When it comes to marketing your business online, one of the first questions you probably have is how much it’s going to cost. The answer, unfortunately, is that there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Internet marketing costs can vary widely depending on the strategies and tactics you use, the size and scope of your campaign, and many other factors. In this post, we’ll dive into some of the key considerations you need to keep in mind when budgeting for an internet marketing campaign. By understanding these factors, you’ll be better equipped to create a realistic budget that meets your specific needs.

How much should you spend on internet marketing?

To achieve optimum success, businesses in the average industry should allocate at least 20 hours each month to digital marketing. Companies operating within fiercely competitive industries such as law and dentistry require a much larger commitment of time towards marketing activities if they want to stand out from their competition – especially those based in city hubs like the Gold Coast. If your aims are even higher, for example, ranking multiple locations nationally or internationally, then you need to really increase your investment in this area quickly.

Whether you are a start-up or your website is in dire straits, more money must be put towards marketing than for someone who’s already ranking on the second page but hoping to reach the peak of the first.

Digital marketing services typically range in price from $80-$200 per hour. For a basic service of 20 hours per month, you would be looking at an approximate investment of $2,000.

Companies usually invest between $500 and $50,000 monthly in digital marketing. You may find some agencies that offer services for less than $500 each month. Still, it is highly unlikely you’ll be able to reach the first page of search results with only 5 hours dedicated monthly- especially in competitive industries or large cities.

Generally, smaller to mid-size companies will invest between $2,000 and $6,000 monthly into their marketing endeavours. For those that dream big, however, they are likely to be putting in around 10k to 20k a month – an impressive investment.

Bigger organizations often dedicate more than $100,000 monthly for online marketing campaigns.

Businesses have substantially increased their marketing investments over the last decade: from 2011 to 2022, average spending has risen by more than 5%, with total allocations at 8.7% of overall company revenue in 2022 alone!

Digital marketing prices are heavily influenced by several key factors.

• The niche/market you are in.
• Your location.
• How competitive it is.
• Your timeline for getting results.
• Where you currently stand in search engine ranking.
• How well your website currently converts.

How the niche/market you are in:

The costs of advertisement and the rate at which visitors convert depend heavily on your industry – for instance, Law firms are typically charged around $40 per Google Ads click. In contrast, a cabinet maker’s clicks are priced much lower, averaging only $10 per click. If you need 1000 clicks a month to reach your target audience, this could make a drastic difference in budgeting, with the former option costing much more than the latter.

Every market has its own, unique conversion rate. For instance, the average landing page for an online clothing store results in a 1.8% conversion rate, while one designed for Food and beverage will generate a 6.1% success rate instead.

To achieve the same amount of conversions per month, an online clothing store would have to drive more traffic to its website.

Your location affects price:

Where your business is located could drastically affect both the cost of organic SEO and PPC. For instance, a personal injury law firm in Sydney can expect to face much more competition than one based in Byron Bay. This elevated rivalry leads to higher click prices charged by advertising companies, as well as an increased effort needed to reach #1 on search engines due to the influx of other firms vying for that spot.

How competitive your market is:

The competitiveness of your particular market can often determine the price. In our experience, some sectors may not be implementing digital marketing strategies as intensively and effectively as others, thus creating a discrepancy in pricing.

If you have a stone-skipping website that you want to appear as number 1 for your city, odds are you won’t find many other stone-skipping websites putting in significant marketing efforts.

On the other hand, digital marketing efforts for trade businesses are among the most fiercely competitive.

The timeline can affect the price:

If you’re eager to produce tangible results quickly, then paid ads are one of the most efficient methods available. You would be essentially paying for website visitors – and this approach will bring more traffic faster than optimizing organic search engine rankings.

Moreover, by investing more time into a project, you can achieve quick results and reap the financial rewards that come with it.

Your current search engine results can affect the price:

Are you currently listed on the first page for your desired search terms? Or, perhaps even at position 10? Whatever rank you are in presently will become a critical starting point and determine how much effort is required to land yourself at number one. If unfortunately, your business isn’t appearing in any of those searches yet, then it might be time to start creating content or fixing up what’s already present on your website.

How well your website currently converts visitors will affect the price:

Is your website converting visitors into devoted consumers? Actually, investing in extra guests to a site that doesn’t turn them into customers is an unnecessary expenditure on advertising and SEO spending. Instead of straight away channelling more energy toward driving more traffic, look at enhancing the current content on your website so it can maximize conversions from existing web users first.

Conclusion

It’s important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all answer regarding digital marketing pricing. Many factors, such as your industry, market competitiveness, location, website performance and current search engine rankings, can affect the cost of any project. To get a better grasp on how much you might need to spend on SEO or PPC campaigns, speak with a digital marketing professional to get an accurate estimate. They will be able to analyze your online presence and advise you on the best course of action that maximizes your return on investment. By understanding all of these elements, you can make sure that you are getting the most value for money when it comes to digital marketing for your online store.