Content Marketing Budgeting: What Should Your Content Cost? (With Pricing Examples)

Tim Metz

3 months ago

Google “content marketing budget” or “content costs,” and you’ll find ranges, hypotheticals, and benchmarks. But when prospects get on calls with us, what they really want to know is: “How much would a piece like that cost me?”

Until today, you couldn’t find that answer anywhere — including here at Animalz. But we’re about to change that.

Why Nobody Shares Their Content Pricing Publicly

Checking sites of content marketing agencies for their pricing doesn’t get you much more than “custom pricing,” “Starts from…,” or “Get a free quote” (meaning, “Get on a call with us”).

Until now, we were no different.

A recent remark from a potential prospect changed our mind. They didn’t put us on their shortlist because they assumed our pricing wouldn’t fit their budget. In reality, it would have! 😿

That got us thinking: Why do we — like most other agencies — not provide some real content cost examples?

Because “It Depends” and “It’s Complicated”

Content marketing involves a mix of services with varying levels of customization. Pricing can fluctuate based on your needs, goals, industry, and market conditions. For example:

How technical is the article?
What’s your audience’s seniority?
What’s the word count?
What graphs and graphics do you need to support your article?

For these and many other reasons, it’s impossible to give a one-size-fits-all content price.

Because “It Might Be Misinterpreted”

Listed prices can scare away potential clients who perceive them as too high without understanding the context or value. Pricing might also give people incorrect expectations before sales conversations.

Because “It’s a Secret”

Most providers want to keep pricing flexible for negotiations and to protect themselves from competitors undercutting them.

Because “Nobody Else Does It”

A bad reason if ever there was one, but true nevertheless. Everyone kind of looks at each other for guidance. If nobody else does something, well, there must be a good reason for it, so let’s fall in line.

The Questions to Ask About Your Content Marketing Budget and Costs

All the reasons we just listed are valid. (Well, except the last one.) But we’ve come to believe they’re outweighed by the benefits of transparency.

By giving you the chance to understand the costs of specific content types based on real examples, we cut out some guesswork and can quickly establish if there’s potential to collaborate. Even if you go elsewhere, we’ve hopefully helped you make more informed decisions about your content marketing budget.

Still, there’s a risk in sharing pricing in this way. We’ve outlined several critical questions you should ask yourself as you put together your budget, consider our pricing examples, and compare them with others.

Are You Paying for Deliverables or Results?

Content marketing should ultimately deliver business results, not just deliverables. When considering content costs, it’s crucial to understand what you’re paying for:

Strategy, distribution, and analysis: Does the price include content strategy, distribution, and reporting? Or are you only paying for content production?
Long-term vs. short-term: Is the pricing structured around a long-term content roadmap or just ad-hoc creation? Is it clear what goals you’re going to measure your content program against?
Content lifecycle management: Are revisions, refreshes, or other updates included in the price? Remember, effective content often requires ongoing optimization.

Are You Getting Copycat Content or Quality?

Spinning up a piece of content is easier than ever, thanks to AI. But whether it satisfies readers and algorithms still depends on its quality. Here’s what to look for:

Research and originality: Is the content well-researched? Does it offer new insights (“information gain”), or is it just parroting the existing search results?
Human vs. AI creation: AI is a powerful tool, but who’s driving the creative process? Are humans in the lead, or are algorithms filling the blank page (a sure path to copycat content)?
Industry expertise: Do the content creators have specialized knowledge in your industry? If not, do they have strong journalistic skills to capture and convey expert insights?
Visual elements: Images, infographics, and other diagrams are hallmarks of quality content because they can reinforce your thesis. Have you accounted for such design work?

Are You Handling Content Ops?

Content operations — the behind-the-scenes work that keeps your content machine running — significantly impact content cost and quality. Consider:

Project management: Who’s responsible for the day-to-day management of content creation, including coordinating with writers or managing the editorial calendar?
Editing and quality control: Is professional editing included, or do you need to handle that in-house?
Tools and technology: What content marketing tools are included in the price? Will you need to buy extra software or subscriptions?
Meetings and consulting: Are strategy sessions and regular check-ins included, or do they cost extra?

🔦 There are no right or wrong answers to these questions, but you need to understand your goals and context.

Every business has unique needs and constraints. For example, we have enterprise customers with in-house teams that need some extra (but capable) hands to scale their content production. In their case, paying for deliverables only makes sense.

We also have customers who want to produce a high volume of “recipe”-type SEO content; involving some AI and dialing down the quality from outstanding to good can then work.

And if you’re on a budget, saving money by spending your own time managing freelancers can be a perfectly viable choice.

Get Real Examples of Content Costs

When people ask us, “How much would a piece like that cost me?”, that usually refers to an article on the Animalz blog.

We feel comfortable revealing the costs of some of our own content now that we’ve given you a list of questions that put pricing in perspective.

Head over to the following articles, enter your email in the “Curious what content like this costs?” box at the bottom, and receive a full breakdown to understand what that piece would have cost had we made it for you:

Stay Strong: Never Let AI Fill Your Blank Page. A heavyweight thought leadership article with lots of research and no SEO optimization.
Content Marketing Budgeting: What Should Your Content Cost? (With Real Pricing Examples). An example of a light SEO article, written based on in-house expertise and some light research. (This article; see the “Curious what content like this costs?” box below.)
How to Create or Refine a Content Marketing Strategy. This piece is a great example of an in-depth “recipe:” an extensive how-to article written by experts that’s SEO-optimized.
Founder-Led Content: Lessons From Reclaim’s Henry Shapiro on Authentic Engagement. An expert interview turned into a Q&A interview piece in text and video.

These examples showcase a variety of our capabilities. Hopefully they give you a better understanding of the true investment needed for different types of quality content. Use these references to compare our pricing to your current content spending or budget, and make more informed decisions about your content marketing investments.

Of course, every business has unique needs and goals. We’re always excited to jump on a call and have a more in-depth conversation about your specific requirements. Whether you’re looking to scale your existing content efforts or launch a new strategy, we’re here to help you create an outstanding content program and maximize your ROI.