Digital Marketing Pricing: What to Actually Expect in 2026
Transparent digital marketing pricing from $397/mo. Compare Starter, Growth, and Accelerator tiers with detailed breakdowns of what each plan includes.
Starter Plan: $397/month + $1,497 Setup
The Starter plan is built for businesses entering the digital space for the first time or testing online marketing before committing to a larger budget.
What you get every month: - One 60-minute strategy session with your marketing lead - Four SEO-optimized blog posts (800 to 1,200 words each) - Basic on-page SEO optimization including title tags, meta descriptions, and internal linking - Social media content calendar with 12 planned posts - Weekly email newsletter template and scheduling - Monthly analytics report with traffic, rankings, and lead tracking
What the setup fee covers: - Full website SEO audit (technical, on-page, and content gaps) - Competitor analysis for your top 5 local competitors - Content calendar creation for the first 90 days - Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console configuration - Baseline keyword ranking report
Best for: Service businesses with fewer than 10 employees, local businesses entering online marketing for the first time, or companies testing digital before scaling up.
Expected timeline to results: Most Starter clients see measurable organic traffic increases within 3 to 4 months. Lead generation typically begins around month 4 to 6 as content indexes and rankings improve.
Growth Plan: $997/month + $3,497 Setup
The Growth plan is our most popular tier because it funds a complete marketing operation. This is the plan for businesses that are past the testing phase and ready to invest in consistent customer acquisition.
Everything in Starter, plus: - Eight SEO-optimized blog posts per month - Advanced technical SEO audits (site speed, crawlability, structured data) - PPC campaign management for Google Ads ($500 to $2,000/month ad spend managed) - CRM setup and basic marketing automation sequences - Lead tracking dashboard with source attribution - Bi-weekly strategy calls instead of monthly - Conversion rate optimization recommendations based on traffic data
What the setup fee covers: - Everything in Starter setup - CRM selection, configuration, and data import - Google Ads account setup with initial campaign structure - Landing page audit and optimization recommendations - Lead scoring framework design
Best for: Established service businesses doing $500K+ in annual revenue, companies with a proven service offering looking to scale customer acquisition, or businesses transitioning from referral-only to systematic marketing.
Expected timeline to results: PPC campaigns produce leads within the first 2 weeks. SEO and content compound over months 3 through 8. Most Growth clients reach positive ROI by month 4 to 5 when combining paid and organic channels.
Accelerator Plan: $2,997/month + $5,997 Setup
The Accelerator plan is equivalent to hiring a full-time marketing director plus execution team. It covers every channel, every optimization, and every reporting need for businesses serious about aggressive growth.
Everything in Growth, plus: - Unlimited content creation (articles, case studies, whitepapers, guides) - Full-service SEO strategy with competitive gap analysis and link building - Expanded PPC management ($3,000 to $10,000/month ad spend) - Video content production (2 to 4 pieces per month) - Email automation sequences for nurture, onboarding, and re-engagement - Conversion rate optimization with A/B testing - Weekly strategy calls with a dedicated account manager - Custom reporting dashboards with real-time metrics - Social media management across 2 to 3 platforms
What the setup fee covers: - Comprehensive brand messaging and positioning workshop - Full marketing technology stack audit and optimization - Custom analytics dashboard build - Complete competitor intelligence report - Marketing playbook documenting strategy, channels, and KPIs
Best for: Companies doing $1M+ in revenue targeting aggressive growth, businesses preparing for funding rounds that need strong marketing metrics, or organizations replacing an in-house marketing team with a more cost-effective external partner.
A La Carte Services
Not every business needs a bundled plan. Individual services are available for companies with specific needs.
| Service | Monthly Cost | Details |
|---|---|---|
| SEO Services | $597/month | Technical audits, on-page optimization, content strategy |
| PPC Advertising | $797/month + ad spend | Google Ads, campaign management, bid optimization |
| Content Marketing | $50 to $150/article | Blog posts, guides, case studies |
| Video Production | $1,500 to $3,500/piece | Script, shoot, edit, optimize for distribution |
| Email Marketing | $397/month | Templates, automation sequences, list management |
| Social Media | $497/month | Content creation, scheduling, community management |
| Website Design | $3,500 to $15,000 | One-time project with optional retainer |
A la carte services include monthly reporting and a strategy session. They do not include the cross-channel integration and optimization that bundled plans provide.
