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An agency quotes ₹25,000 a month. You have ₹1,00,000 available for advertising. At first glance, the decision seems straightforward: can the agency generate enough additional sales to justify its fee?
Before answering, add the creative work, any website changes and the cost of the products you expect to sell. Then decide whether ₹1,00,000 means the amount going into the ad platforms or your total marketing budget. Those two interpretations produce very different plans.
The cost of hiring a performance marketing agency is the management fee plus any separately charged production, setup and supporting work. Media spend is another component. Compare the complete budget and the margin it needs to earn back.
This guide covers published pricing examples in India, fee models, creative scope and a worked D2C budget. It also shows why an attractive return on ad spend can still leave a brand short of profit.
What performance marketing agencies charge in India
Published fees with their scope attached
These examples were checked on 27 October 2026. They describe the named providers’ advertised offers, rather than an industry average.
Published offer | Management fee | Scope and budget conditions stated by the provider |
|---|---|---|
Index Starter Performance | ₹9,999 per month | One platform, up to three campaigns, tracking setup and a monthly report; managed media budget up to ₹50,000 per month |
Index Growth Performance | ₹19,999 per month | Google and Meta, up to six campaigns, remarketing, a landing-page review and a monthly strategy call; managed media budget up to ₹1,00,000 |
Index Business Performance | ₹29,999 per month | Multiple platforms, competitor analysis and dedicated account management; managed media budget up to ₹2,00,000 |
Webcomp Marketing | 20–25% of ad spend, depending on scope | Campaign management, optimisation and weekly reporting; video production billed separately |
Index’s performance plans explicitly separate the management fee from the advertising budget. Webcomp’s service page describes its percentage fee and separate video production charges. Taxes, production and additional work must be read within each offer’s terms.
These examples show why comparing a ₹10,000 retainer with a ₹30,000 retainer requires more than comparing the numbers. Different platform counts, budget limits, production commitments and reporting responsibilities can sit behind them.
Fixed retainers and percentage fees
A fixed retainer makes the management line predictable within an agreed scope. A percentage fee moves with the media budget. Either can work, provided the amount and responsibilities remain clear.
Consider this arithmetic comparison. The fixed ₹25,000 fee and 20% fee are illustrative models; the table does not represent two Coresium plans.
Monthly media spend | Fixed management fee | Management at 20% of spend |
|---|---|---|
₹50,000 | ₹25,000 | ₹10,000 |
₹1,00,000 | ₹25,000 | ₹20,000 |
₹2,00,000 | ₹25,000 | ₹40,000 |
₹5,00,000 | ₹25,000 | ₹1,00,000 |
The two fees meet at ₹1,25,000 in media spend. That is a mathematical comparison, assuming identical work and no minimum fee. An actual provider may change its scope or pricing tier as the account grows.
A performance incentive needs an equally specific calculation. Define the revenue or outcome used, returns and cancellations, the reporting period and any cap. A fee tied to sales becomes difficult to assess when the parties use different sales totals.
What the management scope should include
Campaign work and commercial context
Specify the platforms, account structure, campaign setup, audience or keyword research, ongoing decisions and reporting. Agree who writes the ads and who approves budgets.
For D2C, include the business information required to make those decisions: product margins, average order value, stock, discounts, shipping, returns and repeat purchases. A campaign selling a low-margin product has a different spending limit from one selling a high-margin bundle.
Keep your business in control of its accounts and billing. Access arrangements should allow you to see the work and retain the history if the engagement ends.
Creative strategy and production
Establish whether the fee covers new ideas, copy, scripts, design, editing, filming or creator coordination. A management-only engagement can be sensible if your own team supplies strong material consistently.
Count ideas and versions separately. Two opening lines for one demonstration are useful variations, but they do not answer the same question as testing two entirely different reasons to buy.
Agree how fresh material will be requested when a campaign needs it. A fixed monthly allowance without a way to commission additional work can leave an account running the same assets while everyone waits for a new scope.
For creator content, our UGC and influencer marketing guide explains production, distribution and usage as separate buying decisions.
Measurement and website support
Define the conversion events and which system provides the sales total used in reviews. Explain how discounts, cancelled orders and returns are handled. Advertising reports and fulfilled-order accounts serve different purposes, so record the basis of each comparison.
Website support also needs a boundary. A product-page review, changes to existing sections, a new landing page and a store rebuild are separate jobs. Identify what the agency will implement and what remains with your developer or ecommerce team.
Build a budget that can earn back its cost
Add every campaign cost once
Here is a hypothetical monthly plan, before taxes. The figures demonstrate the method and are not a Coresium quote or a market benchmark.
Component | Example amount |
|---|---|
Media paid to Meta and Google | ₹1,00,000 |
Management and optimisation | ₹25,000 |
Creative production and editing | ₹15,000 |
Total campaign cost | ₹1,40,000 |
Add any separately charged setup, tools or website work. Remove a production line if that same work is already included in the retainer.
If ₹1,00,000 is the total budget available, this plan does not fit. Reduce or reshape the scope before starting. That might mean one platform, fewer products or a smaller production batch, depending on the business and the existing assets.
