QUAKE MEDIA / THE PRACTICAL GUIDE
Digital marketing costs: build a budget around the next sale
Plan your digital marketing budget across agency work, advertising spend, content, website improvements, and measurement without double-counting costs.
Explore the guideBy Quake Media · 3 minute read
Give every dollar a purpose.
A framework for the decisions in this guide.
The work / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
The starting point
A digital marketing budget should distinguish the cost of planning and managing the work from the money spent distributing it. Advertising spend, agency fees, creative production, landing pages, and tracking may appear on different invoices, but all affect the cost of acquiring a customer.
The distribution / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
List the full investment
- Strategy: research, offer development, channel selection, and measurement planning.
- Production: copy, design, photography, video, and landing-page development.
- Distribution: payments to advertising platforms or other agreed channels.
- Management: setup, optimization, reporting, and coordination.
- Operations: software, sales follow-up, fulfilment, and ongoing website support.
Begin with the business goal and the offer you can fulfil. Then identify the work needed to reach the right audience and convert interest into a qualified enquiry or order. Avoid committing the entire budget to traffic while leaving no resources for the page and sales process that receive it.
The measurement / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
Choose channels by the buying journey
Search advertising may reach people actively looking for a service. Organic search can help people discover useful information and compare providers. Social advertising may introduce an offer to an audience that was not actively searching. The relevant mix depends on demand, purchase urgency, available creative, and the ability to respond.
Do not divide a small budget across every channel to create the appearance of coverage. Fund a coherent journey from audience to offer to response. Expand when the measurement and delivery process can support the added complexity.
The work / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
Estimate what you can afford per customer
Use contribution margin and your actual close rate to assess acquisition costs. For example, a hypothetical business willing to spend $300 acquiring a customer and closing one in four qualified enquiries has a $75 qualified-lead allowance. That is an illustration, not a promised campaign result. Include fees and production costs when comparing the allowance with performance.
The distribution / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
Compare proposals on the same basis
Ask whether the quoted amount includes ad spend, setup, content, landing pages, tracking, and reporting. Check the minimum term, cancellation terms, ownership of advertising accounts, and approval responsibilities. Understand what happens when a campaign needs new creative or a website issue blocks conversions.
Require a clear definition of a lead. A form-button click is not the same as a submitted enquiry, and a submitted enquiry is not necessarily a qualified opportunity.
The measurement / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
Review the budget as evidence arrives
Track the quality and cost of enquiries, sales outcomes, and capacity to deliver. Allow for the buying cycle and seasonality. When results differ from the plan, investigate targeting, the offer, measurement, and follow-up before simply raising spend.
Use our budget planning guide, PPC cost guide, and SEO cost guide for more detail. Tell us about your business for a scope built around your requirements.
The work / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
Put this guide to work
If paid search is part of your budget, compare the campaign work separately from media spend. Explore our paid campaign management, or tell us about your project to discuss the next step.
FROM READING TO DOING
Make your next
move a clear one.
Bring us your goals and the questions this guide raised. We’ll help you work out what belongs in your plan.
Talk it through with Quake