What does great content marketing actually cost?

Pick your alternative — hire freelancers or use an agency. All rates are editable.

What's your alternative?

Compare against
Posts per month
All rates are editable — enter your actual quotes.
Blog post writing · 1,000–1,500 words/post
$
/post$800/mo
SEO optimization · keyword targeting, meta, headings
$
/post$400/mo
Internal cross-linking · topical cluster links per post
$
/post$200/mo
Audience & keyword research · monthly flat — competitor gaps, clusters
$
/mo$200/mo
Estimated monthly cost — 8 posts/mo

$1.6k/mo

DIY monthly cost

$1.6k/mo

$19k/year
AMB Starter

$199/mo

$2388/year · full stack included
Annual savings with AMB

+$17k/yr

$1.4k/mo

What's the revenue upside?

Starting from zero traffic. Industry defaults filled in — adjust any number.
Visits / post at 12 mo
visits
Visitor → lead rate
%
Lead → customer rate
%
Avg customer value
$
Monthly visitors at 12 mo14,400
Monthly leads288
Projected annual revenue$691k
ROI on AMB investment+28,845%
8 posts/mo × 96 posts at 12 months × 150 visits/post · 2% visitor-to-lead · 20% lead-to-customer · $1.0k/customer · starting from zero traffic

What it costs to hire this team

Content marketing done well requires six distinct skill sets. Here's what each costs to hire in the US market, before benefits and overhead.
RoleMarket rate (US)
Market Research Analyst$85,000–$95,000/yr
SEO Manager$90,000–$110,000/yr
Content Writer$65,000–$85,000/yr
Editor$60,000–$75,000/yr
Analytics Manager$75,000–$90,000/yr
Marketing Coordinator$55,000–$70,000/yr
Total (before benefits + overhead)~$430,000–$525,000/yr
AMB — all six functions, one subscription$1,188–$3,588/yr

The compounding effect, explained

The calculator above shows a cost and revenue comparison. The real value of a content system is the compounding effect on organic traffic over time.
  • Month 1–3: Building topical authority. Rankings start to move.
  • Month 4–6: Compounding traffic. Older posts keep ranking while new ones add volume.
  • Month 7–12: Acceleration. You're ranking for keyword clusters, not just individual posts.
Most companies that run a systematic content operation for 12 months see 3–5× the organic traffic they had at month one. The ROI calculator uses a conservative 150 visits/post default — adjust it upward once you have real data from your first few posts.

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