How Much Does Content Marketing Cost?
Content can come in many forms, including blog posts, videos, and graphics — as long as it’s created with your target audience in mind. You can cover topics related to your industry, issues your audience may be facing, and information that can help them better understand a topic or achieve a specific goal.
The more helpful content you create, the more effective you’ll be in establishing your brand as an authority and building trust with potential customers. That’s why today, content marketing is one of the most popular channels among both B2C and B2B businesses.
But if you’re still on the fence about content marketing, you may be wondering how much it costs. Call 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about content marketing plans from WebFX, or keep reading to learn more about how much you can expect to invest in creating original content.
Want to learn more about the cost of content marketing?
How much does content marketing cost?
If you’re considering partnering with a content marketing agency or consultant, you’ve likely seen an extremely wide range of cost estimates. In fact, the services offered by content marketing professionals are so varied that pricing ranges from $2,000 to $50,000 each month.
Of course, the biggest factor in this range is how much original content your company wants to produce and publish each month. But pricing can also vary depending on whether you choose to work with freelance writers and designers, or with agencies who do all of the work in-house.
So to give you a better idea of how much you can expect to spend on a content marketing strategy for your business, we’ve broken it down by the most popular forms of content marketing.
We also have a video that breaks down the average cost of content.
1. Written content
The most straightforward type of content to create is written, whether in the form of blog posts, articles, or in-depth guides and downloads. Written content is one of the easiest ways to convey information, and gives your business the opportunity to share your knowledge.
You can write about anything you believe would be of value to your consumers, then optimize your pages for search and share links on your social channels. This makes it a great way to reach potential consumers. But the cost can vary depending on who writes your copy.
Freelancer
Cost: $35-60 per hour
There are plenty of freelance copywriters online who specialize in writing content for businesses and brands. You can work with them for one-time projects or create a contract for a certain amount of work.
Freelance writing varies in price, both by how experienced a writer is and the pricing model they prefer. Some charge by the hour, while others charge by the word — so it’s important to get this information up front when considering someone to write copy for your site.
Finding a freelancer that understands your brand and writes in the correct tone and style for your target audience can be challenging, but if you’re able to find the right one for your business, this can be a good option.
Marketing agency
Many marketing agencies offer copywriting services as part of their marketing plans. If, for example, they recommend that your strategy includes copy optimized for specific keywords, or content about specific topics, they’ll often have a team of writers on staff to create that content.
The biggest benefit of working with an agency for your site content is that the copywriters on their staff are familiar with writing for marketing purposes. They typically have experience writing for brands and know how to optimize copy for search engines. Plus, in most cases, you’ll be able to work with the same writer over time, so the copy will continue to improve as they get more familiar with your company and audience.
In-house
Cost: Your time
If you or someone on your team have the time, you can certainly write site content on your own. Writing a page typically takes about 2-3 hours, and you can begin publishing information on your site without investing anything but time.
That being said, you’ll need to decide if this is the best way to spend your time. If your to-do list is already full of other tasks, hiring a freelancer may be a more cost-effective solution than spending an extra 2-3 hours writing a blog post.
2. Visual content
Visual content is an effective way to attract users’ attention. It’s much more eye-catching than a wall of text, and often makes it easier for visitors to digest complex sets of information. That’s why infographics are a popular form of content for many marketers.
Infographics, as the name implies, take large amounts of information or data and illustrate them in visual form. For example, if you want to highlight a variety of statistics that show how you’ve helped your customers, putting them into a visually attractive graphic can make them much more fun to read than simply typing them on a page.
Graphics also have the advantage of being easy to share. Once you publish a graphic on your site, it’s easy for bloggers, journalists, and other website owners to repost it and link to your company as the source. This is a great way to attract traffic and boost your online visibility. online news companies, blogs, and other businesses to repost the graphic.
If you’re interested in using infographics as part of your content marketing strategy, you have a few different options when it comes to cost.
Freelancer
Cost: $300+ per graphic
You can hire a freelance designer to create infographics for your business. There are many different sites that match businesses with designers that can meet their needs, and this is an option if you’ve already compiled the information you want in your graphic, as well as a general idea of how it should be laid out.
But much like with freelance writers, the cost varies greatly between freelance designers. Some charge by the hour, while others charge by the project, but costs are often $300+ per graphic.
You can also incur other charges with freelancers if you expect them to do additional research, or make changes to the graphic after it’s completed. Make sure to discuss any potential charges beyond their standard price so that you aren’t caught off guard by fees for edits or revisions.
Marketing agency
Cost: $500+
Much like with written copy, many marketing agencies also offer graphic design as part of their plans. These agencies typically have in-house designers to provide clients with the graphics and visuals that complement their digital strategies.
The cost varies by agency, and many agencies don’t make their graphic design pricing public since they only offer it as part of their other plans. But at WebFX, we’re always transparent with our pricing information.
Our graphic design services start at $500 for basic micrographics, and range up to $8,000+ for plans including research, strategy, data analysis, and promotion.
In-house
Cost: Your time (and possibly fees for design software)
If you’re comfortable with graphic design or don’t mind spending some time familiarizing yourself with basic design principles, you also have the option to create graphics yourself. You can use free online programs like Canva, or paid software like Adobe Illustrator to create original visuals for your site.
Design software typically ranges from $20-$80 per month, but it’s important to note that your investment of time will likely be much greater than with written content. Even experienced designers often spend hours designing graphics, so you’ll need to decide whether this is the best way to spend your time.
3. Videos
Videos are an extremely popular way to reach your target audience. In fact, 43% of people want to see more video content from marketers. The popularity of videos makes it an extremely appealing option for advertising.
Video production or marketing agency
Unlike with written or visual content, there aren’t many freelancers that specialize in video production. In fact, even most marketing agencies don’t yet offer it as a service — so you’ll likely need to partner with a video production agency.
The price range for videos is huge because the cost often depends on the video’s length. A basic, 30-second video understandably costs much less than an in-depth, 10-15 minute video.
When you’re researching your options for video product, it’s important to note their pricing models. Most agencies will charge by the project, but some charge by the hour for filming, plus editing and production costs. This can end up being much more costly than paying per video.
At WebFX, our plans start at $500 per 30-second video, and we provide all of our pricing information upfront.
In-house
Cost: Up to $5,000 and your time
If you have a good camera and video editing software, it’s entirely possible to shoot and edit a video in-house.
That being said, video production can be extremely time-consuming and takes much longer than creating both written and visual content. But if you have the time, creating videos in-house can be a more cost-effective approach than hiring a video production agency.
Is the cost of content marketing worth it?
With the right strategy, content marketing can be an effective and valuable addition to any marketing strategy.
You can use content to build brand awareness, improve your online visibility, and inform your target audience about information related to your industry. Then, when they’re ready to make a purchase, they’ll remember you as a trustworthy, authoritative brand.
Content can also encourage visitors to convert because they’ll have more trust in your business, products, and services. They’ll be more comfortable becoming a customer or client because you provided information that helped them make an informed purchasing decision.
This type of marketing also has a great return on investment, because once you invest in content, and it can stay on your site and continue generating leads and sales for years. You don’t have to pay for ad space, so your one-time investment in a page can pay for itself many times over as it continues to attract traffic.
Choose WebFX as your content marketing company
WebFX is a top content marketing agency, and we’ll help you generate better leads for your website. In fact, we have over 1000 client testimonials you can check out to hear from our clients the results they’ve seen from our campaigns.
If you’re ready to start using content marketing to reach your audience and improve your digital strategy, contact us to speak with a strategist!
