How Much Does Content Marketing Cost?

Whether you like it or not, the requirements of today’s market have changed. Prospects are now 80% decided whether or not they want to buy from you before they contact you directly. Content marketing is more important than ever. 

There’s no denying that content marketing is a powerful tool that can bring you more clients, convert more customers and build trust with your prospects. But how much does it cost? 

If you’ve done a bit of research, you’ve probably found that content marketers can be a bit “cloak and daggers” about the price of their services. Well, that’s not us. If you’re going to implement a new marketing strategy into your business, you need to be fully educated on everything from how it works to how much it will cost. 

This blog will give an honest overview of the cost of content marketing so you can factor it into your monthly budget.

Hold On. What Even IS Content Marketing?

Before even asking the question, ‘how much does content marketing cost?’, let’s have a show of hands. Who actually knows what content marketing is?

Content marketing is any material you put out to generate interest in your business, product or service. The most common forms of content marketing include (but aren’t limited to) web copy, blogs, emails and social media posts. You may well already have done some content marketing without ever asking yourself: ‘How much does content marketing cost for my business?’ – and that’s OK. 

P.S. – Before you mix this up with copywriting, check out our blog post explaining the difference between content and copy – and why it matters to know this as a business owner.

How Much Does Content Marketing Cost?

Don’t worry. This isn’t going to be one of those ‘it depends’ blogs that go around in circles without naming so much as a ballpark figure. 

The cost of content marketing can range anywhere from £300 to above £5,000 per month – depending on the level of service you’re looking for. It’s a pretty vast range to grapple with, isn’t it? So, how do you know that you’re getting the correct value from your content marketing when you’re swimming in a sea of far, far too many numbers? 

Let’s break down the factors that determine how much you can expect to be paying when outsourcing your content marketing. 

Factor #1: Type Of Content 

As we’ve already established, content marketing is an umbrella term for anything that your business displays or publishes – online or offline – with the purpose of getting leads and customers interested in you. 

But not all content is created equal. Blogs, for example, demand a lot more market research and writing time than nurture emails sent out to your existing lists. This isn’t to say that one is better than the other, but when the all-important question of ‘how much does content marketing cost?’ comes up, it’s worth considering the type of content. 

Even within the subcategory of blogs, those with high SEO (search engine optimisation) rankings will cost more than nurture blogs, written simply to educate an existing audience rather than to jump up the Google Search rankings. Different horses for different courses – but the difference between nurture and SEO blogs can often be in the hundreds.

Factor #2: Volume

This one should be fairly obvious. 

If you want more frequently published content, be prepared to pay higher prices for a content marketing service. Oftentimes a company will have a set number of content writers with their own capacities every week or month, so if you expect a higher volume of blogs, emails or web pages done for you, more writers may be needed to fulfil your request and generate good quality content for your business.

If you’ve heard that content needs to be published regularly to establish your legitimacy to both your leads and Google, then you’d be right. Does more content equal more leads?

Well, sometimes. If the people you’re using really know their stuff, they can write smashing content that converts leads left, right and centre. If they’re churning out rubbish every week or fortnight, the quantity ain’t going to compensate for the poor quality.

Generally speaking though, a higher volume of content will lead to higher returns.

Factor #3: Strategy

‘How much does content marketing cost?’ and ‘How much does marketing strategy cost?’ are two questions that can – and should – go hand in hand. 

On the one hand, you can pay a set fee for a freelance writer to create some blogs for you. Let’s say you pay them £500 per month to write your blogs. All they are doing is writing content to put up on your site. 

Are they looking at individual blogs as part of a wider strategy? Probably not. Quite often, you’ll find a scattergun, content-for-content’s sake implemented by others in your field. This option does flesh out your website or social media page, but can be to your detriment without some kind of plan in place. 

A lot of companies will do the strategic side of marketing alongside the content as a package deal. This will usually be more expensive, but if you find the right strategist or marketing expert, they can help you to pin down exactly who your target market is, what they want and why they aren’t buying from you right now. Which in turn, will attract the right people to your content and answer your prospects’ questions before your Sales team even need to!

Happy Sales team = healthy business.

Factor #4: Skill

How much experience does your content marketer or copywriter have in writing for your field? 

If the answer is ‘none’, don’t take them off your wish list just yet. A skilled content writer will be able to take your brand messaging and run with it – as if they are just taking the words swimming around in your head, then pouring them into a pristine lake of beautifully written content. 

So if a content writer seems expensive, remember that they might be offering far more than cookie-cutter content, half-arsed to meet a deadline. Their ability to write words that make sense to your prospects might be the difference between a sale and their mouse hovering over the ‘Back’ button.

Factor #5: Speed

How much does content marketing cost when you expect all of your content written by yesterday?

Just like with most things, writers with less time to work with will put their prices up. This is why if you want to factor content marketing costs into your annual or quarterly budget, planning your content schedule ahead of time is essential. 

If you’re about to launch a product and need an email series to introduce it to your lists, it’ll take a good few weeks to plan! Bear this in mind before you onboard someone to write these emails. 

Expect to pay more for a fast turnaround. 

Factor #6: Level Of Service

Just as there are different types of content, there are also different levels of service offered by marketing companies.

For example: if you want someone to write your content and leave the scheduling/uploading to you, expect a healthier wallet but much more hassle. If you opt for a ‘Done For You’ service, you can expect more time to focus on growing your business – but at a price. 

The service you opt for will depend on your business’s marketing budget. If you can afford it, a Done For You service tends to be the higher-spec option for emails, blogs and social media but it saves you time and ensures more consistency in your marketing. 

So, Realistically, How Much Does Content Marketing Cost? 

The ballpark figure of £300-£5,000 might seem a bit too broad to make any sense of, but most of the time, it comes down to how much you want to outsource and the experience and ability of the content writer/s you use.

Freelancers just starting out will be on the lower end of the scale, whilst more experienced, well-known marketing companies may charge in the thousands for a fully inclusive service. 

As a rough guide, here’s what you should expect to pay for content marketing… 

Weekly blogs – £500-£800 per month. 

Website content – £125-£300 per page. 

Weekly nurture emails – £300-£900 per month. 

To ensure the best possible results for your business, it’s wise to compare your options before going with a company that promises you the world. What’s more important to you? The type of content, the price, writers who specialise in your subject, or something else?

Once you’ve pinned this down, it should be much simpler to factor content marketing into your spending and carefully monitor results throughout the process.

Want to see our content marketing prices? Check out our services pages here… 

Still unsure about what to look for and what to avoid? Check out this post on why content marketing often fails to educate yourself before buying.

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