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Is Digital Marketing An Expense Or An Investment?

Choosing the right digital marketing agency comes down to trust, transparency, and a team-based approach. It also involves costs, which not every agency is up front about. So how much does working with an award-winning agency cost? We walk you through our prices so there’s no guesswork involved when you bring your marketing dreams to the table.

Some people look at marketing as an expense. We look at marketing as an investment.

Most companies can’t clearly report ROI on their marketing, nor do they have the time to do it effectively. We provide the strategy and execution to not only track marketing spend, but also identify which channels are most effective so that you can make data-driven decisions and have the peace of mind to grow and scale your business with clarity.

Over the past 21 years, we’ve developed a systematic approach to digital marketing and content strategy that is data-driven and generates ROI so you can clearly see that your marketing dollars are in the right hands.

 

The In-House vs. Agency Problem.

This is an age-old problem for marketing managers everywhere. Do I hire more in-house subject matter experts or do I outsource my marketing to an agency? These managers are at a crossroads where they have to resolve a dilemma––they can’t be great at everything and they can’t settle for being great in only one area of expertise. What to do?

What we know is that marketing is moving too fast. With so many critical pieces of marketing to juggle, it’s become more than a one-person job. But that doesn’t mean you have to hire a ton of new staff. What you do need to consider, however, is how to choose a digital marketing agency that utilizes a team-based approach.

What are the benefits of an in-house approach to marketing?

  • Quicker access to internal resources
  • Direct access to internal clients
  • Corporate familiarity with the brand

What are the disadvantages of an in-house approach?

  • Hiring and managing employees
  • Ramp up time & onboarding
  • Turnover
  • High employee expense

What are the benefits of a team-based approach to marketing?

  • Access to subject matter experts when you need them
  • Lower overhead and labor cost from not having to hire individual SMEs
  • Ability to get marketing done without the need for multiple vendors
  • A single point of contact for all your marketing needs
  • Interchangeable SMEs to fit your preferences, goals, and industry
  • A team of writers with styles tailored to your voice, tone, and industry rather than one generalist.

What are the disadvantages of a team-based approach to marketing?

  • Limited access to the agency’s employees
  • Lack of proximity to the team
  • Need for a contract
 

Why are we telling you our prices?

Transparency. Reducing Frustration. Overcoming Objections. Ultimately––Building Trust.

We don’t believe that agencies should play hide-and-seek with pricing or size up clients according to what they think they can afford and charge based off of a hunch. Unlike our competitors, there’s no guesswork involved when you bring your marketing dreams to the table. By clearly laying out and justifying what our team is worth, you can make the decision that’s right for you and your company.

At Farotech, our philosophy is that each client is a partner that we work in tandem with to nail down great messaging, highlight your brand, and get the word out about the amazing products or services you offer. When our partners bring their marketing challenges to us, we want to invest our time and energy right away into thoughtfully and radically shifting your marketing approach. If there’s an objection to overcome, we certainly don’t want price to be one of them.

Today’s buyer has changed

Why do people hate buying a car? Too complicated, too intimidating, too much negotiating, too much of an asymmetrical information gap. Why are Carvana and similar companies so effective? Transparent pricing. What you see is what you get. No hassles. No frills. No hidden costs. We do the same, and price competitively and honestly.

We’re proud to work with some of the most recognized brands in their respective industries and that all comes down to trust. We’d rather tell you up front and transparently what it might cost to work with us rather than enter into a long negotiation process that takes away from the main reason why you’re here with us: to improve your marketing with a system that generates leads, nurtures leads, and converts leads into raving fans of you and your products or services.

We all know what it’s like to get down to brass tacks and suddenly there’s a lot of hesitation and handwringing over what things will cost. We’ve done that work for you here. All you have left to do is to dream big about your marketing goals with us.

 

Price Validation

We looked under the hood of our prices, what talent is required, and assessed.

