How Much Does Digital Marketing Cost?

How much exactly does digital marketing cost?

People often wonder what the cost of good digital marketing is, and the answer is: It depends. Unfortunately, that’s not a very helpful response for any company on a budget, so in this blog we will break down the different aspects of digital marketing into ballpark numbers. At Corporate Conversions, we understand the importance of a professional, continuously maintained online profile, and we want to help our clients plan for their digital marketing success. That includes a full understanding of the services we offer and how the costs of those services are calculated.

First, it’s important to distinguish different parts of digital marketing best practices, SEO, and SEM. Below we list an overview of the main areas that we typically suggest.

Areas of Digital Marketing

On-page SEO

On-page, or on-site SEO, is what people typically think of when referring to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The process begins by using a keyword planner to determine the best possible keywords/phrases for a website in order to rank well in the search results. After that is complete, along with some competitive analysis, then the implementation phase begins. The entire process typically takes 1-2 hours per page at an hourly rate of $100-$150 on average.

Pay Per Click (PPC)

PPC covers a number of advertising services. This is how Google Ads (formerly Google Adwords), as well as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other third party services like AdRoll, structure their bidding. The research and setup portion of a campaign can take from 3-6 hours based on size and then typically 2-7 hours to manage per month. An average hourly rate for this service is $100-$150. In some instances, businesses will charge a percentage of spend.

Spend is the amount of money you set aside to invest on the platform you are advertising with. As a general rule of thumb $500 per month is a minimum. In some cases, businesses spend anywhere from $1500/mo – $20,000+ per month. This of course depends on industry, service, and the size of the company.

Content Marketing

Many times content marketing is simply referred to as blogging. However, content marketing includes any content that is generated for or by a business that is available on its website, distributed to other platforms like social media, or linked to in guest blogging or newsletters. For clarity here, we’re talking about individual pages added to the site or a single blog. On average it takes 2-3 hours to discuss topics, do research, write, review, get pages or posts approved, and finally post and optimize a page, article, or blog. Again, a standard hourly rate is usually in the $100-$150 range.

Local Directory Listings

What are local directory listings? These include Google My Business, Yelp, or YP.com. There are thousands of directories like these across the web that offer specific details about companies, including their names, contact details, and reviews. It is important for a business to keep its NAP score consistent across all of these profiles. NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone number. The more consistent a company’s listings are, the less the search engines need to guess what the correct info is. Our rate for the service of placing your company’s correct name, location, and contact details on 50+ directories is $99 per month.

We offer our clients all of the above services in any combination. If you are unsure of which aspects of digital marketing would be best for your company based on your unique needs and budget, we would be happy to discuss them with you and build a strategy for achieving digital marketing success over time. Call Tom at 616-426-9303 today to start that conversation.