How much does digital marketing cost in India?
Digital marketing in India typically costs ₹25,000–₹2,00,000/month for SMEs and ₹2–10 lakh/month for mid-market brands. Agency retainers start at ₹40,000/month; ad spend is separate.
Costs split into two buckets: agency fees (strategy, execution, reporting) and media spend (Google, Meta, LinkedIn budgets). Agency fees in India range from ₹40,000/month for a single channel to ₹3,00,000/month for full-funnel growth.
Recommended starting media spend: ₹50,000–₹1,50,000/month for local services, ₹1,00,000–₹5,00,000/month for D2C/eCommerce, ₹2,00,000–₹10,00,000/month for B2B/SaaS.
Most Indian SMEs hit positive unit economics by month 3 and 3–5x ROAS by month 6. Avoid agencies that quote below ₹30,000/month — they almost always under-deliver on senior strategist time.