Building an Informed Marketing Budget: Part 2 – Recurring Costs

by Jamie Rinehart on Jun 06, 2025

This is the second installment in our three-part series on building an informed marketing budget. In Part 1, we explored industry benchmarks to help you determine how much you should be investing in marketing based on your sector and revenue. Now, in Part 2, we break down what that budget actually supports—specifically, the recurring digital marketing activities that drive ongoing results. Below are common recurring tasks and what they typically entail, including rough cost ranges for each (note: actual costs vary by scope, geography, and provider, but these ranges give a ballpark idea):

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is the work of improving your website’s rankings in search engines (through keyword research, on-page optimization, content creation, technical fixes, etc.). Many businesses engage an SEO agency or specialist on a monthly retainer.

Typical Cost: SEO services can range from a few hundred dollars per month for a very small local business to several thousand per month for comprehensive SEO at a national scale. In a survey of SEO providers, most businesses (around 63%) spend between $500 and $5,000 per month on SEO services. Basic local SEO packages might be ~$300–$500/month, whereas a robust SEO strategy for a mid-sized company often falls in the $1,000–$3,000+ per month range. Enterprise-level SEO can cost $5,000–$10,000 per month or more if it involves creating lots of content and earning high-quality backlinks.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM/PPC Advertising)

This refers to paid digital ads, especially pay-per-click campaigns on Google Ads or Bing (as well as social media ads). SEM requires a budget for the ad spend itself and often management fees if you use an agency.

Typical Cost: Budgets vary widely based on your industry and goals. Small businesses might start with a Google Ads budget of a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars per month. For example, one guide suggests local businesses begin around $500–$1,000/month in ad spend and scale up as results come in. More competitive industries or mid-sized companies might invest $5,000–$10,000+ per month on Google Ads. According to a recent analysis, about 59% of businesses spend between $100 and $10,000 per month on Google Ads—a huge range. In addition to the ad spend, hiring an agency or specialist to manage PPC typically costs either a flat retainer or a percentage (often ~10–20%) of ad spend as a fee. As a rough example, an agency might charge $500–$1,500 per month to manage a modest PPC campaign, or more for large-scale campaigns. The good news is that PPC is highly scalable – you can start small and increase budget for campaigns that show positive ROI.

Geo-Targeted Advertising and Local Marketing

If your business targets customers in specific locations, geo-targeting is a must. This can include local SEO (optimizing location-based searches and managing your Google Business profile), as well as geofenced advertising (serving ads to people when they are in a defined geographic area).

Typical Cost: Many geo-targeted tactics are rolled into other budgets. For instance, local SEO might be part of your SEO retainer (some local SEO services charge roughly $300–$800 per month for handling local listings, reviews, and localized content). Geo-targeted digital ad campaigns (e.g., Facebook or Instagram ads targeted to users near your storefront, or mobile ads triggered within a geofence) typically cost whatever your ad spend is – you might dedicate a few hundred dollars a month of your PPC budget specifically to location-based campaigns. The technology for geofencing is often provided by ad networks or platforms at no extra charge per se (you pay for the impressions/clicks), though some specialized geofencing ad services might have minimum spends (e.g., a platform might require ~$1,000/month minimum ad spend for targeted mobile ads). In summary, you should budget a portion of your digital ad spend for geo-targeting if local customers are important – even a small monthly budget (a few hundred dollars) in a tight radius can drive foot traffic or local awareness.

Performance Reporting and Analytics

A crucial recurring task in marketing is tracking results and ROI. This includes using analytics tools (like Google Analytics, marketing dashboards, CRM reports) and the labor involved in compiling reports and insights each month.

Typical Cost: Basic analytics can be very affordable. Google Analytics is free for most users, and many social platforms have built-in free reporting. However, for more advanced tracking or consolidated reporting, you might invest in paid tools or services. For instance, a business might pay for a dashboard software or analytics suite at $50–$300 per month (tools like Databox, Tableau, or DashThis, depending on the data volume). Some agencies include performance reporting as part of their service (e.g., a monthly report and meeting baked into a retainer). If you allocate internal staff time, consider the opportunity cost: a marketing analyst or someone’s hours spent on reporting. In terms of outsourcing, you could hire an analyst or agency monthly to deliver insights—costs might be a few hundred dollars per month for basic reporting or higher for deep analysis. The important thing is to plan for analytics/measurement as a line item, whether it’s software or manpower, because measuring results ensures your marketing spend is actually working. Many companies dedicate at least 5–10% of their marketing budget to analytics and optimization efforts.

Data-Driven Design and Optimization

This refers to using data to continuously improve your marketing assets. For example, running A/B tests on your website or emails, using user behavior data to redesign pages for better conversion, and implementing changes like new landing pages or personalized content based on analytics. Sometimes called conversion rate optimization (CRO) or data-driven design, these efforts turn insights into higher performance.

Typical Cost: This can be handled via tools and/or agency services. There are A/B testing and personalization tools (Optimizely, VWO, Google Optimize—which was free, though now sunset, etc.) that come with costs. Many A/B testing tools start around $100–$200 per month for basic plans – for example, one popular testing suite (VWO) starts at about $99/month for a starter package. More advanced platforms (Optimizely, Adobe Target) can run into thousands per year for enterprise capabilities. If you work with an agency or CRO specialist, they may charge a monthly fee or project rate to run experiments and recommend design improvements. For instance, a CRO agency might charge $3,000–$5,000+ for a comprehensive optimization project, or a monthly retainer in the low thousands to continuously test and tweak. If you handle it in-house, budget for the tool subscriptions and possibly training. The return on investment can be high here as data-driven design tweaks can significantly boost lead or sales conversion rates, making the cost well worth it. The key is to plan for these optimization initiatives, so your website and campaigns get better over time instead of stagnating. Even setting aside a few hundred dollars a month for testing (or ensuring your agency includes CRO) can lead to steady gains.

Recurring costs are the backbone of a smart marketing budget—monthly investments that keep your brand visible, your leads flowing, and your campaigns performing. From SEO and PPC to analytics and CRO, these activities require steady funding to deliver consistent results. But your marketing budget isn’t just about what happens month to month. In Part 3, we’ll explore the big-ticket, one-time investments—like website redesigns, new tools, and strategic hires—that can reshape your digital presence and impact your budget in a single stroke.

Don’t miss the final installment as we round out your full-picture planning.

About Jamie Rinehart

Jamie leverages his 19+ years of Digital Marketing and Advertising account management experience to help new Trivera clients develop strategic digital marketing plans that will help them achieve their business and brand goals.

Photo Credit: Adobe Stock