On this page
- 01Digital marketing agency cost by market
- 02What moves the price
- 03The four pricing models side by side
- 04What sits outside the agency fee
- 05Why rates differ between countries
- 06What fits in a month of 1,250 euros
- 07Three situations, three budgets
- 08Agency, freelancer or in-house
- 09Hiring an agency in another EU country
- 10Pitfalls in an agency contract
Digital marketing agency cost in continental Europe: 75 to 175 euros an hour, or 1,000 to 2,500 euros a month for a small-business retainer, before any ad spend. UK retainers run higher. Few agencies publish prices, so the ranges below tell you whether a quote on your desk is in line, and what it should contain. Freelance, fractional, in-house and agency are compared in hire a marketer.
This guide puts the four pricing models side by side, shows what agencies charge per market and per service, works out three situations and ends with the questions to ask before you sign. What an agency actually does for that money is answered in what does a marketing agency do.
Digital marketing agency cost by market
Each row says what the amount covers, so you compare like with like.
| Market | What the amount covers | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | Hourly rate of a digital agency | mostly 45 to 135 euros |
| Belgium | Smallest project most agencies accept | from about 900 euros |
| Netherlands | Hourly rate of an agency | 75 to 175 euros |
| Netherlands | SME retainer, 10 to 25 hours a month | 1,000 to 2,500 euros a month |
| Netherlands | Full-service retainer | 2,000 to 5,000 euros a month |
| Europe | SEO retainer for an SME | 1,500 to 2,500 euros a month |
| United Kingdom | SEO retainer | 1,000 to 5,000 pounds a month |
| United Kingdom | Full-service retainer | 3,500 to 15,000+ pounds a month |
One-off projects price separately: an SEO audit for 500 to 2,000 euros, a Google Ads setup for 750 to 2,500, a full marketing strategy for 3,000 to 8,000. A small-business rebrand costs far more, from 9,000 to 55,000 euros.
What moves the price
- The pricing modelThe same year of work comes out differently by the hour, on retainer, as a project or as a share of ad spend. See the example below.
- ChannelsSEO alone is not SEO plus Google Ads plus social plus email.
- Who does the workA senior strategist costs more per hour than someone scheduling posts. Ask who is on your account.
- ProductionCopy, photos and video are made on top of managing the channels.
- Language marketsEvery extra language means its own keywords, ads and copy, not a translation of the first.
One year with an agency, four ways to pay
Hourly100 euros an hour, 8 to 22 hours a month
Per year15,200 euro
A different invoice every month
Retainer1,250 euros a month for a fixed scope
Per year15,000 euro
Work outside the scope billed apart
Project4,500 euros for strategy and setup
Per year4,500 euro
You run it yourself afterwards
Performance15 percent of a 3,000 euro monthly ad budget
Per year5,400 euro
Plus 36,000 euros of ad spend
Our own worked example, excl. VAT. Amounts sit inside the usual market ranges; in every model the ad budget is paid to Google on top.
Retainer against a one-off project
- What you buy
- Monthly retainerA fixed amount of work every month, usually 10 to 25 hours for an SME
- One-off projectA defined result: an audit, a campaign setup, a strategy
- Typical price
- Monthly retainer1,000 to 2,500 euros a month for an SME
- One-off project500 to 8,000 euros, depending on the scope
- Who executes afterwards
- Monthly retainerThe agency, month after month
- One-off projectYour own team, or a new agreement
- Risk for you
- Monthly retainerPaying for hours you do not use
- One-off projectA plan nobody carries out
A retainer fits ongoing channels like SEO and ads; a project fits a launch, an audit or a strategy your own team will run.
Ask this before you sign
- Which pricing model do you propose, and why does it fit my goal?
- How many hours a month are in the retainer, and what happens to unused hours?
- Who works on my account, and who is my fixed contact?
- Is the ad budget separate, and do I pay it directly to Google or Meta?
- Which number do we look at after three months to decide whether it works?
- Are the ad accounts, Search Console and Analytics registered to my company?
- In which currency do you invoice, and how does VAT appear for a client in another EU country?
- What is the notice period, and what do I keep when I leave?
The four pricing models side by side
| Model | How you pay | Good when | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | 75 to 175 euros per hour worked (Netherlands) | You have a single question or want a second opinion | No ceiling: agree a maximum per job |
| Retainer | 1,000 to 2,500 euros a month for an SME | You want to grow on the same channels month after month | Ask which work and hours are included |
| Project | 500 to 8,000 euros per assignment, rebrands higher | Something has a start and an end: a strategy, an audit, a campaign setup | What happens after the project is not included |
| Performance | 10 to 20 percent of your ad spend | You advertise heavily and want management to scale | The fee rises with spend, not with sales |
What sits outside the agency fee
- Your ad budgetWhat you pay Google, Meta or LinkedIn goes straight to the platform, ideally on an account in your name.
