How much does a good digital agency charge in Dubai?

COVID-19 and the threat of an impending global recession has impacted businesses with many suffering from reduced sales revenue and falling profits.  Accordingly, business budgets have been slashed, but the need for digital marketing has never been more important and with this in mind, the question everyone is asking is, “How much does a good digital agency charge?”

Every digital marketing agency cost varies depending on the services provided, the intended outcome, and the digital agency in question.  In the article below, we aim to clarify the costs involved so that you can allocate an accurate budget for your next digital marketing agency engagement.

Below, we outline general pricing in relation to some of the most significant digital marketing services available.

Digital Marketing, as an industry, has grown rapidly in the last decade or so.  Back in 2005, when Nexa first launched, our services were limited to offering website design services and limited email marketing and lead generation services.  Today, digital marketing agency fees start from $3,000 per month through to $25,000+ depending on the services required.  The service offering available to clients today is extensive and it's important to know the options available for a business to help budget for service fees, accurately.

Today's Digital Marketing Services:

• Digital Marketing Strategy & Consultancy
• Website Design, Landing Page & Development
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Search Engine Marketing & Campaigns (PPC)
• Social Media Community Management, Content Creation & Campaigns
• Account Based Marketing
• Lead Generation
• Marketing Automation & Content Marketing
• Video Production & Photography

In addition to these core services, specialised agencies like Nexa also offer a range of technology based services focused around platforms such as HubSpot, Salesforce as well as others.

Most agencies will charge fees related to the services required by a client.  For example, if the client is looking for lead generation services, the fees associated to this are likely to include the following:

• Landing Page Development
• Search Engine Marketing (PPC)
• Social Media Campaigns
• Account Based Marketing (ABM)

And possibly some content creation to support the activity highlighted. 

So, how is the cost calculated?

As mentioned, each of the services above will have a different cost associated to it.  The cost is normally determined by the time is takes an agency to deliver the task or complete the deliverable.  In addition to this and typically where multiple services are to be utilised by the client, these fees can be packaged up to take into account efficiencies gained from account management and overlapping services.

How are the costs for each service type calculated?

There's a lot of complexity that needs to be accounted for when determining the cost of each service type and offering.  In what follows, we'll take a look at the most commonly requested services, providing more information as to how each service is charged by Digital Marketing Agencies:

How Much does a New Website Cost in Dubai?

Website Design and Development for Digital Marketing

Professional web design and development is vital as it impacts how your online audience perceives your business and your brand. The impression your website makes will either deter them from your page, or encourage them to learn more about your business. 

What determines the cost of your website for digital marketing?

Before you begin sourcing website prices, you need to know what you want to get out of your website. Do you want to build brand awareness? Create an online shop? Build brand credibility? Or generate traffic? Or all of the above.  Once you have identified what it is you want from your website, you can speak to a digital agency and find out what factors go into achieving these goals. 

Some of these factors include, but are not limited to:  how many pages you will have on your website, what features your website will require, and the content your website needs in order to be effective.   The pricing of your website will be determined by these factors, and the length of time and work it will take the digital agency to implement each element. 

As of 2020 a small website can cost you $10,000 while a leads focused and conversion based website can cost you anything from $ 15,000-18,000. A complex and large website will cost upwards from $25,000. Of course, these prices vary from agency to agency.

Learn more about the cost of website design and development for your business, here.

How Much does Search Engine Optimisation Cost in Dubai?

Before we unpack the cost of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for digital marketing, let’s take a look at what SEO is and how it can benefit your marketing efforts. 

The Goal of SEO for Digital Marketing

SEO is the practice of increasing the quality and quantity of traffic to your website. When you implement a SEO strategy effectively, when a user is searching for your product or service, your business will appear at the top of Search Engine Results Pages (SERP). 

By ranking higher than your competitors, you will get more traffic to your website than they will, you will receive more leads/conversions, and you will build business value. SEO offers a great return on investment for any business and has become more vital than ever.

What Determines SEO Cost for Digital Marketing? 

The cost of SEO is directly related to your specific industry and your online competitors. This is because many industries have a lot of competition online and will be going against companies that have a powerful and well-established online presence in the Search Engines. Therefore, digital marketing agencies will have to put more time, strategy, and work into beating the online competition and helping your business rank higher than your competitors. 

Another aspect of SEO pricing is based on the activities that need to be implemented. There are numerous stages in the process that need to be ticked off to ensure quality SEO results. 

These stages include:

• Technical Stage:
  The technical stage is the first stage of the SEO digital marketing activity. At this stage the digital marketing agency will analyse your website, ensuring it is SEO friendly and ready to host content. Regarding the latter, SEO requires consistent content to be added to your website and this is when the second stage begins. 
• Consistent Activity:
  This stage involves consistent work regarding content creation. Your digital marketing agency will create content that will be hosted on your website to help with your SERP ranking because your ranking is fully linked to the quality of content on your website. 
• Content Creation:
  There are a variety of content options you can use on your website to help your SEO flourish, and all these content options will vary in pricing, and the overall content cost is dependent on the volume of content produced for you.
  Please see some general examples of content creation costing, below: 
  • • Short Form Blog Articles:  Generally 300 - 750 word articles (From US$ 175 per article)
    • Long Form Blog Articles:  Generally 800+ word articles (From US$ 300 per article)
    • Videos: (From US$ 1,500 per video)

The cost of  SEO for digital marketing will vary from agency to agency, and will also be dependent on your industry and your online competitors.  SEO is an important part of any digital marketing strategy, and offers a great return on investment if implemented by an experienced digital marketing agency. Another digital marketing tool that is necessary for ongoing business success, is social media marketing. 

You can gain greater insight into the cost of SEO for digital marketing, here. 

How Much does Social Media Marketing Cost in Dubai?

The Goal of Social Media for Digital Marketing

Social Media marketing relates to using social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, to promote your business. The benefits of using social media as part of your digital marketing efforts include:

• Brand Awareness: Social Media makes it easy to spread word about your business.
• Increase Traffic: Social media and linking your website to your social platforms will increase quality website traffic.
• Sourcing Leads: Social media platforms provide a way to reach your target audience,  convert them into leads and convert those leads into paying customers. 

What determines the cost of social media marketing?

When it comes to social media, you get what you pay for. If a business tells you that they will get you likes and follows on your social platform, be careful, you want a company that will provide a social media strategy that gives you a return on investment. Social Media marketing is not just about sharing posts online and receiving likes. 

Professional social media marketing will give you a substantial return on your marketing investment if you work with an agency that uses social media to increase traffic to your website and gain leads for your business. This will cost more than simply using an agency to generate likes for your business. However, if your goal is simply to get likes, spend as little as possible on this service by making use of a freelancer or small digital agency who will provide this service for less than AED 6000 per month. 

Learn more about the cost of Social Media marketing for your business, here.

By partnering with a professional social media marketing agency, you will see a substantial return on your investment - no matter the cost. 

In Conclusion:

The cost of your digital marketing will vary based on what you require, your goals, and your industry. But no matter the cost, digital marketing offers a great return on investment, especially during these trying times.

Business has changed. Communication has changed. And customer expectations have changed.

Speak to Nexa about all your digital marketing requirements and get you the return on investment you deserve.