You’ve figured out your freelance digital marketing niche and now you need to figure out a pricing strategy that not only helps you land the client, but also positions you for success. How do you know what to charge as a freelancer? How do you invoice your clients, what’s the best way to structure your payment plans and hourly rate, and how do you protect yourself from clients that won’t pay? Most experienced Freelancers will tell you that they’ve made a ton of pricing mistakes, and every one of them has a “best way” to price their services, but the reality is, there isn’t a “one size fits all” approach to freelance pricing and rates. Yet, getting pricing right is so important, it might be one of the most important decisions you can make in the early stages of your business.
Are you new to this guide? If so, here’s a quick overview of all the chapters in this Ultimate Guide To Freelance Digital Marketing:
Pricing your services is an important yet tricky task when starting out as a freelance digital marketer. You want to charge enough to be fairly compensated for your work skills, and experience. But you also want to remain competitive to attract clients.
This article will guide you through calculating an appropriate hourly rate based on key factors like expertise demand, and overheads. Follow these steps to price your freelance marketing services profitably.
Understand Pricing Fundamentals
When determining rates remember two central concepts
1. Value-based Pricing: Price based on the value you deliver, not time spent. Calculate rates by estimating the worth clients gain from your work.
2. Market Rates: Research competitive rates in your industry and region. Price within the average market range for your specialty and experience level.
Adopt a value-focused approach but keep market conditions in mind. Strike the right balance between charging fairly and remaining competitive.
Calculate Your Costs
First estimate your business costs to account for when pricing services:
-
Time: Both billable working hours and non-billable hours for marketing, admin etc.
-
Overheads: Equipment, software, subscriptions, insurance, workspace etc.
-
Taxes: Income tax, sales tax, self-employment taxes.
-
Benefits: Health insurance, retirement savings, paid leave etc.
-
Training & Development: Courses, conferences, learning resources to upgrade skills.
-
Others: Marketing expenses, professional services, financing costs.
Tally up these costs, both one-time and recurring, to determine your total monthly overhead amount.
Set an Hourly Rate
Use these steps to calculate an hourly rate:
1. Establish a target income.
Decide the income you need to cover costs and achieve financial goals. Get clear on required profit levels.
2. Estimate billable hours.
Realistically assess how many hours per week or month you can bill for client projects.
3. Calculate base hourly rate.
Divide your target income by estimated billable hours to get a base rate.
4. Factor in overhead costs.
Add a percentage markup to the base rate (e.g. 20% – 50%) to cover your monthly overheads.
5. Consider experience level.
If just starting out, price on the lower end of your specialty’s average market rate. Increase rates as you gain experience and client results.
6. Define service packages.
Offer defined service packages like social media marketing, SEO optimization etc. at fixed or hourly pricing.
7. Adjust for cost of living.
If located in a high cost-of-living area, increase rates accordingly.
Regularly review and revise your rates using this method as business costs and conditions evolve. Don’t undervalue your expertise and services.
Research Market Rates
While defining your own rates, also research current market pricing to set competitive yet profitable fees.
Places to check average rates:
- Job boards like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer
- Marketing associations
- LinkedIn ProFinder
- Competitor websites
- Client job postings
Look for freelance hourly rates charged by marketers with similar credentials to yours. Average the rates you find to determine a typical market range. Price within this bracket based on your individual expertise, demand and niche.
Common Digital Marketing Services & Rates
Here are approximate hourly rates charged currently by freelance marketers at various experience levels:
Entry Level (1-3 yrs): $20-$50/hr
Services like content creation, social media marketing, SEO assistance, AdWords support etc.
Mid Level (3-7 yrs): $50-$150/hr
Services like targeted lead generation, integrated digital campaigns, conversion optimization etc.
Expert Level (7+ yrs): $150-$300/hr
Strategic consulting, coaching, and high-level services like branding, growth strategy, thought leadership content etc.
These rates vary based on your individual skills, credentials, results and clientele. Network with fellow freelancers to learn what pricing works for them.
Pricing Models & Packages
Rather than only hourly rates, also offer defined service packages at fixed or project pricing:
- Social media marketing: $750-$1500/mo
- SEO audit & recommendations: $2000-$5000 one-time
- Content marketing package: $3000-$6000/mo
- PPC campaign management: $2000/mo + ad spend
- Website design: $5000-$15000 one-time
Pre-defined offerings make it easier for clients to purchase and increase perceived value. Offer tiered pricing for basic, pro, premium packages.
Factors That Help Increase Your Rates
Charge higher rates if you have:
- In-demand technical skills like SEO, PPC, web analytics
- Demonstrable marketing results and ROI
- Testimonials and client references
- Specialized expertise and thought leadership
- Prestigious brands in your portfolio
- Advanced certifications and credentials
- Years of proven experience
Develop these capabilities over time to justify raising rates for high-value services.
