What a digital marketing agency actually costs in India.
Almost nobody in this industry publishes a number, because a published number caps what they can quote the next client. Here are the real bands for an Indian brand, what should be inside a package at each one, and the three questions that tell you more about an agency than its proposal will.
The number nobody will give you until you have sat through a call
Ask five agencies in Mumbai what digital marketing costs and you will get five requests for a meeting. That is not evasiveness for its own sake — it is because the answer depends on what you need, and because a published number caps what they can quote the next person.
Here is the honest band for a small or growing Indian brand:
What we charge, and what we will not pretend to price
Search and content is ₹14,999 a month for Essential, ₹21,250 for Growth and ₹25,000 for Complete, plus GST, on a three-month minimum. That number is published because the scope is genuinely the same for everyone.
Everything else in marketing — paid media, social, creative, email, WhatsApp — we price to the job, and we will give you a real number after one conversation rather than a range now. That is not a sales device. A brand spending ₹50,000 a month on ads and a brand spending ₹5,00,000 need genuinely different work, and a single published figure would be wrong for both. What we will not do is invent a package price to look tidy on a page.
Three questions that tell you more than any quote
- Is ad spend on my card or yours? It should be yours, billed at actuals by Google or Meta. If it runs through the agency, they are choosing your budget and taking a margin you cannot see.
- Who is actually doing the work, and can I speak to them? If the answer is an account manager, you are paying for a relay. A large part of a Mumbai agency quote is that relay.
- What do I own if I leave? The accounts, the data, the creative and the pixel history should all be in your name from day one. If any of it lives in the agency's account, leaving costs you everything you have built.
Where marketing is the wrong answer
Worth saying plainly, because it costs us work: if you are already spending on ads and still not making money, more marketing usually will not fix it. The cause is more often pricing, returns, stock going out of stock, or a checkout that loses people. That is what the Scan is for — a fixed ₹75,000 pass across nine areas of the business that tells you where the money is actually going before you spend more on top.
How much does a digital marketing agency cost in India?
For a small or growing brand the honest band is roughly ₹15,000 to ₹75,000 a month depending on how much is actually being done for you. Below about ₹15,000 nobody is doing strategy — you are buying a few posts. Above about ₹75,000 you are usually paying for an agency's overhead rather than more work on your account. Our own search and content work starts at ₹14,999 a month. Ad spend is always separate and always on your own account.
What should a digital marketing package include at that price?
At minimum: someone who decides what to do rather than just doing it, the work itself, and a report you can read in two minutes that ties spend to outcomes. If a quote does not say who is doing the thinking, how many hours or deliverables you get, and what happens if it does not work, it is not a package — it is a retainer with a nice name.
Is ad spend included in the monthly fee?
It should never be, and with us it never is. Ad spend goes on your own account, billed to you at actuals by Google or Meta, and you can see every rupee. An agency that bundles spend into its fee is deciding your budget for you and taking a margin you cannot see. Ask any agency quoting you whether spend is on your card or theirs — the answer tells you a lot.
What does SEO cost per month in India?
Ours is ₹14,999 for Essential, ₹21,250 for Growth and ₹25,000 for Complete, plus GST, on a three-month minimum. The Mumbai market for the same scope generally runs ₹40,000 to ₹75,000 a month. SEO is genuinely slow — anyone promising rankings in weeks is either misleading you or planning to do something that gets your site penalised.
What does social media management cost in India?
Most quotes you will see sit between ₹15,000 and ₹50,000 a month, and the difference is almost entirely how much original creative is being made rather than how many posts go out. Ten reposted stock images a month is not the same product as four pieces of original work, even though both get sold as "12 posts".
Do you need a contract or a minimum term?
Monthly services carry a three-month minimum, because nothing in marketing shows a result in four weeks and a one-month trial only teaches you what a month of setup looks like. There is no lock-in beyond that and you own every account and asset we create.
Why are your prices lower than the agencies quoting me?
There is no sales team, no account manager relaying messages, and no office to fund — you deal with the person doing the work. That is most of the difference. The rest is that we publish prices, which caps what we can charge; agencies that quote privately charge what they think each client will pay.
What is the Scan, and do I need it before marketing?
No — you can start marketing directly. The Scan is a separate ₹75,000 fixed-fee pass across nine areas of the business for people who suspect the problem is not actually marketing. It is worth it if you are spending on ads and still not making money, because the answer is often pricing, returns or stock rather than the ads.
Get a real number for your business.
One conversation, then a fixed monthly figure and what is in it — not a range and not a deck. You are talking to the person who will do the work.
Ask what it would cost →