An Honest Cost Guide
We understand. Hiring a marketing firm is a big decision.
Our goal is to empower you with honest and reliable information about what marketing services cost so that you can make a decision that’s best for your company and your budget. We’ll aim to answer some of the most common questions we get asked and provide insights that few agencies are willing to share.
The budget a client has for marketing services can be a factor in determining the consultant’s income. In many cases, the consultant will charge a fee for their services based on the scope of work and the amount of time required to complete it. This fee can be a fixed amount or a percentage of the budget allocated for the marketing campaign. The consultant’s income will depend on the specific arrangement agreed upon with the client, but it is generally based on the amount of work they perform and the results they deliver.
Why Do Consultants Ask About a Budget?
Marketing consultants ask about a client’s budget because it helps them to determine what kind of marketing strategies and tactics they can implement within that budget. Knowing the budget allows them to tailor their services to the client’s specific needs and constraints, ensuring that they are able to provide the most effective solution possible. Additionally, having this information helps them to avoid over-promising or under-delivering, as they can adjust their recommendations based on the number of resources available.
Why Do Costs Vary?
How much do marketing agencies charge? Every marketing agency charges a different rate, and for a reason.
Lower-Cost Agencies usually do less customization or have less experience.
Higher-Cost Agencies usually have more experience, spend more time developing your strategies and content, have tried-and-true systems in place to make sure that things are running successfully, and will spend more time talking to and meeting with you.
If you have specific sales and conversion goals, then hiring an experienced marketing agency is probably where you need to be.
Why Long Contracts?
Marketing agencies know that marketing is a long game, so they set their contract lengths to maximize your project’s potential for success.
Month 1: Setting Up
If an agency is providing a customized service for you, there will be 2-4 weeks of setup time. During this time, they’ll gather logins, and files, talk to you about your goals, do an audit on what you’ve been doing, develop a marketing strategy, and then front load and create all of the pieces needed to launch. this is a lot of work and time spent collaborating with you to ensure they’re creating the best plan possible to meet your needs.
Month 2: Getting Going
After your setup month, everyone will be excited to hit go! This first month’s live is where we all act like scientists and track the progress of our initial strategies in the most controlled ways. If things don’t work, we’re back to the drawing board and need to create a new plant to achieve our goals. If things look promising, we don’t stop there. It’s time to optimize. We take hold of the tactics and worked and double down, tweaking as needed. This process never ends.
Month 3: Seeing Results
It truly takes at least two months to start to see things snowball. Month three is fine-tuning and optimizing. Within six months, the goal is to have a well-oiled machine that allows you to continue to invest in the things that bring a profit. From there you may want to expand your budget to test and explore new opportunities.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, the process of optimizing a website to improve its ranking on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. The goal of SEO is to increase the visibility and organic traffic to a website by improving its ranking for relevant keywords and phrases.
SEO is important because it helps websites appear at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs), where users can easily find them for related products or services. A higher ranking on SERPs can lead to increased brand visibility and credibility, and drive more traffic to a website. This can ultimately result in increased sales and revenue for a business. The process of SEO can be broken down into several key steps:
1 Keyword Research: The first step in the SEO process is to identify relevant keywords and phrases that people use to search for the products or services offered by a website.
2 On-page Optimization: This involves optimizing various website elements, such as its content, title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, and images, to ensure they are optimized for search engines and the target keywords.
3 Technical Optimization: This step involves optimizing the technical aspects of a website, such as its site architecture, URL structure, mobile responsiveness, and site speed, to ensure it is easily accessible and usable by both users and search engines.
4 Content Creation: Creating high-quality, relevant, and keyword-rich content can help improve a website’s ranking and drive more organic traffic.
5 Link Building: This involves acquiring high-quality backlinks from other reputable websites, which can help improve a website’s authority and ranking.
6 Tracking and Analysis: The final step in the SEO process is to track the performance of the website and analyze the results. This can help identify areas for improvement and guide future optimization efforts.
It’s worth noting that SEO is an ongoing process, as search algorithms and user behaviors are constantly changing. Ongoing optimization efforts are therefore necessary to maintain and improve a website’s ranking.
What is the Return On Investment of SEO?
The cost of SEO can vary widely depending on several factors, such as the size and complexity of a website, the competitiveness of the target keywords, and the level of service provided by the SEO agency or consultant.
- For small businesses, the cost of SEO services can range from $500 to $5,000 per month.
