Exactly how much 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 Roots Marketing, we understand the importance of a professional, continuously maintained online presence, 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.
Aspects 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). We begin this process 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 step is complete, we do some competitive analysis, and then the implementation phase begins.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
PPC covers a number of advertising services. This is how Google Ads (formerly Google Adwords), Microsoft ads, 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 of the account and the management fee is per month based on the monthly spend budget.
Spend is the amount of money you set aside to invest on the platform you are advertising with. As a general rule of thumb $1000+ per month is a minimum. In most 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
Often people equate content marketing with 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, newsletters, or email campaigns. For clarity here, we’re talking about individual pages added to a website or utilized as other marketing material.
Local SEO and Reputation Management
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. Find out how your website’s NAP score stacks up with a free local directory audit.
The Cost of Digital Marketing
So what is the cost? Generally speaking, you can expect to spend a minimum of $3500 for an effective, recurring digital-marketing budget. However, finding the right partner that works with you to establish goals, KPIs, and reporting is invaluable. If the recurring service and campaigns are effective, they will pay in multiples.
We offer our clients all of the above services in any combination, in addition to a variety of other marketing services. 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.
