Cost guide · AI employees
How Much Does a Small Marketing Team Cost?
Build a transparent cost model for research, copy, design, video, SEO, email, and analytics roles.
A small marketing team can produce far more than one generalist, but each additional specialty changes the fixed-cost base. Start by listing the capabilities you need each week and the work that requires specialist judgment.
One campaign can touch every specialty
7 roles
A campaign crosses specialties
A complete launch can require research, positioning, copy, design, video, email, distribution, and analytics. When one person handles everything, work can pile up behind them. With several specialists, the team needs clear handoffs and shared context.
- Research defines the customer, problem, proof, and competitive frame
- Strategy and copy turn that knowledge into an offer and campaign
- Design and video create the assets and versions
- Email, social, SEO, and paid distribution carry the message
- Analytics closes the loop and creates the next brief
Compare the work and the costs together
Human employees bring judgment, accountability, relationships, and context. AI employees bring repeatability, parallel execution, and an explicit workflow. Those are not the same unit of labor.
A useful model compares the cost structure of the team you would otherwise assemble with the cost of building and operating an AI-assisted system. It does not promise equivalent output, quality, or independence.
Build the team around the bottleneck
Start with the work that delays revenue or drains senior attention. Add the roles that remove that constraint, keep approval with a named human owner, and measure whether cycle time and output quality improve.
The practical takeaway
Start with the roles needed to complete your recurring work. Give each handoff an owner and a clear standard for approval before adding more roles.