How Much Do Agencies Charge For Email Marketing

Email marketing is widely regarded as one of the most effective ways for businesses to connect with their audience in a direct, targeted way. To optimize email marketing ROI, it may be worthwhile to engage the expertise of an email marketing company. Before doing so, it’s only fair to ask: How much will the typical digital marketing agency charge for an email marketing campaign?

As you might imagine, there’s no simple answer to this question. Industry benchmarks indicate that the average monthly price can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on the scope and complexity of your campaign. There are some factors to consider as you try to make sense of different email marketing quotes.

What Does an Email Marketing Agency Do?

First things first: When you first contact an email marketing agency, they should be more than willing to spend a few minutes consulting with you, and then offering you an individualized quote. This quote will reflect your specific needs and aspirations, and the range of services your agency will provide you. 

There are a few services that are common email marketing agencies, including:

• Strategy. You may desire your agency to spend some time developing a plan to help you define an audience, set clear marketing objectives, and determine the content and send frequency needed to help you achieve those objectives. This plan can guide the rest of your email marketing efforts, and may even be integrated with your broader digital strategy.

• Copywriting. Your marketing emails are only as good as their content. One of the main services that an agency can offer you is copywriting, helping you develop robust messaging tailored to different segments of your audience.

• Design. You may already have an account set up with a popular email marketing platform, like MailChimp. But you may also need your agency to make a template for you, or simply to put together some unique graphics that can help your marketing emails pop.

• Implementation. Naturally, a big part of your email marketing campaign will be sending the emails. A good agency will offer different options for automation, including tools to help optimize the timing to achieve the highest possible open rate.

• Analytic. Is your email marketing campaign yielding results? The only way to know is to look at data and analytics provided by your agency. Most agencies will offer reporting as a standard feature, but in some situations, you may need to pay extra for more detailed or boutique analytics.

You may want a plan that encompasses each of these services, or you may choose a few of these services à la carte. Naturally, this will have a big impact on the total amount of your email marketing package.

What are the Most Common Email Marketing Pricing Structures?

Another factor that can affect the pricing of your email marketing service is the fee structure that your agency uses. Some common examples include:

• Hourly rates. Some agencies will charge you depending on the time commitment required of them, which goes back to the previous point about the scope of work.

• One-time project rates. If you’re enlisting an agency to help with a one-time project (for instance, establishing a segmented email marketing list on your behalf), you may simply need to pay a one-time fee.

• Subscription or retainer rates. Most often, agencies charge for email marketing services monthly. Note that there may be added, one-time costs for set-up or for terminating your account.

When seeking quotes from different agencies, always be sure to ask about the different pricing structures they provide.

What is the Typical Email Marketing Price Range?

Now let’s get down to brass tacks: What’s the general price range you should expect from your agency? Again, it’s impossible to provide an answer that applies across the board, as there are so many variables to consider. Having said that, some industry benchmarks can be helpful here.

• If you’re seeking pricing for the writing, design, and sending of a single email outreach, you can expect a rate of anywhere from $100 to $700.

• For a retainer service, you’re probably looking at a monthly cost of somewhere between $2,000 and $7,500.

• For a one-time project set-up fee, anticipate a cost of $250 to $1,000.

• And for an hourly rate, the typical agency will have a going rate of $100 to $250.

What are Some Other Factors That Influence Email Marketing Pricing?

Several other variables can affect the amount of money you’re charged by your email marketing agency. Consider just a few of them:

• The size of the company you’re dealing with can be a factor, with larger and more established agencies usually charging a higher rate.

• In some situations, the structure of the business may have a tangible effect on pricing. For example, LLCs have the flexibility to charge more competitive rates. (For more information about what sets LLCs apart, see: What are the requirements to form an LLC in California?)

• Access to any kind of proprietary email marketing software can also affect the amount of money you pay.

• Are you providing a pre-existing email marketing list, or asking your agency to help you assemble one? This can significantly impact price points.

• Bundling email marketing with other digital marketing services can potentially help you control costs, as well. For example, you might get a discounted rate by pairing email marketing with blogging or with video creation.

• The amount of design work you’re asking for, including the number of individual templates, can be a determinative factor, too.

These are just a few of the factors that you should take into account as you look around for a good email marketing service, and as you seek a reasonable rate.

Choosing an Email Marketing Provider: Final Thoughts

As you start the process of seeking out a good email marketing provider, consider a couple of final guidelines.

First, remember that all agencies are different, and you never want to go with the first one you come across. Do your due diligence, seeking out a few different agencies and asking each of them to provide you with a written proposal.

Second, avoid comparing apples and oranges. One agency may charge a lot less money but also offer a fraction of your needed services. In other words, it’s always important to think not only in terms of cost but in terms of overall value. That’s ultimately how you find the agency best suited to address your email marketing needs.