How to price content agency services: retainers, packages, and the math
How to price content agency services. Build a monthly retainer from your real costs, set three packages, price by outcome, and know when to raise rates.
To price content agency services, sell a monthly retainer with a clear output, and set the price from two numbers: what it costs you to deliver, and what the content is worth to the client. Your floor is cost times about two, so you keep a healthy margin. Your ceiling is the value of the result. Most agencies land somewhere between, with three packages where the middle one is the obvious choice. This guide shows the math step by step.
This guide is for content, social, and ghostwriting agencies setting prices for the first time or fixing prices that feel too low. Full disclosure: we make Eden, a content workspace with an Agency plan. We don't quote "average agency rates" here, because surveys vary wildly by niche and country. Instead you'll build your own number from your own costs.
Step 1: Sell retainers, not posts
Price by the month, not by the piece:
- Steady income. You can plan hiring when you know next month's revenue.
- Better results. Content compounds. A three-month minimum gives it time to work.
- Less haggling. "8 LinkedIn posts a month, in your voice, with research and scheduling" is one decision. Per-post pricing invites the client to cut posts every month.
Per-project pricing still makes sense for one-off work: a launch, a content audit, or a library of evergreen posts. Price those as fixed projects, never hourly.
Step 2: Find your real cost per client
Before you pick a price, know what one client costs to serve. Add up, per month:
- Labor. Hours per client times what you pay per hour (including your own time, at what you'd pay someone to replace you). Count research, writing, revisions, calls, and scheduling, not just writing.
- Software. Your monthly tool bill divided by your number of clients. We priced a typical 10-person stack at $2,261 a month in what a content agency tech stack costs.
- Overhead. Sales time, admin, bookkeeping, and the months between clients.
Example, with made-up round numbers so you can follow the math: a client takes 12 hours a month at $50 an hour ($600), plus $60 of software and $90 of overhead. Cost per client is $750.
Step 3: Set your floor
A common rule of thumb is to price at roughly two times your cost per client. That leaves room for a profit margin near 50%, which covers slow months, a lost client, and growth.
In the example, the floor is about $1,500 a month. Below that, every new client makes you busier without making you much richer.
Step 4: Set your ceiling with value
Now look at the other side. What is the content worth to the client?
- A founder who closes deals from LinkedIn. How much is one new deal worth?
- A coach who sells a course to their audience. What does one launch bring in?
- A creator whose sponsorships depend on reach.
You don't need an exact number. You need to know whether your price is a small slice of what they gain or a big one. If one good month of content can bring them ten times your fee, you have room above your floor. Ask about this on the sales call: "If this works, what does it mean for your business?"
Step 5: Build three packages
Three packages make the choice easy, and the middle one does most of the selling.
| Package | What's included (example) | Price logic |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | 8 posts a month on one platform, monthly research, scheduling | Your floor |
| Growth | 12 to 16 posts across two platforms, weekly research, a monthly review call | Floor plus 50 to 80% |
| Premium | Everything in Growth, plus newsletter or short-form scripts and a Custom AI product for the client | Value-based |
Rules that keep packages clean:
- Every package has a number in it. Posts, scripts, calls. Vague packages cause scope creep.
- Say what's not included. Community replies, paid ads, video editing.
- Charge for revisions past a limit. Two rounds per draft is common.
- Put a minimum term on it. Three months is typical.
Step 6: Price add-ons separately
Some work is worth selling on its own, on top of a retainer:
- Content audits. A one-time teardown of what is working in the client's niche, as a fixed fee. A strong first offer that often turns into a retainer.
- Comment-to-DM and email setup. If the client sells, setting up their Instagram Auto-DM or welcome emails ties your content to revenue.
- Products. Turning a client's know-how into a course or a Custom AI they sell. On Eden Agency, you can build a Custom AI from a client's method and content and sell it as a product, which gives you a reason to charge more and gives them revenue, not just reach.
Step 7: Raise prices on purpose
Raise prices when:
- You are turning down work, or your calendar is full for weeks out.
- Your close rate on sales calls is very high. Almost every prospect saying yes means you're cheap.
- You have added proof, like a case study with numbers.
Raise prices for new clients first. For current clients, give 30 to 60 days' notice and tie the raise to a new result or a new deliverable.
Step 8: Protect your margin as you grow
Margins usually shrink quietly as an agency grows. Watch three things:
- Per-seat software. Every hire adds a seat in every tool. One plan with included seats keeps that flat. Eden Agency includes 10 seats and 25 client workspaces for $999 a month, and extra seats are $15 each.
- Scope creep. Re-check every client's actual hours each quarter against what they pay.
- Founder-only knowledge. If only you can write in a client's voice, you can't hand off the work. Put your process into shared AI tools so anyone on the team delivers the same quality. See how to scale a content agency with AI.
Frequently asked questions
Should a content agency charge hourly?
Avoid it. Hourly pricing punishes you for getting faster and makes clients watch the clock. Sell a monthly retainer with a clear output instead, and use your hours only to check your cost.
How do I price my first client?
Work out your cost per client, double it, and offer that with a three-month minimum. If you have no proof yet, offer a lower first-client rate in exchange for a testimonial and permission to share results, then move to full price.
What should a content retainer include?
A set number of deliverables (posts, scripts, or newsletters), research into what is working in the niche, a revision limit, scheduling, and a short monthly review. Say clearly what's not included.
How do I price LinkedIn ghostwriting?
Same method, plus a premium for voice work and access to the client's thinking. We cover it in how to run a ghostwriting agency.
Want a lower, flatter software cost behind your prices? See the Agency plan or start on Eden.