra fees
- You're locked in for 3-6 months minimum
- Doesn't flex with seasonal business
Best for: Businesses that need consistent marketing over multiple months, companies that want ongoing optimization, anyone building a long-term partnership
Project-Based Pricing
How it works: One fee for a specific thing with a clear scope. Agency finishes it, hands it off, and you're done unless you hire them again.
Typical range: $5,000-$50,000+ per project
What you get: One clear deliverable (website, campaign, brand identity), timeline with milestones, revisions included, you own everything at the end
The upside:
- Scope and deliverables are clear from day one
- Budget is set with no surprises
- No long-term commitment
- Perfect for one-time needs
The downside:
- Zero support after it's done
- Changes to scope cost extra
- Less flexibility while working
- Start from scratch if you need more later
Best for: Specific things like website redesigns, Kickstarter launches, brand development, or video projects where you know exactly what you want
Hourly Consulting
How it works: Pay for agency time by the hour. They track hours and bill you monthly.
Typical range: $100-$300+ per hour based on experience
What you get: Flexible support when you need it, strategic advice, no minimum commitment, pay only for hours used
The upside:
- Total flexibility
- No spending minimums
- Easy to start and stop
- Clear view of time investment
The downside:
- Costs are unpredictable
- Less strategic than retainer work
- Gets expensive fast
- Incentive is more hours, not efficiency
Best for: Advisory relationships, occasional strategic input, small businesses with limited needs, supplementing your internal team
Performance-Based Pricing
How it works: Agency fees tie to results. Could be a percentage of revenue, cost per acquisition, or commission on sales.
Typical setups: 10-30% of revenue generated, or base fee plus performance bonuses
What you get: Aligned incentives with the agency focused on outcomes, lower base fees, agency takes on risk
The upside:
- You pay for results, not activity
- Incentives are aligned
- Lower upfront investment
- Agency is highly motivated
The downside:
- Requires good tracking systems
- Can create fights over who gets credit
- Many agencies won't do this
- May push quick wins over long-term strategy
Best for: E-commerce where you can track revenue clearly, established companies with proven products, situations where you want to minimize risk
MTHD Marketing took over paid ads for RM Tires and turned a business losing $6,000 monthly into one making $50,000 monthly within two months. Results like that make performance-based pricing attractive, though most agencies prefer retainers because they're predictable.
What's Included in Marketing Agency Fees
Here's what you actually get for your money:
Strategy Development
- Market research and checking out competitors
- Figuring out who your customers are
- Deciding which channels to focus on
- Planning campaigns
- Setting goals and deciding what to measure
Campaign Creation
- Ad creative (images, video, copy)
- Landing pages that convert
- Email campaigns
- Social media content
- SEO content and keyword research
Execution and Management
- Launching campaigns
- Daily monitoring and tweaking
- Budget allocation and bid management
- A/B testing
- Technical setup
Analytics and Reporting
- Tracking performance
- Monthly or weekly reports
- Strategy sessions to review what's working
- Recommendations for what to do next
- Attribution analysis
Account Management
- Regular check-in calls
- Email and phone support
- Strategic guidance
- Coordination with your team
- Fixing issues when they come up
What Usually Costs Extra
- Ad spend (the actual money you spend on ads)
- Stock photos or video footage
- Premium software or tools
- Influencer fees
- Big revisions beyond what you agreed to
- Rush work with tight deadlines
Some agencies bundle everything together. Others separate things out and charge individually. Neither approach is wrong, but you need to know the total cost upfront before signing anything.
Marketing Agency Pricing by Service Type
Different services cost different amounts based on how complex they are and what expertise they require.
Web Design and Development
Range: $5,000-$50,000+ per project
What affects the price:
- How many pages and how complex
- Custom design versus tweaking a template
- E-commerce features
- Custom functionality or integrations
- Whether copywriting is included
- How fast you need it
A basic 5-7 page website runs $5,000-$10,000. A custom e-commerce site with 50+ products, custom features, and sophisticated design could hit $25,000-$50,000+.
MTHD Marketing builds sites focused on conversion rather than just looking good. Your website is your strongest sales tool, so it needs to work perfectly from day one.
Paid Advertising Management
Range: $1,000-$10,000+ monthly plus whatever you spend on ads
What affects the price:
- How many platforms (Google, Meta, LinkedIn)
- How complex the campaigns are
- How much you're spending on ads (often 10-20% of spend)
- Whether they create ad creative
- Landing page optimization
Most agencies charge either a percentage of ad spend (usually 15-20%) or a flat monthly fee. If you're spending $10,000 monthly on ads, you might pay $1,500-$2,000 for management. Spending $50,000 might cost $7,500-$10,000 for management.
MTHD Marketing managed ads for Chelsea Method and increased purchases from ads by 40.8% while cutting ad costs by 7.8% in 12 days. That kind of optimization justifies higher fees.