Why does it cost $1000+ to write a blog? Let’s take a look at what’s involved:

  1. Ideation,brainstorming, and interviewing an SME
  2. Write and compare against case notes (guided by Gap Assessment)
  3. Google research/analytics/keyword research
  4. HubSpot integration
  5. Revisions, Client Notes
  6. Publishing/Syndication

As you can see, we go through a lengthy process with many touchpoints––and that’s just for one kind of deliverable. This process adds value and that’s what will take your marketing efforts to the next level.

 

Digital Marketing (Inbound + Outbound)

The combination of inbound and outbound––more recently referred to as omnichannel marketing––provides a hybrid solution to formerly independent problems that plague inbound marketing (too much content) or outbound marketing (interruption). Omnichannel marketing provides the best of both worlds and reduces the negatives of each.

While we offer three pricing tiers, you should know that the large majority of our price variation for our tiers is according to how aggressive you want your marketing strategy to be. Commonly, the more aggressive a campaign is, the more deliverable-intensive it is.

Unlike the majority of marketing agencies, we are very high-touch because we believe that the power of your campaign comes down to the extra level of service and hands-on strategy we provide, including a team of subject matter experts, account managers, and project managers.

We believe that most of our competitors tend to put too many clients on a single account manager. We limit the number of clients for each account manager and link on a project manager to help facilitate deliverables and goals. That’s what we call frictionless marketing.

The following is just an example range of prices:

$8,000-$15,000 per month

 

Onboarding (One-Time)

 

SEO:

  • On-page SEO Clean Up
  • Initial Set Up (Link)
  • Site Architecture Conversion
  • Inital Keyword Research
  • Competition Analysis
  • Local SEO: Online Directory Submission
  • Technical SEO Set Up
    • Robots.txt
    • Schema Markup

Content Strategy:

  • Writer Recruitment
  • Writing Sample Client Approval
  • Development of Client Case Notes (Client Specific Internal Writing Guide)

Editorial Calendar:

  • Identify key content channels
  • Build out content calendar for three months

Branding & Messaging:

  • StoryGuide & StoryMap Ideation & Implementation
  • One-Liner Exercise
  • Buyer Personas (3)

Usability Conversion Analysis:

  • Heatmapping
  • Scrollmapping
  • Click Mapping
  • Screen Recordings
  • Form Analytics
  • Page Conversion Tracking

Lead Nurturing:

  • Evergreen marketing automation writing & implementation
  • Slippage campaigns
  • Newsletter design and development

Social Media:

  • Optimize social media pages
  • Develop 80/20 social media publishing calendar
  • Developing consistent branding for each social media platform

Video Development*:

  • Branded intros, outros, and music.
    • *If client has SME-based videos

Analytics & Reporting:

  • Develop baseline marketing report
  • SEMRush site audit cleanup
  • Google tag manager set-up
  • CRM migration & integration
  • Google Search Console set-up

HubSpot:

  • HubSpot Setup:
    • Integrations & Tracking Code Setup
      • Landing Page / Thank You
      • Forms Tracking & Replacement
      • Develop & Set-Up Lead Scoring Rubric
      • Database Import & Segmentation
      • Social Media Synchronization

Paid Advertising:

Google Ads
Features Basic Plan Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
Monthly Ad Spend $1,800-$2,500 $2,501-$13,899 $13,900-$20,000 $20,001-$50,000
One Time Set-up or Clean-up
(1st Month)Can be amortized over 6-months
$1,500 $2,025 $2,775 $5,000
Dedicated Project Manager
Google Search Network
Google Display Network (Client Provides Graphics/Images or purchases from Farotech)
YouTube Video Ads (Clients need to provide video or purchase a Farotech web video production package)
Initial campaign development & strategy

Ad campaign copywriting & revision

  • Up to 5 ad groups
  • 3 ad copy variations per ad group
Ad copy performance testing
Ongoing keyword research and tweaking
Google analytics integration & goal tracking
Tracking code installation
Monthly Reporting
Strategic bid management
PPC account settings monitoring (Ex. Geotargeting)

Landing Page & Thank You Page Set-up & Development

(Priced Per Landing & Thank You Page)

Add $450 X Suggested # of Landing Pages Add $450 X Suggested # of Landing Pages Add $450 X Suggested # of Landing Pages
Landing Page Optimization Review

