Monthly retainers: $3K to $50K
Boutique creative marketing agencies typically charge $3K–$10K/month for a starter retainer covering strategy, one channel and light content. Mid-market shops sit at $10K–$25K for multi-channel work. Full-service agencies handling brand, SEO, social, paid and content usually start at $25K and go up.
For context, see our small-business SEO playbook — it shows exactly what a lean, high-ROI monthly scope looks like.
Project fees: $8K to $150K
A brand identity project runs $15K–$60K. A website rebuild with SEO baked in is $25K–$120K. A launch campaign with creative, media and PR sits at $40K–$150K depending on production scope.
Performance and hybrid deals
Some agencies (including us) will take a lower base fee in exchange for a revenue-share or CAC-based bonus. This works best when attribution is clean and you're growth-stage.
Curious how ranking translates to revenue? Read how a marketing agency actually ranks on Google in 2026.
What to actually look for
Ask for a scope document, not a proposal deck. Ask who does the work — the pitch team or a junior. Ask for reporting samples. If the agency can't show you the last three months of a client dashboard (anonymised), keep looking.
Get a scoped quote from Lightdrop — we send back a fixed-scope proposal within 48 hours.