How Much Does Small Business Marketing Cost?

You want more customers and you do not know what to spend. Ask five agencies and you get five prices. So, how much does small business marketing cost? It costs what you decide to spend. A one-location shop can start with a website, an email list and a free Google listing for $79 a month plus $35 for email. This post shows how to build that budget line by line, and what to skip until it works.

We are a small app and web studio in San Antonio. We sell some of the tools below, so we say where they fit and where they do not.

Key takeaways

• We found no sourced market average, so we give none. Any figure you see without a source is a guess.
• Start with channels you own: a website, an email list, a loyalty card.
• Pay an agency retainer only after the owned channels work.
• Write down one number before you spend, and the same number after.

How much does small business marketing cost per month?

It costs whatever you set as the budget. There is no fixed price. The cost depends on which channels you use and who does the work.

Marketing has two kinds of cost. The first is a tool you pay for each month, such as a website or an email service. The second is a person's time, yours or someone you hire. Count both.

Here is a starter budget for a one-location shop. Every figure is a Kin Studios price or an assumption we label.

Line	Monthly cost	Where the number comes from
Core website	$79	Kin price, plus $149 setup
Email marketing add-on	$35	Kin price
Free Google listing	$0	Free to claim
Your own time, 3 hours a week	$0 cash	Your assumption
Total cash	$79 + $35	The sum of the two lines above

The $149 setup fee is paid once. These are our posted prices, not a market average.

How much does digital marketing cost for a small business?

It costs the sum of the channels you pick. Digital marketing is not one product. It is a website, search, email, social posts and ads.

Take them one at a time:

• A website is the base. Core is $79 a month plus $149 setup. Premium is $249 a month plus $299 setup. See our Core and Premium website pricing.
• Search work is optional at the start. Our Advanced SEO add-on is $50 a month.
• Email costs $35 a month as an add-on to a Kin site.
• Ads cost whatever you set as a daily limit. You choose the cap.

Google has written about search work. Google said that you may not need an outside expert, and that you can read how search optimisation works in its SEO starter guide. We think that means a new site should learn the basics first and hire later.

For the cost of local search work in detail, read what local SEO costs.

How much should a small business spend on marketing?

Spend what you can lose without harm, and no more. We will not give you a percent of revenue, because we have no named source for one.

Use this rule instead. Set a cap you can pay for six months with no result. Then run one channel at a time.

An illustrative example

This is an illustrative example. The shop is made up, and every number is an assumption.

Assume a one-location cafe. Assume the owner sets a monthly cash cap above the cost of the first two lines.

1. Core website: $79.
2. Email add-on: $35.
3. Whatever is left under the cap goes into one test, such as a flyer or a small ad.
4. Count the test results for four weeks. Then decide.

Change the cap and the plan changes. A cafe with a bigger cap could add the Advanced SEO add-on at $50 a month and still have room to test.

How much does social media marketing cost for a small business?

The tools are often free. The cost is your time, or the pay of the person who posts.

We have no sourced price for hiring a social media manager, so we give none. Ask for a written quote and a list of what you get each week. If the quote has no list, do not sign.

A simple test for any post: does it tell a customer something they can act on? A new menu item is one. "Happy Monday" is not.

Social posts reach people who follow you. They do not replace a website, because a website is the page people land on when they search your name.

How much does email marketing cost for a small business?

On a Kin website it is $35 a month as an add-on. Other email tools have their own prices, and we have not tested them, so we do not list them.

Email suits people who already know you. Your regulars open it. A stranger usually does not.

Start with a sign-up line at the counter and on your site. Send one useful message a month. Count how many people came in after it.

For campaign ideas that fit a small restaurant, see our restaurant marketing campaign checklist.

How much do marketing companies charge?

It varies, and we cannot give a sourced range. A company should give you a written price before you sign. Ask these questions:

1. What do I get each month, in a list?
2. How will you count the result?
3. Do I own the website, the ads account and the email list?
4. How long is the contract, and how do I leave?

Our own pricing is one way to compare. A Core site with email is $79 plus $35 a month. If a retainer costs many times that, ask what it does that the owned channels do not.

If you want regulars to come back, a loyalty card and push notifications are another owned channel. Kin App is $199 a month plus $1,500 setup, with a 12 month minimum. It covers one location and includes a Core website. It is not the first thing most shops need.

Frequently asked questions

Can I do marketing for free?

Yes, for a start. Claim your free Google listing, collect emails on paper, and post on social media. It costs your time.

Do I need an agency?

Not at the start. Try owned channels for three months. Hire help when you know which channel works and you have no time to run it.

Does Kin do marketing for me?

No. We build websites and apps. We sell the tools in this post, and you run the campaigns.

What should you do next?

Copy the budget table, replace our figures with your own cap, and pick one test. Write down your sales number before you begin. If you want a site to start from, see our Core and Premium website plans, or get in touch and we will go through your budget with you.