How much does a marketing agency cost per month in 2026
October 28, 2026 · Clever Bean
Most agencies will not tell you until you book a call. Here is the short answer, with our own prices included, because we think you should be able to compare before you talk to anyone.
The short answer
For a small business in 2026, expect these ranges per month:
- Social media management alone: from about $800 to $1,000 at the professional floor. Below that you are usually buying scheduled posts with no strategy behind them.
- A small agency running social plus ads: roughly $650 to $1,000 in fees, with ad budget on top, paid separately from your card.
- Full-service digital marketing for a small business: from about $3,000 and up at established agencies.
- What owners actually budget: owner budgets we see discussed in 2025 and 2026 run $500 to $3,000 a month all in, fees and ad spend together.
| What you buy | Per month |
|---|---|
| Social media management only | $800 to $1,000 |
| Small agency, social plus ads | $650 to $1,000, plus ad budget |
| Full-service digital marketing | from about $3,000 |
| What owners budget, all in | $500 to $3,000 |
| Clever Bean Run | $1,450 |
The wide range exists because "marketing agency" covers everything from one freelancer scheduling posts to a ten-person team running your whole online side.
What we charge
We publish our prices. All in USD, all current as of October 2026.
- Free online visibility check: $0, delivered the same day. We check where your business shows up on Google and in AI answers like ChatGPT, and tell you what we found.
- Relaunch, six weeks: $2,900 one time. Your existing site brought to taking orders, pages people can find, accounts and content built from the photos and lists you already have. It ends at the first sale.
- Run, monthly: $1,450 a month, minimum three months, then month by month. Someone runs your online sales every week: the site, the listings, the content, the numbers.
- Single automations: $390 to $890 one time each, priced by the chore they remove.
Direct costs stay yours and go on your card: ads, your store platform, your domain, paid apps. We never mark them up, and every account stays in your name.
Why the same money buys very different things
Three things move the price more than anything else:
Who does the work. At many agencies your fee pays for account managers and reporting meetings before any work happens. A smaller team built by engineers automates the repeat work, which is why our monthly price sits below the full-service floor.
What is included. A $900 social package does not touch your website, your Google results or your orders. Ask any agency to list what is out of scope. The answer is usually longer than the proposal.
How results are counted. Some agencies report reach and impressions. We agree a sales target in the first month, report against it weekly and review it monthly. No agency can honestly guarantee revenue, and you should walk away from any that does. But you can demand that every report starts with orders and inquiries, in numbers you can check.
A real example
One of our clients, beyondSilk, a Swiss silk scarf brand, sold about 50 scarves a year through its website before August 2026, with a contact form and no checkout. Checkout went live on September 14. The first online sale came on September 17, from a buyer who found the brand through ChatGPT. By October 21 the store had sold 50 units, with about 2,000 Google impressions in 28 days. The owner pays a monthly fee and her own direct costs, and she approves everything that ships.
What to ask before you pay anyone
- What exactly is included each month, and what costs extra?
- Who owns the accounts, the content and the data if we stop?
- What number will you report against, and how often?
- Can I see a current client's actual results, with dates?
If an agency answers all four in writing, the price is probably honest, whatever it is.
Start with the free check
Before you pay anyone, find out where you stand. Our free online visibility check shows where your business appears on Google and in AI answers, what is broken and what we would fix first. It costs nothing and arrives the same day.