In-House vs. Outsourced Marketing:
The Full Cost Comparison

Marketing Cost Calculator

Compare the true cost of in-house marketing vs. an outsourced marketing department

In-house marketing costs

Marketing FTEs5

Avg. fully-loaded salary$95,000

Benefits overhead25%

VP/CMO salary (fully loaded)$320,000

Agency retainers (annual)$150,000

Recruiting cost (one-time)$75,000

Months to full execution12

Monthly revenue at risk$80,000

Outsourced marketing department

Monthly retainer$7,500

Every engagement is built around your goals. A fractional CMO starts at $7,500 a month. From there, we add specialists across the channels your strategy needs, so most clients land somewhere between $7,500 and $20,000, depending on budget, how fast you want to move, the results you're after, and how many channels you run. Book a call and we'll size it to you.

What's included:

Fractional CMO (strategy + leadership)
Plus specialist team options up to $20,000 a month
Content, SEO, paid media, email, social
CRM, analytics, marketing automation
Executing within 30 days
Single point of accountability

Recruiting cost

Months to full execution

1 month

Additional agencies needed

None

In-house annual cost

People + agencies

Outsourced annual cost

Your selected retainer × 12

Annual savings

0% reduction

Opportunity cost (lost pipeline)