If you’re thinking about outsourcing your email marketing then one of your first thoughts is likely to be ‘how much does an email marketing manager charge?’

This question, of course, comes up time and again, whether you are looking for an accountant, a new kitchen, a car or a graphic designer. The answer will be ‘it depends’-  on a variety of factors.

However, I will explain here some general pricing factors for you to consider when speaking to an email marketing manager (EMM).

 

What support do you actually need?

This section could also be called why email marketing is not an admin role.  Read on.

So, there are various levels of email support you might need.

Some business owners love to write their own content but they don’t want to use up time by uploading it to their email service provider and scheduling the emails.  Indeed, they shouldn’t be scheduling the content – this is not the work of a CEO of their own company.

If it’s purely uploading the content and formatting the emails that you need then it might be more cost effective to employ the services of a general Virtual Assistant (VA) whose hourly rate will be cheaper than the monthly rates of an Email Marketing Manager.  

In the UK, the hourly rate for a VA is around £25-30.  But I and most other email experts will not charge by the hour and even if we did, we would mostly charge much more than a VA. Email marketing is not really something that can be priced by the hour.

Even scheduling the email is a little more detailed than simply choosing a time.  You need to think about which segment of your subscribers is the email going to (and no emails don’t go to everyone on your list), when is the right time, do you want to A/B test, is the subject line and preview text optimised.  

Designing the email needs thought too. Is it optimised for mobile and dark mode?  Is it scannable?

There’s a lot more to email marketing than you may think and that’s why it’s not an admin role.

 

The experience of the Email Marketing Manager

An EMM who is just starting out is probably going to charge less than an EMM who has several years under their belt.

If you’re going for the full content creation support, the EMM will need to have a full understanding of your business and your industry. They will need to undertake considerable amount of initial and ongoing research so that they are able to write emails with clarity.

Additionally, if an EMM is niched in your area with extensive knowledge, then they may charge a premium.

I mentioned design earlier in this blog post.  A lot of emails you receive will be built using an email service provider’s drag and drop editor, but many will also be built using HTML.  Not all EMM’s will be practiced in HTML.  I’m not. I know a little and can make some tweaks here and there. But I generally don’t get involved in design unless it’s something I can create on Canva and my costs will reflect that.

 

Do you have am email marketing strategy?

I’m sure you know that you need to have a business plan with solid goals and objectives, so that you know where you are heading.

The same goes for the email marketing strategy which would be aligned with your overall digital marketing strategy.  

If you don’t have an email marketing strategy then how do you know when and what to send and to whom in line with your business goals.

An experienced EMM can work with you to create your strategy and is likely to charge extra for this before they begin their monthly management, or at least factor it into their monthly fee. 

Even before creating the strategy, an EMM will probably want to carry out an audit of your current email marketing usage to understand your strengths and weaknesses.

 

The size of your business and brand

A well known company will need to protect it’s brand at all costs. Whilst no business would want a slip up in their emails, this could be particularly disastrous for a household brand.

The bigger the company and brand, and the larger the marketing budgets, the more likely you’ll be paying a higher rate for email marketing. The number of subscribers will be higher, the segmentation will be more detailed and there will certainly be several emails going out per week.

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Monthly costs

This is the number you’ve probably scrolled down to see.  

Costs do vary quite a lot actually.   So I’ve seen anything from £400 – £10,000 a month (and some of the big agencies working with global brands are likely charging way more!).  An agency may charge per campaign but not necessarily give you the personalised help you require that you’ll get from a freelancer.

But you’re probably a small business reading this so my advice would be to budget a minimum of £400-£600 a month.

If you also need some automated sequences built and managed, an opt-in form or two, landing pages, copywriting and graphics then the cost will be higher.

 

What if my budget is lower than £400 per month?

Don’t worry. There may still be a way you can work with me.

£100-350 would buy you 2-3 Power Hours during which you could get some training so you could manage your emails yourself. 

You could also have your email marketing audited and simply by making the changes I recommend, you will see some positive changes. .  

As for monthly management, however, it’s unlikely you would get much for your money, maybe 4 emails a month but with no subscriber management. But that level of activity isn’t going to change your business significantly.

 

So as you can see, there are various factors that will determine the costs you’ll be paying for email marketing and the levels of service you will receive.

 

Need some help with your email marketing?  Book a free discovery call and let’s chat about how I can support you.