The D2C marketing budget worksheet gives you space to build the total and calculate the sales it needs to support.
Calculate the cost per new customer consistently
Suppose the example campaign produces 100 new customers:
Media cost per new customer is ₹1,00,000 ÷ 100 = ₹1,000.
Cost per new customer including the stated management and production is ₹1,40,000 ÷ 100 = ₹1,400.
That second figure includes these campaign costs. A company-wide customer acquisition cost would also need the other sales and marketing costs included in your accounting definition.
Use the same definition from one review to the next. Otherwise, one month can appear to improve simply because a cost has disappeared from the report.
Work backwards from contribution margin
Start with money the business retains from an order before marketing and fixed overhead. For this planning example, assume:
Per fulfilled order | Example amount |
|---|---|
Revenue after discounts and excluding tax | ₹2,000 |
Product, packing, fulfilment, payment and expected return costs | ₹1,100 |
Contribution available before marketing and fixed overhead | ₹900 |
Contribution as a share of revenue | 45% |
To cover ₹1,40,000 in campaign costs at a 45% contribution margin, the campaign needs approximately ₹3,11,111 in revenue. The calculation is ₹1,40,000 ÷ 0.45.
Dividing that revenue by ₹1,00,000 in media produces a media ROAS of about 3.11. This is the planning threshold for covering the stated campaign costs before fixed overhead, using the assumptions above.
Now look at a 3.0 media ROAS. It would mean ₹3,00,000 in revenue. At 45%, that provides ₹1,35,000 in contribution, leaving a ₹5,000 shortfall against the ₹1,40,000 campaign cost.
A reported 3.0 return can therefore be insufficient for this particular business. Another business with different margins would have a different threshold.
Keep the sales population, period and revenue basis consistent. This calculation assumes the revenue being assessed belongs to the programme whose costs you included. It does not establish that advertising caused every attributed sale, and it does not include future repeat purchases.
Handle repeat purchases with observed data
A repeat purchase can improve the economics, but it should enter the plan through actual customer behaviour. Record how long customers take to return, what they spend and what margin remains after serving them.
If the first order loses money, state that clearly and calculate the cash needed to support the expected payback period. Avoid funding the acquisition plan with an assumed lifetime value that the business has yet to observe.
What the first engagement should look like
Establish the baseline before expanding the work
A practical opening phase documents account access, existing performance, measurement, products, margins and known problems. It should also identify usable creative and the first offer to test.
Agree what can change immediately and what needs more information. There may be a clear broken destination or missing product detail to resolve. Other questions, such as which message attracts the right buyers, require a test.
Give each creative test a purpose
For an illustrative first batch, take two different buying reasons and create two openings for each. You have four finished variations, with a clear record of which idea and opening each contains.
That is a production plan, not a claim that four ads or any fixed spend will produce a statistically conclusive result. The testing budget depends on acquisition cost, conversion volume and the decision you want to make.
Keep the offer and destination comparable where practical. Record meaningful changes during the test so you can interpret the outcome.
Use a review that ends with a decision
Review spend, fulfilled sales, new customers, contribution and the creative or product-page observations that explain the next action. Decide what to continue, revise or stop.
Campaign links can help identify referred visits. Google’s campaign URL documentation explains the source, medium and campaign fields and how content values distinguish variations. Consistent naming supports the review; it does not turn a visit into proof of incremental sales.
Plan for continuity
Before onboarding, agree how account access, creative files, reporting and outstanding work will be handed over if the relationship ends. Clarify notice periods and ownership without relying on an informal promise that everything will be sorted later.
Use Coresium’s work portfolio to assess creative quality, and discuss campaign evidence within its actual scope and measurement context. We can combine strategy, creative and execution according to the work your team needs.
Questions founders ask about agency costs
Is ₹50,000 enough to start advertising
It can be a defined media budget, but whether it supports a useful test depends on acquisition costs, the offer, current assets and the amount of learning required. First establish whether ₹50,000 covers media alone or all marketing costs. Then choose a scope that fits without spreading the budget across too many products and platforms.
Should an agency charge a percentage of spend
Evaluate the actual fee at your intended budget and compare the responsibilities it buys. A percentage model should make its minimums, tiers and treatment of budget changes visible. A fixed model needs equally clear limits on platforms, production and supporting work.
Should ad creatives be included
The proposal should say exactly what is included. A brand with its own creative team may only need campaign management and direction. Another may need concepts, editing and regular shoots. Budget for the work required to keep testing, regardless of which team performs it.
How long should we give an agency
Set review points around deliverables and evidence. Access, reporting, production and implementation have clear delivery milestones. Campaign economics need enough relevant activity to assess. Agree what the opening month must establish and what information will determine the next phase, rather than accepting an unconditional promise about results by a particular date.
What should we bring to the first call
Bring recent spend and sales data, product economics, available creative and a description of what your team can handle internally. That gives the discussion a commercial basis and helps avoid buying work you already have covered.
If you want to define that plan with Coresium, explore our social and paid marketing services or Book a call.
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