I know what you’re thinking: “More costs? No thanks.” I get that. Given that I run my own inbound marketing firm, of course I’m going to be in favor of inbound marketing for your company, but I want to give you the best information possible so that you can make an informed decision on whether or not inbound marketing is for you.
For more on what you can expect from working with IMPACT, check out our FREE eBook, “What it’s Like to Work With IMPACT.”
Hiring a professional inbound marketing firm isn’t like getting your son or daughter to help you set up a Facebook account. Inbound marketing is a lot more in depth and intuitive than that. But the thing about inbound marketing is that it will give you a higher return on investment than what you spend on it, thus making it profitable in the end. While the upfront costs can be unsettling, and while results from your inbound marketing efforts won’t be seen overnight, six months down the road I promise you: you’ll be happy that you chose inbound marketing.
With HubSpot reporting that inbound marketing can save you up to 62% per lead versus traditional outbound marketing methods, let’s go over how much an inbound marketing may cost:
Strategy and Analysis
Want to know who’s checking out your site? An inbound marketing firm will be able to give you a detailed and in depth list of all of the different ideal clients that you need to tailor your marketing campaign towards. A bare minimum of 2 hours a month should be spent reviewing and analyzing the results given through your inbound marketing tools. Expect an investment of $400-$600/month for this service.
Blogging
If you choose not to blog yourself, you can hire an inbound marketing firm to do this. Why choose a firm over some Joe Schmo writer that you find on the internet, you ask? Because inbound marketing firms know how to optimize your blog so that it gives you a stronger presence on the web.
And don’t think that you don’t need a blog – you do. HubSpot recently announced that companies with blog generate 67% more leads than a company without a blog. It’s definitely worth it for your blog. Elance has reported that quality bloggers typically make about $25/hour, so plan on spending anywhere from $750-$1950/month on professional blogging services.
If you’re interested in starting a business blog, be sure to download our FREE eBook, “How to Start a Business Blog.”
Search Engine Optimization
A lot more goes into internet marketing than simply having a website. If you want your website to be worth anything on the internet, than you’ve got to use SEO. Most business owners can do the books, generate ideas, and get people to work together for projects, but they don’t know a thing about SEO. That’s okay. That’s when you hire an inbound marketing firm to do the work for you.
As SEO is so important, there are also some SEO firms out there that are solely dedicated to just SEO and don’t touch any other aspect of inbound marketing. The amount of time – and cost – will probably depend on how much content you have on your site, as well as how much manual link building you require and how much keyword research is needed. You may be able to negotiate a slightly lower fee for their services, but you can expect to spend a minimum of $1000/month on SEO. The average expected cost should be somewhere around $3000/month.
Be sure to download our FREE eBook, “10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your SEO” for more on optimizing your site for the search engines.
Social Media
Social media is a lot harder than many businesses realize. Sure, it sounds like a fun idea when you get started, but running social media as a business can be incredibly draining. It takes a lot of time, leading most people to hire on additional services to help them with it. As I see it, you have two options: hire someone on full time at your company to manage your accounts, or outsource the work to an inbound marketing firm who knows what they’re doing. Inbound marketing firms may cost $50-$75/hr for their work, but you don’t have to provide any office space, amenities, health benefits, pension, etc.
For more on maximizing your social media efforts, check out our FREE eBook, “The Social Media Tune-Up.”
Other Costs
While all of the above services are “optional”, they are definitely what I would say you need in order to have a strong web presence and make a great return on your inbound marketing investment. There are other “options” you can choose from, however, like:
- Pay Per Click: Expect to pay around $500/month
- Social Media and Content Campaigns: Expect to pay anywhere from $2000-$10000/month (or if you already have existing social media accounts, see if our book “Social Media Tune Up” can help you improve your social media marketing campaigns)
- Lead Nurturing: Approximately $1000/month
Key Takeaways:
Does your business “need” inbound marketing? My answer is “YES”. With more and more people going to do business and make purchases, it’s necessary for businesses these days to have a strong web presence. If you want to actually make a profit and put that website you built to good use, arrange for a free consultation with an inbound marketing firm and check out your options.
Need Help?
If inbound marketing is something you are interested in but are having trouble getting started, contact us today to schedule your free marketing analysis.
Comments are closed