Marketing quotation planned month by month

What belongs on a marketing quote template

A marketing quotation has a harder job than most quotes: the client is paying for results they cannot see yet, so the page must show exactly what work happens each month and what they will pay the ad platforms directly. This template groups strategy, delivery and reporting, keeps media spend out of your fee, and adds paid ads management as an option.

A marketing quote template should separate the thinking from the doing. Strategy is priced once, delivery is priced by item or by month, and any money spent on media is shown apart from your fee, so the client can see what they pay you and what they pay the platforms.

1. Audit and strategyA fixed line for reviewing the website, listings, competitors and past campaigns, ending in a written plan. It is the part clients most often want to skip, so describe what they receive.
2. Channels in scopeName the channels you will work on, such as Google Business Profile, email, landing pages or paid search, and the ones you will not. Organic search and daily posting are often better as their own jobs, for example an SEO quotation or a social media package.
3. Deliverables by monthTurn the plan into countable work: two landing pages, one email a month, a monthly report. Countable items make progress easy to check at each review.
4. Ad spend kept separateMedia budget paid to Google, Meta or other platforms belongs in a note outside your fee, ideally charged to the client’s own card.
5. Management fee basisIf you charge for running ads, say whether it is a flat monthly fee or a percentage of spend, and state any monthly minimum.
6. Term and noticeThe length of the engagement, such as three months, and the notice needed to stop. Campaigns need time to gather data, so agree the minimum before you start.
7. Reporting measuresWhich numbers you will report, such as calls, form fills and booking requests, and how often. Report activity and outcomes; do not promise outcomes you do not control.
8. Access and approvalsLogins the client must provide and how quickly they approve copy and creative, so your timeline does not stall waiting for them.

Sample marketing quotation with example prices

Signal Marketing is quoting Green Valley Dental for a three month local plan. A Strategy group carries the $750 audit and plan. Delivery covers Google Business Profile setup, two landing pages at $600 each and monthly reporting for three months, bringing the subtotal to $3,050. Paid ads management at $400 a month is an optional line that stays out of the total, and the quote takes a 30% deposit. The figures are examples only.

Edit the Signal Marketing quote

5 lines are filled in, from audit and plan to paid ads management. Put in your own marketing rates, then download the PDF.

Open the marketing sample

How to price a marketing project or retainer

Marketers usually price strategy as a fixed project, ongoing work as a monthly retainer, and ad management as either a flat fee or a share of spend. Whatever the mix, every number on a marketing estimate should trace back to the hours you expect to spend.

1. Project feeA fixed price for a defined piece of work, such as an audit, a launch campaign or a set of landing pages. Best when the deliverables can be listed and counted.
2. Monthly retainerA set fee each month for an agreed list of recurring tasks. Write the list on the quote and price anything outside it separately, or the retainer slowly absorbs extra jobs.
3. Percentage of ad spendA management fee worked out as a share of the media budget, with a monthly minimum so small budgets still pay for your time.
4. Performance bonusAn extra payment tied to an outcome you can measure, such as booked appointments. Only add it on top of a base fee, and define the measure and the data source in writing.

Work out your real hourly cost before you pick a retainer figure; the overhead guide shows how. A rate card for small extra tasks saves you requoting every one of them.

Worked example: a six month campaign with ad spend kept apart

A clinic wants paid search plus fresh ad creative for six months, on a $2,000 monthly media budget. Every rate below is an example.

1. SetupCampaign build, conversion tracking and audience research: 8 hrs × $85 = $680, charged once.
2. Management fee15% of the $2,000 monthly budget is $300 a month. Over six months: 6 × $300 = $1,800.
3. CreativeSix new ad sets, one a month, at $90 each: $540.
4. Your fee$680 + $1,800 + $540 = $3,020 before tax. With a 30% deposit, the client pays $906 to start.
5. Media budget6 × $2,000 = $12,000, paid straight to the ad platform from the client’s card. It appears on the quote as a note, not as a line in your total.

Set a minimum on the management fee: at 15%, a $1,000 budget would pay you only $150 a month for much the same work.

Inclusions and exclusions for marketing work

Mistakes that sink marketing quotes

Marketing clients judge the quote again every month, when the invoice arrives. These are the gaps that turn that monthly check into an argument.

• Rolling ad spend into your fee, so the client thinks you charge $3,000 a month when most of it went to the platform.
• Quoting a retainer with no task list, which turns into an open ended request line.
• Promising a number of leads, then being judged on things like pricing and reviews you cannot change.
• No minimum term, so the client stops after one month, before tracking has any useful data.
• Leaving out who pays for tools such as call tracking, email software or landing page builders.
• Starting work before the client grants access to their analytics and ad accounts.