- ProductionA photo shoot, a video or a new landing page is usually a separate line.
- Software in your nameA paid SEO tool, an email platform or a CRM often runs on your own account.
- Work outside the scopeWith a retainer, what is included is on paper; everything else is extra.
- VATA Belgian or Dutch agency billing a business in another EU country applies the reverse charge; within the same country you pay 21 percent VAT on top.
Why rates differ between countries
Agency rates follow salaries and office costs, so London and Amsterdam sit above Ghent or Lisbon. The gap is smaller than it looks once you count what you get: a cheaper hour from another market costs more if every text needs rewriting by a native speaker, or if the agency does not know how your customers search. Compare proposals on output per month in your language, not on the hourly rate alone.
What fits in a month of 1,250 euros
Our own worked example: a retainer of 1,250 euros at 100 euros an hour is twelve and a half hours. A month for a small business could look like this: two new pages on search terms with proof (eight hours), adjusting Google Ads and excluding search terms (two hours), checking technique in Search Console (one hour), report and meeting (one and a half hours). That is not a big month. Ask for such a breakdown with every retainer, so you know what you buy. Per service, our guides go deeper: how much does SEO cost, Google Ads cost, Facebook ads cost, social media management pricing and corporate video cost.
Three situations, three budgets
Our own worked examples with the ranges above, before VAT and ad spend.
- A contractor in one regionwants more quote requests. An SEO and local search specialist at 800 to 1,200 euros a month is often enough, plus a few hundred euros of Google Ads. Agency bill for the year: 9,600 to 14,400 euros.
- An online store with its own brandwants sales from Google and Meta. Ads management on two channels and a monthly content series: 2,000 to 3,500 euros a month, plus ad spend paid directly to the platforms.
- A B2B firm selling in English and Germanwants buyers to find it. SEO in two languages, a few guides a month and a newsletter: 2,000 to 4,000 euros a month at a full-service agency, or a specialist per channel. Each language is its own market, which is why we build multilingual websites per language rather than as translations.
Agency, freelancer or in-house
- Choose an agencyif several channels must grow at once, in more than one language, and you prefer one contact to three freelancers.
- Choose a freelancerfor a defined job in one discipline: a campaign setup, a set of texts, an audit.
- Do it in-houseif the budget is small and someone has time to learn. Start with the marketing plan template and the marketing budget calculator.
Hiring an agency in another EU country
Buying from an agency in another EU member state is simple on paper: a business-to-business service is invoiced without the agency's VAT and you self-assess VAT at home under the reverse charge. Check three things in practice: that the agency writes natively in your customers' language, that they know your market's search habits, and that every account is registered to your company. We build sites in Dutch, French, English and Turkish when a client needs it, as for Business Centrum; for clients outside Belgium, see web development agency in Europe.
Pitfalls in an agency contract
- Accounts in the agency's nameAd accounts, Search Console, analytics and your domain belong to you.
- A twelve-month contract with no checkpointAgree an evaluation after three months, on a number you choose up front.
- Reports without workCharts are not work. Ask what was made, published or changed.
- Guarantees on rankings or revenueOnly Google decides on positions, and only you on your sales.
Fees, retainers and ad spend
How much does a digital marketing agency cost per month?
A small-business retainer usually costs 1,000 to 2,500 euros a month for 10 to 25 hours of work. UK full-service retainers start around 3,500 pounds. Ad spend comes on top.
What is a typical agency hourly rate in Europe?
Roughly 75 to 175 euros an hour in the Netherlands, and about 45 to 135 euros in Belgium. Ask how many hours a job takes: the rate alone says little about the invoice.
Is performance-based pricing a good deal?
A fee of 10 to 20 percent of ad spend grows when you spend more, not when you sell more. Ask what the percentage rests on and what happens in a month your budget drops.
Should the agency pay my ads for me?
Better not. Pay the ad budget directly to Google or Meta from an account in your company's name, and pay the agency for the management.
How do I compare two agency proposals?
Line them up on work, not on price: which channels, how many pages or campaigns a month, who does the work, what is registered to you and when you can stop.
What does a marketing strategy cost as a project?
Count on 3,000 to 8,000 euros for a full strategy. Ask whether execution is included or only the plan.