Pricing in this industry is deliberately vague. Here are actual numbers, with the caveats that matter.
Agency retainers
| Tier | Monthly | What it should include |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | ₹20,000≈ $206.54–₹40,000≈ $413.08 | Campaign management, basic reporting; you supply creative |
| Mid | ₹40,000≈ $413.08–₹90,000≈ $929.43 | Tracking setup, structured testing, landing page input, fortnightly reviews |
| Senior | ₹90,000≈ $929.43–₹2,50,000+≈ $2,582 | Full funnel ownership, creative production, automation, named strategist |
Percentage-of-spend models typically run 10–20%, common above ₹5,00,000 ≈ $5,164monthly spend.
The ratio that decides everything
Management fee should not exceed roughly 20–25% of ad spend.
Paying ₹40,000 ≈ $413.08to manage ₹50,000 ≈ $516.35of spend means 44% of your marketing budget produces no impressions. No agency is good enough to overcome that arithmetic.
Paying ₹60,000 ≈ $619.62to manage ₹6,00,000 ≈ $6,196profitably is straightforward value.
If you cannot yet spend ₹1,00,000+≈ $1,033 monthly, a one-time setup with training usually returns more than an ongoing retainer.
Minimum viable ad spend
Platforms need conversion volume to optimise. Roughly 30–50 conversion events per week per campaign is where learning becomes reliable.
Work backwards: if your cost per lead is ₹300 ≈ $3.1and you need 40 leads weekly to optimise, that is ₹12,000 ≈ $123.92weekly, ₹48,000+≈ $495.7 monthly, on one campaign. Testing two audiences doubles it.
Businesses trying to run performance marketing on ₹15,000 ≈ $154.91a month are not doing performance marketing. They are buying a small amount of traffic and hoping.
Cost per lead, by category
These are broad Indian market ranges and vary enormously by targeting quality, offer, and geography:
- Education / courses: ₹100≈ $1.03–₹400 ≈ $4.13(we have seen ₹126 ≈ $1.3average on a webinar funnel, with individual batches at ₹11.40≈ $0.12)
- Healthcare: ₹150≈ $1.55–₹600≈ $6.2
- Real estate: ₹400≈ $4.13–₹2,000+≈ $20.65
- D2C: cost per purchase is the relevant metric, not cost per lead
- B2B services: ₹500≈ $5.16–₹3,000≈ $30.98
- NGO donations: ₹85≈ $0.88–₹250 ≈ $2.58per donation (we reached ₹85.48 ≈ $0.88at scale)
Do not benchmark against these. Benchmark against your own breakeven.
The only number that matters
Your breakeven ROAS.
If your margin is 40%, you need 2.5X just to break even. A 2X campaign is losing money regardless of how good the CTR looks. If your margin is 80%, 1.5X is profitable.
Any agency discussing ROAS targets without asking your margin is guessing.
Hidden costs to budget for
- Creative production: ₹10,000≈ $103.27–₹50,000+≈ $516.35 monthly if you need video
- Landing page build: ₹15,000≈ $154.91–₹1,00,000 ≈ $1,033one-time
- Tracking implementation: often bundled, sometimes ₹15,000≈ $154.91–₹40,000 ≈ $413.08one-time
- Automation tools: WhatsApp API, CRM, typically ₹2,000≈ $20.65–₹15,000 ≈ $154.91monthly
Tracking is the one never to skip. It is the cheapest line item and it determines the return on everything else.
What "cheap" actually costs
A ₹15,000≈ $154.91/month agency managing ₹50,000 ≈ $516.35of spend, with no Conversion API, no landing page work, no follow-up automation, will typically produce leads at 2–3x the cost a properly built account would.
The saving on fees is smaller than the waste in media. That is the actual price of cheap.
Realistic first-year budget
For a business starting seriously:
- Setup (tracking, landing page, account build): ₹40,000≈ $413.08–₹80,000 ≈ $826.16one-time
- Ad spend: ₹1,00,000+≈ $1,033 monthly
- Management: ₹40,000≈ $413.08–₹60,000 ≈ $619.62monthly
- Creative: ₹15,000 ≈ $154.91monthly
That is roughly ₹1,55,000 ≈ $1,601monthly, and it is enough to reach conclusions rather than guesses.
If that is beyond current means, the honest advice is to spend less on management and more on spend, learn the platform yourself for two quarters, and hire when the account can support it.
To model your own numbers, use our ROI calculator.