- For larger enterprises or highly competitive industries, the cost can be much higher, reaching tens of thousands of dollars per month.
These prices are based on the agreed-upon percentage fee for services ( from 3-25%)
It’s also important to note that SEO is not a one-time investment, but an ongoing process. The cost of SEO can therefore be substantial over time, but it can also offer a high return on investment if done correctly.
To determine the ROI (return on investment) of a search engine optimization strategy, consider how much a client/customer/patient (Value A) is worth to your services…
(A) x specific time period x average (A) x lifespan x overhead
Here’s an example…
The average value of (A) is $500/year, with an average lifespan of 10 years. This would equal a lifespan per (A) at $5,000.
Now, with an SEO strategy in place, your website delivers 10 new (A’s) a month to your services. Using the formula above, which equals $50,000 in a lifespan. Over the course of a year, at 10 (A’s) a month, your estimated ROI is roughly $500,000 a year in future revenue just from SEO.
Logo & Web Application Development
$300 and up:
Design and development with a focus on brand awareness and conversions
The scope of web application development is subject to significant variation depending on the budget allocated by the client. This is primarily due to the fact that the requirements of each client may range from a basic landing page to a complex software application, such as Software as a Service (SaaS). The determination of the appropriate level of development for a particular client will depend on their specific needs. However, it is important to note that as conversion budgets increase, it may be possible to expand the scope of the project.
Why Such A Huge Price Gap?
It comes down to the number of hours for production.
Website Validation and Planning: 10-30 hours
UI/UX Website Design: 50-150 hours: UI/UX is one of the essential stages of product development as it decides how your product’s interface will look and what kind of user experience it can provide. It’s the first point of contact with which your visitors interact. Generally, building a good UI and UX design takes around 2-3 weeks and the average hourly rate is $25-$45.
Frontend Website Development: 50-150 hours: Before starting front-end development, a consultation will be conducted to decide on the technology needed based on the core features needed. Why is this important? It takes only 50 milliseconds for users to form an opinion about your application, and most users are bound to discard your application after that point.
Developing the front-end is more than creating a stunning design; the primary tasks involve minifying resources, optimizing images, reducing server calls, removing custom fronts, compressing files, applying chasing and lazy loading, etc. All of this contributes to a good user experience which requires expertise. This process can take anywhere from 2 – 12 weeks at an average hourly rate of $25-$75.
Backend Website Develop 150-300 hours: It requires developers to create everything from scratch per the application functionalities. However, you can save money by taking assistance from back-end APIs available for standard features. Backend development mainly involves file management, push notifications, export, search, etc…and the base for data structure and security. On average this development will take 2-25 weeks at an average hourly cost between $20-$70.
Why Code Costs More in Web Development than a Website Builder?
As businesses and organizations continue to rely on digital solutions to drive growth, the development of custom websites and e-commerce platforms becomes increasingly important. However, with the rise of popular website-building platforms like WordPress, Shopify, and others, it’s natural to wonder why code can cost more in web development compared to these alternative options.
The main reason code costs more in web development compared to website builders is due to the level of customization and technical complexity involved. Here’s a closer look at why:
- Customization: Custom websites and e-commerce platforms often require custom coding to meet specific business requirements. This can be more time-consuming and complex than using pre-existing templates and plugins in WordPress and Shopify. Custom coding also requires more technical expertise, which can drive up the cost of development.
- Technical Complexity: Web development projects may involve more advanced technical skills and knowledge, such as database development, server management, and API integrations. This added technical complexity can increase the cost of development and ensure the website is secure and scalable for future growth.
- Scalability: Custom websites and e-commerce platforms need to be scalable to accommodate future growth and changing needs. This scalability often requires more technical expertise and resources, which can add to the cost of development.
- Quality Assurance: Custom websites and e-commerce platforms require more thorough testing and quality assurance to ensure they perform correctly on multiple browsers and devices. This added level of quality assurance can increase the cost of development and ensure a seamless user experience.
In conclusion, code costs more in web development compared to WordPress development (and e-commerce platforms like Shopify) due to the level of customization and technical complexity involved. While pre-existing templates and plugins in WordPress and Shopify can reduce the cost of development, custom websites and e-commerce platforms often require more time, effort, and resources to meet specific business requirements and ensure scalability, security, and a seamless user experience.
Website Optimization
Are you struggling to create and maintain a website that is fast, user-friendly, and optimized for search engines? As a small or medium-sized business, it can be overwhelming to tackle the complexities of digital marketing and web design on your own.