Initial banner ad design for 1 display ad & 1 remarketing ad

(2 ad designs)

By Quote

($1200)

By Quote

($1200)

By Quote

($1200)

Weekly Data Calls: Review campaign changes every 7 days $400/month $400/month $400/month
Progressive monthly management cost: $425 (& minimum for all plans) $500/mo or 20%, whichever is higher $2,500 or 18%, whichever is higher $3,000 or 15%, whichever is higher
 
Programmatic Ads
Display – Basic Setup Display – Advanced Setup Native
$2300 for standalone service ($1,840 for retainer clients) $3100 for standalone service ($2,480 for retainer clients) $2100 for standalone service ($1,680 for retainer clients)
20% DISCOUNT ON SETUP FOR RETAINER CLIENTS 20% DISCOUNT ON SETUP FOR RETAINER CLIENTS 20% DISCOUNT ON SETUP FOR RETAINER CLIENTS
Programmatic Account Setup Programmatic Account Setup Programmatic Account Setup
up to 2 Display Campaigns + Basic Retargeting up to 3 Display Campaigns + Advanced Retargeting 1 Native Campaign Setup + Basic Retargeting
Copy: Tagline & CTA for Graphics Copy: Tagline & CTA for Graphics Copy: 5 Headlines & 5 “Body” Descriptions
Custom Ad Graphics (Static or GIF ads – 10 sizes)
($800 per extra set of 10)
2 Custom Ad Graphics (Static or GIF ads – 10 sizes each)
($800 per extra set of 10)
5 Images
1-2 Targeting Segments 3-4 Targeting Segments 2-3 Targeting Segments
Pixel Installation Pixel Installation Pixel Installation
Supplier Sourcing Enhanced Supplier Sourcing Domain, Publication and Supplier Sourcing
90 day test period – Supplier, demographic, domain, ad, campaign testing 90 day test period – Supplier, demographic, domain, ad, campaign testing 90 day test period – Supplier, demographic, domain, ad, campaign testing
 
Social Media Ads
Features Basic Plan Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
Monthly Ad Spend $350 – $1,000 $1,001-$2,500 $2,501-$5,000 $5,001-$8,000
One Time Set-up or Clean-up
(1st Month)Can be amortized over 6-months
$1,350 $1,650 $2,250 $4,650
Number of Ads Up to 2 Up to 4 Up to 6 Up to 10
Ad campaign copywriting & revision
Dedicated Account Manager
Facebook/Instagram OR LinkedIn
Video Ads (Clients need to provide video or purchase a Farotech web video production package)
Initial campaign development & strategy
A/B Split Test (ad copy performance testing)
Ongoing Adjustments

Tracking code installation

  • Facebook Pixel
  • LinkedIn Insights Tag
Monthly Reporting
Targeting/Custom Audience Setup
Access to Shutterstock Photos, Image Resizing, Add Logo

Remarketing Campaign After 3-6 months of Campaign Running

  • Web page visits
  • Cart Abandonment
  • Link Clicks
Landing Page & Thank You Page Set-up & Development

(Priced Per Landing Page)

Add $450 per set Add $450 per set 1 Set Included
Ad design By Quote ($900) By Quote ($900) By Quote ($900)
Weekly Data Calls: Review campaign & change as necessary $400/month $400/month $400/month
Progressive monthly management cost: $450 (& minimum for all plans) $450/mo or 25%, whichever is higher $500/mo or 20%, whichever is higher $900 or 18%, whichever is higher
 

Recurring Deliverables

 

Usability Conversion Analysis:

  • Quarterly Analysis
    • Heatmapping
    • Scrollmapping
    • Click Mapping
    • Screen Recordings
    • Form Analytics
    • Page Conversion Tracking
    • Growth-Driven Design Report

SEO:

  • Recurring Initiatives:
    • SEO-Optimized blogs (quantities may vary)
    • Structured Content Approach
      • Hub pages
      • Spoke pages
    • Quarterly reoptimization
    • Internal linking optimization
    • Keyword analysis
    • Competition analysis
    • Backlinking strategies

