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What Should Agencies Charge for Email Marketing Services?
If you’re an agency, you already know how important email marketing is. And you probably already know it’s got a staggering ROI of around $44 per dollar spent.
But just how much you should be charging your clients for it?
Today we’re going to dive into what factors agencies should consider when it comes to pricing email marketing services: template design, writing, tools, and a whole lot more.
How much does working with an email marketing agency cost?
A lot goes into running a successful email campaign. Surveying your clients’ needs is the first step needed before setting prices.
Agencies should consider factors such as:
- Are you a new agency or one with a backlog of success? Clients will pay a premium for experience.
- How many subscribers does your client have?
- How many emails do they need to be sent per month?
- What hosting and email management system are you using? Factor these prices into the project.
- Who is working on this project, and how much do you need to pay them? This includes writers, designers, etc.
Email marketing services include everything from gathering email lists and integrating them into their website, to email template design and ongoing maintenance.
Long story short: pricing varies widely depending on the scope of work, but most email marketing agencies often charge anywhere between $300 to $2,000 per month for their services.
Hourly or project-based payment
You can’t set a price without telling clients exactly what you’re offering.
Not everything you offer will be for every client, and that’s okay. That’s why we recommend offering a variety of packages and a flexible approach.
Some clients prefer to be charged hourly. When you set an hourly rate, go through the project variables outlined above and break it down into an hourly estimate, along with estimated hours required to complete the project.
Make sure to lay it out crystal clear in your proposal, so the client sees exactly what they’re getting for their money, and also head off any scope creep further down the line.
The next pricing strategy many agencies adopt is package deals. This is great for clients who don’t want to write or design the emails but are happy to run the campaign themselves. They just might need a little help getting their feet off the ground.
You do all the usual things necessary for any email campaign but tack on the expenses of training them in the day-to-day running of email campaigns. To price a package deal, calculate the amount of time you expect the project to take, then multiply that by an hourly rate you’re comfortable with to get your price.
Full-scope service
The 3rd pricing strategy we’d recommend offering is a complete or deluxe package.
This means running the campaign from end to end — targeting clients who know and understand the value of a great email campaign and trust agencies to handle it for them.
This includes tasks such as campaign setup, list maintenance, creating and sending the campaign, plus reporting back on results. This type of package is great for agencies that are looking to get retainer clients.
Tools of the trade
There’s a variety of SaaS platforms that can automate and run these email campaigns for you. And they don’t come free — prices are usually on a sliding scale depending on how many subscribers are on your client’s email list, and how many emails per month you need.
Campaign Monitor comes with a drag-and-drop template designer, smart segmentation to maximize returns, and even a fully automated broken link checker. Plus: you can send an unlimited amount of emails per month with prices starting at just $29.
Wrap Up
Agencies need to take into account the variables of every client’s campaign and offer different levels of service to suit their needs and different price points.
And with the fantastic ROI plain as day, email marketing isn’t going away anytime soon. If your agency is looking to take email marketing strategy to the next level, Campaign Monitor is here to help.
But before you start billing clients, make sure to read our guide on choosing the right email marketing tool.