This is where Cloud Rescue can assist you. At Cloud Rescue, we specialize in a wide range of services, including website design and development, SEO, and digital marketing campaigns. One way we can assist is by analyzing the performance of your website and providing recommendations for enhancing its speed and user experience.
Here are just a few reasons why you should consider working with us:
- Website Optimization is critical for user experience and SEO
Did you know that if your website takes more than 3 seconds to load, users are more likely to abandon it? Slow page load times can also hurt your website’s search engine ranking. We can identify these areas where your website may be experiencing performance issues and take steps to optimize its load time and user experience.
- We provide practical advice
We provide a comprehensive report on your website’s performance, including actionable recommendations for improving its speed and user experience. These recommendations may include optimizing image sizes, reducing the size of CSS and JavaScript files, and improving server response time. By implementing these recommendations, our team can help improve your website’s performance and user experience.
- We can boost your website traffic and engagement
A fast-loading website with a good user experience is more likely to attract and retain visitors, increasing the chances of user engagement and conversion. By optimizing your website with Cloud Rescue, we can help drive more traffic to your site and enhance your overall online marketing success.
In conclusion, working with us can provide valuable services to your business. By optimizing your website’s performance and user experience, Cloud Rescue can enhance your search engine ranking, boost website traffic and engagement, and help you achieve your online marketing goals.
Website Optimizations Plans
Lite Plan $1200 USD
This plan is for small WordPress sites that have static web pages and blog posts.
Standard Plan $3500
This plan is for websites that have opt-in forms, WooCommerce, and LMS (Learning Management System) like Learn Dash, AffiliateWP, etc. These programs significantly slow down a website.
Advanced Plan $5500 USD
This plan is for companies that have used a page builder like Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, WPBakery, etc. We need to remove the left over code from these programs.
Social Media Marketing
As a small to medium-sized business owner, you already know the importance of a strong online presence in today’s digital world. Social media marketing has become a vital component of any successful marketing strategy, but it can be a time-consuming and overwhelming task, especially when you have limited resources.
This is where the Cloud Rescue Marketing team can assist you. Our team of experts specializes in social media marketing and has the expertise to help your business succeed in the online space.
First and foremost, we understand that your time is valuable. That’s why we take care of every aspect of your social media marketing campaign, from content creation to community management, leaving you with more time to focus on running your business. With our services, you can be confident that your social media accounts will be consistently updated with high-quality, engaging content that aligns with your brand’s messaging and goals.
Our team has the knowledge and experience to develop an effective social media strategy that will resonate with your target audience. We analyze your business, your industry, and your competitors to create a customized plan that meets your unique needs and goals. We also provide regular reports and analyses, so you can see the impact of your social media marketing campaign and make informed decisions about future marketing efforts.
By choosing the Cloud Rescue Marketing team, you can also be assured of cost-effective marketing strategies. We maximize the impact of your social media marketing budget by using our resources and tools to create engaging content and maximize the reach of your campaigns. Our team will also help you avoid costly mistakes that can result from inexperience in social media marketing.
What else do I need to be aware of when thinking about working with an agency?
Paid Advertising Spend
If you’re planning on running ads through an agency, you need to know that most agencies don’t pay for your advertising spend.
Advertising spend is the money spent to place the ads you’re running. The reason agencies usually don’t pay for your ad spend is that it’s an accounting nightmare and if you tallied up all their client’s budgets, it could account for hundreds of thousands of dollars ( if not more). So it’s best for both parties to just keep this separate.
You’ll want to chat with your agency about what type of budget you’ll need on top of their service fees if they’re going to manage your ads. On top of the paid advertising spend, it’s common for an agency to charge a management fee ( a percentage) on the total ad spend spent each month. this ranges greatly from agency to agency and is in place so that the person managing the ads can spend the time needed to monitor and adjust ads as needed.
At Cloud Rescue, we monitor your ads’ progress daily ad charge 15% management fee. Big media companies that offer paid advertising, like newspaper companies, can charge up to a 35% management fee.
Software & Subscriptions
Another thing to think about is if you’ll need to create accounts for and pay for third-party tools. This could include email software, apps for your website, or even a couple of hours to have your developer install or change something on your site for the campaign. Always ask if there are any additional costs like this in the proposal process.