Content Strategy:

  • Recurring Initiatives:
    • Development of an Editorial Calendar
    • SME Video Blogs Interviews
    • StoryGuide adoption
    • Updating Case Notes
    • Infographic development

Lead Nurturing:

  • Develop email templates
    • Nurturing campaigns
    • Slippage campaigns
    • Drip marketing
    • Lead scoring

Social Media:

  • 80/20 Social Media Calendar development
  • Social Media Syndication & Publishing
  • Social Media Analytics

Paid Advertising:

  • Campaign monitoring
  • Bid adjustments
  • A/B testing
  • Monthly reporting
  • Provide strategy for best ad spend (channels, ads, bidding, etc.)
  • Quality score assessment

Analytics & Reporting:

  • Real-time HubSpot/Google Analytics & dashboard access (*not all accounts use HubSpot)
  • Monthly keyword report
  • Quarterly report (analysis and recommendations):
    • Marketing performance overview
    • Sources/channels overview
    • Conversions & ROI
    • Site usability
    • Page performance
    • SEO keyword report
    • Email performance
    • Social media performance
    • Paid ads performance

Customer Service:

  • Account management
    • Weekly call with project manager and account manager
      • Review editorial calenda
      • Discuss strategy and marketing objectives
      • Approve content for deliverables
    • Quarterly Marketing Performance Review
      • Discuss alignment of strategy
      • Marketing data presentation
      • Macro strategy adjustments
    • Annual Account Review
      • Reviewing current deliverables
      • Strengths from the past year
      • Opportunities for the next year
      • Identifying new technology innovations to apply
 

Transparent pricing. Tailored plans.

Even if these prices don’t work with your budget, reach out to us. We’re willing to work within your means.

Maximize ROI on Your Budget

One of the most effective ways to develop a tailored plan is for us to know your budget and work backwards. However, if you do a Gap Assessment with us, we’ll outline what’s possible as an outcome of our analysis. Depending on what you’re already doing in terms of your marketing efforts, we can customize a plan that maximizes ROI for your company’s particular situation and needs. Sometimes a mix of SEO and Paid Advertising can work for one client while a combination of Social Media, Content Optimization, and Email Campaigns can work for another. It’s all about getting the right mix of omnichannel marketing that helps you get the most out of your marketing dollars.

We don’t believe that great marketing should have to be an overwhelming barrier to getting your brand, message, and story heard. Share your story with us, talk through some of your goals for the upcoming year, and we’re sure to find an innovative way to be a part of sharing your brand, mission, and values for better conversion and a radically transformed outlook on marketing.

 

Gap Assessment

Just like you wouldn’t trust a primary care physician who automatically recommends heart surgery without doing a deep dive into the picture of your health, your marketing plan can’t be rushed or incomplete either. When asking “How effective is digital marketing?” it all depends on accurate data and opportunities..

That’s where our Gap Assessment comes in.

The purpose of a Gap Assessment is to:

  • Gain a macro picture of your business
  • Identify critical gaps
  • Look for growth opportunities
  • Establish goals and KPIs
  • Create a robust & pragmatic 3-5 year marketing roadmap
  • …and much, much more

Prices usually range from $18,000-$24,000 for a Gap Assessment. The large majority of our clients come in around the $18,000 mark.

It may go higher if you have multiple companies with multiple locations or for more in-depth analysis based on if you have a large suite of products.

 

From Reactive to Proactive.

We’ve all experienced what it’s like to do what we call Random Acts of Marketing (RAM). Throwing ideas at a wall and seeing what sticks, making decisions off of hunches or best guesses. Results don’t compound and, moreover, it’s not sustainable. It’s frustrating to not have a road map.

Wouldn’t you rather take a proactive approach to marketing with editorial calendars designed for 30, 60, and 90-day content execution coupled with expertly-researched topics and keywords, a strategic approach to scaling your marketing goals, and access to the most advanced analytics and automation software on the market? Making data-driven decisions is central to marketing success.

With our help, you can too.

Let’s get started. Fill out the form on the bottom to start radically shifting your marketing.



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