Best Practices For Pricing Profitably
Follow these guidelines to price your freelance marketing services optimally:
- Clearly convey your value proposition to clients
- Tally all your costs to account for in rates
- Research competitor and industry rates
- Price based on expertise, demand and results
- Increase rates as you gain experience
- Offer packaged services alongside hourly fees
- Update pricing annually at minimum
- Charge rush fees for urgent timelines
- Limit pro bono and discounted work
Key Takeaways
- Calculate rates by your target income and billable hours
- Factor in overhead costs and experience level
- Research current market rates for your specialty
- Offer service packages alongside hourly fees
- Increase rates over time as you gain expertise and results
Pricing appropriately is key to running a successful and sustainable freelance marketing business. Use these steps to determine competitive yet profitable rates tailored to your unique expertise and demand.
How To Get Paid as a Freelancer
Now to the fun stuff! Getting paid. In this section were going to go deep into how to invoice your clients, the best freelance invoicing software to use, how to protect yourself from clients that dont pay, and everything you need to know about taking payment as a freelancer.
There are several common forms of payment that you can setup as a freelancer:
- You can get paid the good old-fashioned way with a paper check.
- You can use online payment solutions like PayPal, Cash.app, Square, or Transferwise.
- You can accept credit cards with a credit card processing tool like Stripe or use an invoicing app like Freshbooks. Freshbooks allows you to take payments with credit cards right on your invoice (we’ll go more into that later in this section).
- You can get paid with a bank to bank transfer (ACH).
- If your client is nearby you can meet up and can get paid in cash.
Now let’s go into the basics of invoicing as a freelancer.
Freelance Pricing Model # 3: Fixed Fee Pricing
Fixed pricing means that youre being paid a fixed amount per project. This is a very flexible pricing model that can be customized in any way you want. For example, you might set fixed pricing per week or month, a fixed price for a package of services, or a fixed price for a specific campaign. You can justify your fixed monthly fee pricing by a set number of deliverables, or a fixed number of consulting hours, or based on a certain amount of value that you are delivering to a client.
Charging a fixed fee makes sense for a lot of freelancers delivering different types of services. For example it might make perfect sense for a consultant whose job is more abstract, more strategic, and more of a support role versus an implementation role. Or it might make sense for a services-based freelancer to create specific packages that have a fixed fee price, like a certain amount of blog posts per month, or a fixed management fee for an advertising campaign. With fixed fee pricing you’re typically on the hook to complete the job, so it still pays to know (at least internally) what your actual deliverables are, how much time the project will take, and how much you want to make per hour. Here’s a few pros of fixed fee pricing models:
- Easy to manage and easy to justify with the client if youre a well-known consultant who brings a lot of value.
- Its easy to create specific packages around your services and set a fixed price for different services.
- It’s easy to track what you’re making per service and simplifies the client intake process.
Unfortunately, when you package your service as a fixed fee, theres a lot of room for scope creep. A client can easily take advantage of this type of service, even unintentionally, and start asking for more than the service agreement calls for. Its still important with this type of payment plan to clearly define what kind of results or outcome the client can expect at the end of the project. If you dont, the client may be left at the end of the assignment wondering what they really got, where youve been, and what measurable results were actually delivered.Lets go over a few cons of fixed-fee pricing:
- It can be hard to justify this type of pricing unless you have an established business.
- It can be hard to justify the costs unless you’re a well known consultant, or can clearly define the results, and give a broad overview of what you’ll be accomplishing for the client.
- Theres a lot of room for scope creep with this type of payment plan unless you know exactly what your tasks are in order to meet the project requirements.
- New Freelancers might get in over their heads as this type of payment plan is better suited to well-organized businesses that are accustomed to delivering these services over and over again at scale.
How Much Should I Charge As A Freelance Marketer | Calculating Hourly Rate As A Beginner Freelancer
What is a freelance rate calculator?
Our freelance rate calculator is designed to help you build a base rate that considers your estimated monthly expenses and your desired hours to work. This tool is intended to help you calculate a minimum freelance hourly rate based on the information you provide.
How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?
A wide range of factors can go into calculating your freelance hourly rate, such as industry needs, your experience level, your expenses, and a host of other variables. Our freelance rate calculator is designed to help you build a base rate that considers your estimated monthly expenses and your desired hours to work.
What is your value as a freelance marketer?
Understanding your value allows you to better determine your rates as a freelance marketer. Determining your value includes considering your skills, the knowledge you possess in relation to your field, the projects you want to work on and the services you’re offering your clients.
How do I determine market rates as a freelancer?
To determine market rates as a freelancer you should also take your location into account, but do so strategically. If you live in an HCOL area, you can’t charge peanuts. But living in a LCOL area doesn’t mean you should quote lower rates (unless you want to give a discount).