Social Media Management Plans
Standard Plan $300-400 Month
Most people start with the standard 2-platform, 4-8 total posts per week, then scale up at the 3-6 month mark. Because your agency will be creating strategic content for each platform, they’ll need to set aside time and use their brainpower to tackle this strategically.
Email Marketing $1,500+ a Month
Similar to social media marketing, this rate increases based on the types of emails that need to be set up and the quantity of them. If you have an eCommerce brand (online shopping), then the strategy will likely need to be more complex and with more emails to keep your customers moving through the sales funnel.
Blog Content Development $900+ a Month
This service is one that can increase in costs quickly based on the number of blogs and pages you might need to be created a month. Most brands choose to publish 2-8 blog posts a month and optimize for search. With two blogs as a starting point, you can work your way up to 8+ (if necessary).
Facebook Advertising
Why Advertise on Facebook
Facebook has over 2.7 billion active users, so it can be an effective way to reach a large number of people. There are many reasons why a business or organization might choose to advertise on Facebook.
Targeted advertising
Facebook allows you to target your ads to specific demographics, interests, and locations, which can help ensure that your ads are being seen by the right people.
Measurable results
Facebook provides detailed analytics that allows you to track the performance of your ads, so you can see how well they are doing and make any necessary adjustments.
Cost-effectiveness
Facebook advertising can be an affordable option, especially when compared to traditional forms of advertising like television or print.
Flexibility
You can easily adjust your Facebook ad campaigns in real time based on their performance, allowing you to fine-tune your approach as needed.
Overall, advertising on Facebook can be a powerful way to promote your business or organization and reach a large and targeted audience.
Facebook 1-Time Ads Setup
Facebook Lite Plan $749/ One -Time Setup Fee
Great for service-based businesses* that want leads from Facebook. Each lead will have a Name, Email, and Phone Number.
- Define your Ideal Target Audience
- 1 Facebook Ad Lead Generation Campaign
- 1 Facebook Ad Set that will target Desired Audience
- 2 Highly-Relevant Ads for your Ad Set | Custom Ad Copywrite
- 1 Zapier Integration | Each Facebook lead will automatically be emailed to you.
Facebook Standard Plan. $999/ One-Time Setup Fee
Attract people to a landing page to collect leads, increase engagement, get messages on Facebook Messenger, promote an event, etc.
- 1 Facebook Ads traffic, Brand, Awareness, Reach, Video Views, Post Engagement, Page Likes, Event Responses, or Campaign Messages
- 1 Facebook Ad Set that will target your Desired Audience
- 2- Highly Relevant Ads for your Ads Set | Custom written Ad Copy
- 1 Landing Page (if needed)
- 1 Pixel installation to Track Cost-per-lead
Facebook Advanced Plan. $1250/ One-Time Setup Fee
Great for companies that already have the traffic coming to their site.
- 1 Remarketing Campaign
- 1 Custome Audience ( people who visit specific web pages)
- 1 Ad Set
- 2 Highly Relevant Ads for your Ads Set | Custom Written Ad Copy
- 1 Pixel installation to track cost-per-lead or cost-per-sale
- We’ll use one of the following Campaign Objectives: Brand Awareness, Reach, Video Views, Post Engagement, Page Likes, Event Responses, Campaign Messages, or Conversions.
Facebook Ads Monthly Recurring Plans
Facebook Ads Lite Plan $997 Month
Great for businesses that are just starting off that need sales.
- Define your Ideal Target Audience
- 3 Facebook Ads Campaigns
- 9 Facebook Ad Sets that will Target Desired Audience
- 18 Highly Relevant Ads for Ad Sets (2 Ads per Ad Set | Custom Written Ad Copy + Graphics
- 10 Landing Pages (Max)
- 1 Pixel integration to track-cost-per-conversion
- Email Support
Facebook Standard Ads Plan $1497 Month
Great for companies that already have experience advertising online. This plan is likely going to be another source of income for your business.
- Define your Ideal Target Audience
- 5 Facebook Ads Campaigns
- 15 Facebook Ad Sets that will Target Desired Audience
- 30 Highly Relevant Ads for your Ad Sets (2 Ads per Ad Set) | Custom Written Ad Copy + Graphics
- 15 Landing Pages (if needed)
- 1 Pixel integration to track-cost-per-conversion
- Email Support
Facebook Ads Advanced Plan. $1997 Month
Great for companies that already have traffic coming to their site.