SEO Services
Range: $1,500-$10,000+ monthly
What affects the price:
- Local versus national campaigns
- How competitive your keywords are
- Technical work needed
- How much content creation
- Link building scope
Basic local SEO runs $1,500-$3,000 monthly. Competitive national SEO with lots of content and link building could hit $5,000-$10,000+. SEO takes 3-6 months minimum to show results.
Social Media Management
Range: $1,000-$5,000+ monthly
What affects the price:
- How many platforms
- Posts per week
- Community management level
- Content creation (video, graphics, photos)
- Paid social advertising
Basic posting on 2-3 platforms runs $1,000-$2,000. Comprehensive management with video content, active community engagement, and integrated paid campaigns hits $3,000-$5,000+.
Content Marketing
Range: $2,000-$15,000+ monthly
What affects the price:
- How many articles or pieces
- How long and detailed
- Research and expertise required
- Distribution and promotion
- SEO optimization level
A package with 4 blog posts monthly costs $2,000-$4,000. Comprehensive content marketing with 12+ pieces, extensive research, multimedia, and sophisticated distribution runs $8,000-$15,000+.
Email Marketing
Range: $500-$5,000+ monthly
What affects the price:
- How many campaigns
- List size and segmentation
- Design and copywriting needs
- Automation complexity
- Strategy and testing level
Basic email campaigns cost $500-$1,500 monthly. Sophisticated email marketing with extensive automation, segmentation, testing, and custom design runs $3,000-$5,000+.
MTHD Marketing made over $1.5 million from email marketing in one year for their own business. When done right, email delivers massive returns.
Video Production
Range: $2,000-$25,000+ per video
What affects the price:
- Video length and complexity
- Production quality and location
- Talent and crew needs
- How sophisticated the editing is
- Usage rights and licensing
A simple product video costs $2,000-$5,000. A comprehensive campaign video shot on location with talent, extensive post-production, and multiple versions could run $15,000-$25,000+.
MTHD Marketing has shot over 1,000 product videos over 20 years. That experience shows in videos that drive sales instead of just looking pretty.
Branding and Identity
Range: $10,000-$75,000+ per project
What affects the price:
- Scope (just logo versus complete brand identity)
- How deep the strategy goes
- What deliverables you need (guidelines, templates, assets)
- Revisions and iterations
- Brand rollout support
A logo design costs $3,000-$8,000. Complete brand identity with strategy, visual systems, guidelines, and templates runs $15,000-$40,000. Enterprise rebrands with tons of stakeholder management can exceed $75,000.
Kickstarter Campaign Management
Range: $15,000-$50,000+ per campaign
What affects the price:
- Campaign strategy and planning
- Video production needs
- Page design and copywriting
- Pre-launch marketing
- Managing the live campaign
- Post-campaign fulfillment planning
A basic Kickstarter campaign costs $15,000-$25,000. Comprehensive campaigns with custom video production, extensive pre-launch marketing, and sophisticated page design run $30,000-$50,000+.
The Studio52 campaign that MTHD Marketing managed brought in $485,000+ in 21 days. For the right product, that investment pays for itself many times over.
Hidden Costs to Watch Out For
Watch for costs that don't appear in initial proposals but show up later:
Setup and Onboarding Fees
Some agencies hit you with $1,000-$5,000+ for initial setup. This might cover account creation, research, strategy development, or technical implementation. Ask upfront whether setup fees apply.
Minimum Ad Spend Requirements
Agencies managing paid advertising often require minimum monthly ad spend separate from their fees. This could be $2,000, $5,000, or $10,000+ depending on the agency. The management fee (usually 10-20% of ad spend) comes on top of this.
Software and Tool Subscriptions
Premium marketing tools cost money. Some agencies include these. Others pass them to you:
- Analytics platforms: $100-$500+ monthly
- Email marketing software: $50-$300+ monthly
- Social media tools: $100-$500+ monthly
- SEO tools: $100-$400+ monthly
Ask which tools they use and whether costs are included.
Stock Assets
Quality stock photos, video footage, and music aren't free. Some agencies include reasonable stock usage. Others charge per asset or make you buy your own. A single premium stock video can cost $100-$500+.
Rush Fees
Need something faster than normal turnaround? Many agencies charge 20-50% extra for rush work. Plan ahead to avoid this.
Scope Creep Charges
When you ask for work beyond the original scope, agencies charge extra. This is fair, but surprises happen when scope wasn't clear initially. Get detailed scopes in proposals to avoid unexpected charges.
Contract Termination Penalties
Some agencies charge fees if you bail early. These might be flat amounts or the remaining months you owe. Read contract terms carefully and negotiate reasonable terms upfront.
Asset Transfer Fees
A few agencies charge to hand over assets, files, or access when you leave. This is unreasonable since you paid for those assets, but it happens. Clarify ownership upfront and make sure you get everything without extra fees.
How to Determine Your Marketing Budget
Most businesses should spend 5-10% of revenue on marketing. Newer businesses or those in aggressive growth mode should lean toward the higher end.
