Pricing & budget
What does a marketing agency cost?
No guessing games: here are the actual price ranges for projects, ongoing retainers and media budget — plus what determines where you land in the range.
Three ways to structure the price
Most agency engagements in Sweden fall into one of three categories. Which one fits you depends on whether you have a scoped need or want an ongoing partnership.
Project
SEK 50,000–150,000
per project
A defined engagement with a start and an end — an SEO audit, a campaign launch, or a technical migration. Price depends on scope, number of integrations and how much research is needed before work can start.
Ongoing retainer
SEK 15,000–150,000
per month
The most common setup. An SEO-focused retainer often runs SEK 15,000–60,000/month, while a broader engagement covering multiple channels and strategic ownership lands at SEK 30,000–150,000/month depending on ambition level.
Media budget on top of fee
SEK 30,000–150,000
per month, excluding management fee
If you run paid advertising, the media budget sits on top of the management fee — they're always two separate line items. Management fees for paid channels typically start around SEK 15,000–25,000/month, with the media budget set based on your CAC and growth targets.
An AI-powered alternative: a traditional agency often charges SEK 50,000–100,000/month for a single channel. Our own AI-powered service covers equivalent work from SEK 20,000/month, since the AI does part of the work that would otherwise require an entire team. Read more about AI marketing.
Price factors
What affects the price
Scope and number of channels
An agency handling only SEO costs less than one coordinating SEO, paid social, Google Ads and content simultaneously. More channels mean more coordination, more tools, and more people on the team — and that shows up in the fee.
Which channels you choose
Organic channels (SEO, content, GEO) have lower ongoing cost but take longer to show results — typically 3–6 months. Paid channels deliver faster results but require a media budget on top of the fee, and cost scales directly with how aggressively you want to grow.
Whether measurement needs rebuilding
If you don't have a working GA4 setup, correct tagging in GTM, or an attribution model that actually shows what's driving results, that foundational work has to happen before optimization is meaningful. It's usually a one-off cost on top of the ongoing retainer, but it's essential for judging whether the agency is delivering.
Comparison
Agency vs in-house vs freelance
None of the three is universally right. Here's an honest comparison — including when an agency is actually the wrong choice.
| Aspect | Agency | In-house | Freelance / consultant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost structure | Monthly fee + media budget if applicable, typically SEK 15,000–150,000/month total. | Gross salary + payroll tax (around 31.42% in Sweden) + tools + management time — often significantly more than the gross salary suggests. | Hourly or day rate, typically SEK 8,000–20,000/day, or from SEK 15,000/month for smaller ongoing work. |
| Time to start | 1–2 weeks from signed contract to onboarding. | Often 2–4 months for recruitment, interviews and onboarding. | Days — the fastest way to get started. |
| Breadth of skills | A full team covering SEO, paid, content and data in one place. | Narrower per person — requires multiple hires to cover the same breadth as an agency. | Usually one channel or skill per person. |
| Commitment | Usually a 1–3 month notice period, rarely long contracts. | Long — employment contracts and statutory notice periods. | No lock-in — the easiest to end or switch. |
| When it's the right choice | You want broad expertise fast, or want to complement an internal team with specialist skills. | Marketing is core to the business and you want to own and control it long-term. | You have a clearly scoped need — one channel or a specific project. |
| When it's the wrong choice | You already have a strong internal team and just need one more pair of hands. | You need broad expertise fast, or your volume doesn't justify a full-time hire per channel. | You need strategic oversight across multiple channels — coordinating several freelancers becomes a time sink. |
Before you sign
What to ask an agency before you sign
Price is only half the picture. These questions reveal whether the agency can actually deliver — and whether you understand what you're paying for.
How do you measure results, and what attribution model do you use?
What's included in the fee, and what do add-on services cost?
Is media budget included in the price, or billed as a separate line item?
What notice period applies, and is there a minimum commitment?
Who owns the data, ad accounts and assets if we end the engagement?
What does reporting look like, and how often do we get it?
What concrete results have you delivered for companies our size, in our industry?
Who on the team works on our account day-to-day, and how senior are they?
How do you handle it if our measurement (GA4/GTM) needs rebuilding from scratch?
What's the plan if results don't materialize after 3–6 months?
What would it cost for you?
Tell us about your goals, channels and current measurement setup. We'll give you a concrete price proposal based on what you actually need — not a standard package.
Book a free consultation