Short answer: In our experience, a marketing agency typically costs around €1,500 to €4,000 a month for one channel at a small business, €4,000 to €10,000 for two or three channels, and €10,000 to €25,000 or more for an integrated team at a mid-sized or larger agency. Setup fees and creative are often extra, and ad spend is always on top.
Key takeaways
- The biggest price drivers are scope (channels, markets, creative volume), the seniority of the people on your account and the size of the agency.
- Most agencies charge a monthly fee plus one-off setup or project fees. Tracking setup, account rebuilds and creative production are the usual extras.
- Ad spend is never part of the fee. Budget for fee plus media, and judge the total against what it needs to return.
- Expect a monthly minimum and often a minimum term. Both are normal; long lock-ins and vague scopes are not.
- A price that is far below the market usually means junior time, few hours or volume work, not a bargain.
Ask five agencies to quote for "help with our marketing" and you may get back €1,800, €4,500 and €9,000. That spread is normal: "agency" covers a two-person specialist shop and a 200-person network, and "marketing" covers anything from one Google Ads account to a full paid and content programme.
The figures below are typical market ranges we see in Western Europe and the UK, not quotes and not our prices. In the US, dollar figures tend to land in similar or somewhat higher bands, especially in large cities.
How much does a marketing agency typically cost per month?
Most ongoing agency work falls into four bands, set mainly by how many channels the agency runs for you and what kind of agency it is.
| Scope and agency type | Typical monthly fee | Typical client |
|---|---|---|
| One channel, small specialist agency | Around €1,500 to €4,000 | Small business running one core channel, such as Google Ads, Meta or SEO |
| Two or three channels, small or mid-sized agency | Around €4,000 to €10,000 | Growing brand running paid search, paid social and email together, often with a performance marketing agency |
| Integrated team, mid-sized agency | Around €10,000 to €25,000 | Several channels and markets, regular creative production, strategy included |
| Large or network agency | €25,000 and up | Large brands with big media budgets and several teams on the account |
Treat these as orientation. A strong small agency can deliver more for €3,000 than a large one does for €8,000, so compare what each fee buys, not just the number. A useful way to read any quote is to convert it into hours: at a blended rate of, say, €100 an hour, a €3,000 fee buys about 30 hours a month, and some of those go on calls and reporting.
Fees can be structured as a flat retainer, a percentage of ad spend, a hybrid or a performance fee. The model changes how the fee moves as you grow, not the overall level very much. Our guide on how performance marketing agencies charge explains how each model is calculated.
What drives the price of a marketing agency?
The price follows the hours and the seniority behind your account. Five factors explain most of the gap between quotes.
Number of channels and markets
Each channel adds its own setup, testing, reporting and optimisation. So does each market, especially when it needs its own language, campaigns or landing pages. Running Google Ads in Germany is one job; running Google, Meta and email across Germany, Austria and the UK is closer to four.
Creative and content volume
On paid social, creative is the biggest lever and one of the biggest costs. An agency producing eight new ads a month needs designers or editors, and that shows in the fee. A quote that looks cheap may simply leave creative for you to supply.
Seniority of the people doing the work
Senior people cost more per hour but usually need fewer hours to reach the right answer. Ask who runs your account day to day, not who pitches.
Agency size and location
Larger agencies carry more overhead, such as account managers, offices and internal layers, and their minimums are higher. Agencies in London, Paris or Munich tend to charge more than those in smaller cities, though remote work has narrowed the gap.
Strategy versus execution
Some fees cover only running campaigns. Others include planning, budget allocation across channels and regular strategy reviews. If what you mainly need is senior direction rather than hands on the accounts, a fractional CMO is priced differently and may fit better.
A digital marketing agency with a scope you can read
We put the channels, hours, deliverables and extras in writing before you sign, so you can compare us fairly with anyone else. If a narrower scope would serve you better, we will say so.
See our digital marketing agencyWhat do setup and project fees cost?
Many agencies charge a one-off fee at the start, typically somewhere from a few hundred euros to around €5,000 for a small to mid-sized account. It pays for work that only happens once: an audit of existing accounts, conversion tracking and analytics setup, a rebuild of the campaign structure, or a product feed.
Larger pieces, such as a landing page build or a campaign shoot, are usually quoted as separate projects. Some agencies waive the setup fee for a longer minimum term.
A setup fee is worth paying when it buys a defined output you would otherwise lack, such as tracking you can trust. Ask for the list of deliverables. A setup fee without one is just a higher first invoice.
Is ad spend included in the agency fee?
No. Ad spend goes to Google, Meta or another platform, and the agency fee sits on top of it. When an agency quotes "€5,000 a month", that is almost always the fee alone.
This matters most for smaller budgets, where the fee can be a large share of the total. For a meaningful paid test in most European markets, we typically see media budgets of around €1,500 to €3,000 a month per channel, held for about three months.
What the quote says
Agency fee of €2,500 a month for Google Ads and Meta, plus a €2,000 setup fee for tracking.
What you actually pay
€2,500 fee plus €4,000 in ad spend is €6,500 a month. Over a three-month trial, with setup, that is €21,500 before you can fairly judge results.
What it needs to return
At €40 profit per order, €6,500 a month needs about 163 orders from these channels to break even, before repeat purchases.
The numbers are an example, but do this sum with every quote. If the total would strain the business, narrow the scope to one channel done well.
What minimum fees and terms do agencies set?
Most agencies set a monthly minimum, because strategy, reporting and tracking checks take similar time whatever your budget. As a rough guide, small agencies often start somewhere around €1,500 to €3,000 a month, mid-sized agencies around €5,000, and large agencies far higher. If your budget sits below an agency's usual client, you will be one of its smallest accounts and may get less attention.
Minimum terms commonly run from one to six months, with a notice period after that. Three months is a fair trial for most paid channels. Twelve months with no exit for poor results is a long time to be locked into the wrong partner.
When is a marketing agency's price a red flag?
The price itself is rarely the problem. What should worry you is a price nobody can explain.
A €900 retainer that buys a few hours of junior time can waste far more in ad spend than it saves in fees. If an offer is well below the ranges above, ask how many hours it buys and who does them.
Price is one input into the hiring decision. For the rest of it, see our guide on how to choose a marketing agency.
Frequently asked questions
For one channel, plan for a fee somewhere around €1,500 to €4,000 a month plus ad spend if the channel is paid, held for at least three months. If that total would strain the business, start with a one-off audit or a smaller scope rather than a thin retainer.
Because agencies quote different jobs under the same words. One may plan two channels and no creative, another four channels with monthly video. Ask each for the channels, hours, deliverables and extras in writing, then compare like for like.
Some do for consulting or small projects, and in Western Europe blended rates typically sit somewhere around €80 to €180 an hour. Most ongoing work is sold as a monthly fee, but that fee is still built on an estimate of hours, so it is fair to ask how many it buys.
Yes, mainly by narrowing the scope. Fewer channels, fewer markets or supplying your own creative all reduce the hours needed. Cutting the fee while keeping the same scope usually just means less senior time on your account.
What to do next
Before you collect quotes, decide what you want the agency to do and what the whole thing can cost, fee and media together.
- Write down the channels and markets you need, your monthly ad budget and the profit per order or lead the work has to beat.
- Ask every agency for the fee at your budget, the setup fee, the minimum term and a list of what is billed extra. Our marketing services page shows how we scope ours.
- If you want an outside view of where your money would work hardest first, ask for a free written audit. We send it within 48 hours, whether or not you hire us.