Calculate based on revenue goals:
Say you're doing $1 million annually and want to hit $1.5 million. You need $500,000 in new revenue. Working backward:
- Average customer value: $5,000
- New customers needed: 100
- Conversion rate: 5%
- Qualified leads needed: 2,000
- Cost per lead: $50
- Total marketing budget: $100,000 annually
This gives you roughly $8,000-$8,500 monthly for everything including agency fees and media costs.
Factor in your stage:
- Startup (pre-revenue): Stick to affordable tactics, $1,000-$3,000 monthly
- Early stage ($0-$500K revenue): Allocate $2,500-$5,000 monthly
- Growth stage ($500K-$2M revenue): Budget $5,000-$10,000 monthly
- Established ($2M-$10M revenue): Invest $10,000-$50,000 monthly
- Enterprise ($10M+ revenue): Allocate $50,000-$200,000+ monthly
Consider your industry:
Competitive industries require higher investment. If competitors are spending heavily, you need enough budget to compete. Less competitive industries may need less to get results.
Account for ramp-up time:
Marketing takes time to show returns. Budget for at least 6 months of investment before expecting breakeven. This means having enough runway to keep spending while building momentum.
Balance agency fees and media costs:
A common split is 30-40% for agency fees and 60-70% for media costs (ad spend, tools, content creation). A $10,000 monthly budget might be $3,500 to the agency and $6,500 for execution.
When Cheap Agencies Cost You More
The cheapest agency rarely gives you the best value. Here's why:
Inexperienced teams produce poor results
Junior staff lack the experience to optimize campaigns well. They make mistakes you pay for. Experienced strategists cost more but deliver significantly better returns. The gap between someone who's managed 5 campaigns versus 500 campaigns is huge.
Low quality creative hurts performance
Cheap agencies cut corners on design, copywriting, and video. Poor creative means lower conversion rates, higher acquisition costs, and wasted ad spend. The difference between mediocre and excellent creative can double or triple campaign performance.
Limited strategic thinking
Budget agencies focus on execution without strategy. They follow playbooks without adapting to your situation. You end up with lots of activity that doesn't drive results.
Minimal optimization and testing
Effective marketing requires constant testing and optimization. Cheap agencies lack the time and expertise to optimize properly. They launch something and hope it works instead of systematically improving performance week by week.
Hidden costs pile up
Low base fees often come with tons of additional charges. By the time you pay for all the extras, you've spent more than you would have with a properly-priced agency while getting worse results.
Starting over costs more
When a cheap agency fails, you waste 6-12 months and then pay another agency to start from scratch. The total cost of cheap agencies often exceeds paying for quality from the start.
The actual math:
Cheap agency:
- $2,500/month for 8 months = $20,000
- Results: Minimal, need to start over
- Total cost: $20,000 + lost opportunity
Quality agency:
- $6,000/month for 8 months = $48,000
- Results: Strong ROI, continued growth
- Total cost: $48,000 with 3x+ return
The quality agency costs $28,000 more but generates revenue that makes the investment profitable. The cheap agency costs $20,000 with nothing to show.
MTHD Marketing took over RM Tire's paid ads from another agency that was losing money. They turned it into a $50,000 monthly revenue generator within two months. The previous cheap agency was costing RM Tires $6,000 monthly in losses. Sometimes paying more means making more.
How to Evaluate Agency Pricing Proposals
Compare proposals on value and potential ROI, not just price.
Look at the full scope
What exactly do you get for the price? One agency's $5,000 might include more than another's $8,000. List out deliverables side by side to compare properly.
Calculate potential ROI
If an agency charges $6,000 monthly and generates $30,000 in new monthly revenue, that's a 5x return. A $3,000 agency generating only $5,000 in new revenue gives you a lower return despite costing less.
Think about outcomes, not costs.
Assess team experience
Who actually works on your account? Senior strategists with 10+ years justify higher fees than junior coordinators fresh out of college. Ask about the team and their backgrounds.
Consider your alternatives
Compare agency costs to other options:
- Hiring in-house: $50,000-$100,000+ annually per person plus benefits
- Doing it yourself: Your time valued at your hourly rate
- Piecing together freelancers: Coordination time plus individual fees
Agencies often provide better value when you account for expertise, coordination, and time savings.
Watch for warning signs
- Prices way below market (suggests inexperience or shortcuts)
- Won't explain pricing breakdown clearly
- Prices way above market without good reason
- Huge discrepancies between agencies for similar work
- Pressure to decide fast with "special pricing"
Ask about performance expectations
No agency can guarantee specific results, but some offer money-back guarantees or performance clauses. These show confidence.
Understand what happens if you're unhappy
How do they handle underperformance? Can you scale back? What are termination terms? Good agencies stand behind their work and offer reasonable flexibility.
Ready to work with an agency focused on profit instead of vanity metrics? MTHD Marketing has generated over $100 million in sales for clients and achieved an 11.4x return on marketing spend for their own business.
