That's the market as published. What matters more is what each fee line should buy.
What are the typical price ranges?
Fees split into two: what you pay the agency, and what you pay the platforms. Only the first is in these ranges.
| Model | Typical monthly fee (US, 2026) | Usually includes |
|---|---|---|
| Single-channel ads management | $1,000 to $5,000, or 10% to 20% of ad spend | Campaign setup, optimisation, reporting from the ad platform |
| Full-service agency retainer | $2,500 to $10,000+ | Strategy, creative, campaigns across channels |
| Ads + funnel + follow-up | Upper part of the full-service range | Also builds and maintains landing pages, lead capture, email or SMS follow-up and CRM reporting |
| In-house marketing manager | About $19,900 a month fully loaded at the US median | One person, one skill set |
These come from published price guides and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the same sources as our cost breakdown. They describe what the market asks, not what any one engagement is worth.
What should a setup fee cover?
A setup or installation fee is fair when it pays for things that exist afterwards. For an agency that runs ads, funnels and follow-up, expect this list in writing:
- Tracking: pixel and conversion events, and the connection from the ad platform to your CRM, so leads are matched to outcomes.
- Landing pages built for the offer, not a template.
- Lead capture and qualification questions on forms and pages.
- Follow-up sequences: email and SMS, and the routing that gets a lead to a human fast.
- Creative: the first batch of ads or videos.
- A reporting view that shows leads, qualified calls and customers, not clicks.
Ask one question of any setup fee: "When we stop working together, what do we keep?" If the pages, tracking and audiences live in the agency's accounts and disappear, you paid for rent, not installation.
What should the monthly fee cover?
The monthly fee should buy ongoing work you can list. For an ads, funnel and follow-up scope:
- Campaign management and budget allocation
- New creative every month, not one batch at launch
- Landing page and funnel testing
- Follow-up sequence maintenance
- A monthly report tied to the CRM, ending in cost per customer
Everything else is extra. Ask what's excluded: extra ad accounts, extra locations, video shoots, call handling, and software subscriptions are common exclusions.
How do you compare two quotes fairly?
Put both on one page and fill these rows: setup fee, monthly fee, ad spend expected, minimum term, what's built and owned, what's reported, and who does the follow-up after the lead. Then convert both to a monthly cost over the first six months. A lower monthly fee with a higher setup fee can cost more in month six than the reverse.
Judge both on the last row that matters, the cost per customer each reports. Our break-even calculation turns a quote into a number of extra customers you'd need.
What are the red flags in an agency quote?
- No written scope. "We handle everything" isn't a scope.
- A setup fee with no deliverables list.
- Long minimum terms with no way out if reporting stops at leads.
- Reporting only in clicks, impressions and cost per lead. Cost per lead is a diagnostic, not a scoreboard.
- Guarantees of leads. Leads are the wrong thing to guarantee. See how to avoid getting burned.
What would you pay AI Video Systems?
We don't publish a price, and here's why: the number depends on your ad spend, what a customer is worth to you and how much extra qualified demand your team can handle, and a price list would hide all three. The shape is simple. It's a one-time system installation plus monthly management, with no per-video or per-lead fee, and your ad budget stays yours.
Every quote we give lists what's built, what's run each month and what's reported, which is the standard to hold any agency to. Book A Free Call to get yours in writing; qualified clients get the first 30 days under a money-back guarantee (ad spend and third-party software excluded).
Sources
- Clicks Geek, Marketing Agency Retainer Pricing 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers.