How Agency Pricing Compares to In-House
Hiring a full-time marketing manager costs $65,000 to $95,000 in salary alone. Add benefits, tools ($500 to $2,000/month for SEO tools, analytics platforms, and design software), training, and management overhead, and the fully loaded cost reaches $90,000 to $130,000 per year.
That person is one generalist. They cannot match the specialized depth of a team that includes an SEO strategist, content writer, PPC specialist, and analytics expert.
Our Growth plan at $997/month totals $11,964 per year plus setup. That is roughly 10% of the cost of one full-time hire, with access to a team of specialists and established processes that took years to build.
The math gets even more favorable when you factor in ramp time. A new hire takes 3 to 6 months to understand your business and start producing. An agency with documented onboarding processes starts producing in weeks.
What to Watch Out for in Agency Pricing
No setup fee and low monthly cost. If an agency charges $299/month with no setup, ask what you are actually getting. Strategy, audits, and initial buildout cost real time and money. Agencies that skip these steps are either doing templated work or planning to upsell you later.
Long-term contracts. Be cautious of agencies requiring 12-month commitments before you have seen any results. Quarterly commitments with renewal options give you enough time to evaluate performance without trapping you in a bad engagement.
Vague deliverables. "SEO optimization" means nothing without specifics. How many pages optimized? How many keywords targeted? What technical improvements? What reporting cadence? Get specifics in writing before you sign.
Hourly billing with no cap. Hourly billing incentivizes the agency to take longer. Fixed monthly plans with clear deliverables align the agency's incentives with yours: deliver results efficiently.
Why Running Start Digital Prices This Way
We charge setup fees because the strategic foundation matters. Skipping it means guessing, and guessing wastes your monthly budget. We charge flat monthly fees because you deserve predictable costs. No "we discovered another problem" invoices. No scope creep charges.
Every dollar in your monthly plan goes toward execution and optimization. You see exactly where it goes in your monthly report. If something is not working, we reallocate budget to what is. That is what accountability looks like.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know which plan is right for my business?
Start with your revenue and growth goals. Businesses under $500K in annual revenue typically start with the Starter plan to build their digital foundation. Businesses between $500K and $2M that need consistent lead generation fit the Growth plan. Businesses above $2M or those targeting aggressive expansion benefit from the Accelerator plan. A 15-minute discovery call helps us confirm the right fit.
Can I upgrade from Starter to Growth later?
Yes. About 60% of our Starter clients upgrade within 6 to 9 months once they see initial results and want to accelerate. Upgrading is seamless because we already understand your business, market, and baseline metrics. There is a prorated setup fee for the additional services.
What is not included in the monthly price?
Ad spend for PPC campaigns is billed directly by Google or Meta to your account. We manage the campaigns but you control the ad budget. Third-party tool subscriptions (if you want your own access to SEO tools or analytics platforms) are also separate. Everything else, including strategy, execution, reporting, and optimization, is included in your plan.
Do you require long-term contracts?
We work on quarterly commitments. The first quarter includes your setup phase and initial execution. After that, you renew quarterly based on results. We earn your business every 90 days. If you are not seeing value, you should not be locked in.
How quickly will I see results from my investment?
Paid advertising through PPC produces leads within the first 1 to 2 weeks. SEO and content marketing take 3 to 6 months to build momentum but compound over time. Most clients see positive ROI within 4 to 6 months when combining paid and organic strategies.
What happens if I need to pause my plan?
We offer a pause option for up to 60 days per year. Your strategy, content calendar, and campaign data are preserved. Pausing longer than 60 days may require a re-onboarding fee to audit changes in your market and update your strategy accordingly.
Ready to put this into action?
We help businesses implement the strategies in these guides. Talk to our team.