- Dedicated Facebook Ads Campaign Manager
- Define your Ideal Audience
- Unlimited Campaigns
- Unlimited Custom Audiences (people who visit specific web pages)
- Unlimited Ad Sets
- Unlimited Ads Graphics
- Unlimited Landing Pages
- 1 Pixle integration to track-cost-per-conversion
- Email Support & Phone Support
Why Advertise on Google?
Advertising on Google can be an effective way to reach a large audience, as Google is the most widely used search engine in the world. When you advertise on Google, you can use the Google Ads platform to create and run ads that appear on Google search results in pages, on other websites that partner with Google to show ads, and on mobile apps.
There are several benefits to advertising on Google:
Reach
Google Ads can help you reach a large and targeted audience through search, display, and video ads.
Measurable results
With Google Ads, you can track the success of your campaigns through detailed and customizable reports. You can see how many people saw your ads, how many clicked on them, and how many converted (took a specific action, such as making a purchase).
Flexibility
You can set your own budget and choose where and when your ads appear, so you have control over your advertising costs. You can also easily adjust your campaigns as needed.
Targeting
Google Ads allows you to target your ads to specific audiences based on factors such as location, language, demographics, interests, and more. This can help you reach the people who are most likely to be interested in your products or services.
Google Ads 1-Time Setup Plans
Google Ads Lite Plan $749/ One-Time Setup Fee
Great for businesses with small advertising budgets.
- Keyword Research – Define your Ideal Target Audience + select highly relevant keywords
- 1 Campaign
- 1 Ad Group
- 2 Highly Relevant Ads for each Ad Group | Custom Written Ad Copy
- Ad Extensions are included at the Ad Group level
- 1 Landing Page with a contact form or we’ll point your ad to one of our live pages.
Google Standard Ads Plan $999/ One-Time Setup Fee
Great for companies that already have experience advertising online.
- Keyword Research – Define your Ideal Target Audience + select highly relevant keywords
- 2 Campaigns
- 2 Ad Groups per campaign
- 2 Highly Relevant Ads for each Ad Group | Custom Written Ad Copy
- Ad Extensions are included at the Ad Group level
- 1 Landing Page with a contact form or we’ll point your ad to one of our live pages.
Google Ads Advanced Plan $1250/ One-Time Setup Fee
Great for companies that already have a Google Ads Campaign.
- Keyword Research – Define your Ideal Target Audience + select highly relevant keywords
- 5 Campaigns – Remarketing campaigns included
- 2 Ad Groups per campaign
- 1 Create an Audience in Google Ads or Google Analytics / Used for remarketing purposes
- 2 Highly Relevant Ads for each Ad Group | Custom Written Ad Copy
- Ad Extensions are included at the Ad Group level
- 5 Landing Page with a contact form or we’ll point your ad to one of our live pages.
Google Ads Monthly Recurring Plans
Google Ads Lite Plan $749 Month
Great for service-based businesses* with a small advertising budget.
- Keyword Research – Define your Ideal Target Audience + select highly relevant keywords
- 1 Campaign
- 1 Ad Group
- 2 Highly Relevant Ads for each Ad Group | Custom Written Ad Copy
- Ad Extensions are included at the Ad Group level
- 1 Landing Page with a contact form or we’ll point your ad to one of our live pages.
Google Standard Ads Plan $999 Month
Great for companies that have experience with advertising and already have an advertising budget.
- Keyword Research – Define your Ideal Target Audience + select highly relevant keywords
- 2 Campaigns
- 2 Ad Groups per campaign
- 2 Highly Relevant Ads for each Ad Group | Custom Written Ad Copy
- Ad Extensions are included at the Ad Group level
- 1 Landing Page with a contact form or we’ll point your ad to one of our live pages.
Google Ads Advanced Plan $1499 Month
Great for companies that already have a Google Ads Campaign.
- Keyword Research – Define your Ideal Target Audience + select highly relevant keywords
- 5 Campaigns – Remarketing campaigns included
- 2 Ad Groups per campaign
- 1 Create an Audience in Google Ads or Google Analytics / Used for remarketing purposes
- 2 Highly Relevant Ads for each Ad Group | Custom Written Ad Copy
- Ad Extensions are included at the Ad Group level
- 5 Landing Page with a contact form or we’ll point your ad to one of our live pages
The pricing only includes the initial setup. It does not include the advertising spend.
What do we consider a *service-based business?
Service-based businesses conduct “services”, like accountants, dentists, electricians, plumbers, etc.
We do not include E-Commerce websites as Service-Based Businesses.