A monthly fee becomes useful when you know what it covers and what your team must still supply. A content package, a specialist project and an embedded research-and-outreach team can all appear under an “AI marketing” label while including different work.

This guide provides a comparison worksheet rather than a market-average price or an Ad-Wise rate card. Use it to request comparable proposals and identify the questions a headline price leaves open.

Start with one scope for every agency

Write a short common brief before asking for proposals. Describe the business problem, audience, offer, desired action and current constraints. List the deliverables or workstream you need, the channels involved, the source material available and the approvals your business requires.

Ask each agency to identify assumptions and exclusions. If one proposal includes strategy, production and distribution while another covers production alone, record that difference before comparing the fees.

Use a sample deliverable to make the scope concrete. “Video content” could mean an original concept and shoot, editing supplied footage, or adapting an existing video into several formats. Specify the starting material, finished formats and the approval steps.

Understand the proposed fee model

These are models a buyer can compare. Confirm the arrangement each supplier actually offers; the labels alone do not establish its terms.

Separate the work that drives the quote

Ask for enough detail to understand what changes the scope. The following categories help identify differences between proposals:

• Strategy and research: audience work, discovery, positioning, planning and the quality of the inputs already available.

• Production: formats, original concepts, adaptations, technical complexity and volume.

• Senior direction and review: who checks the work, what they check and when they intervene.

• Revisions: included rounds, consolidated feedback, turnaround assumptions and changes to an approved brief.

• Distribution: publishing, campaign setup, outreach execution and responsibility for channel access.

• Reporting: tracking setup, metric definitions, analysis and the review meeting.

• Coordination: project management, specialist handoffs and the client work the agency expects you to perform.

For AI-assisted work, ask where automation is used and how its output is checked. An asset count cannot tell you how much research, editing or review is included in each item.

List fees and costs outside the core scope

Request a written list of separate charges and who approves them. Depending on the engagement, these may include setup work, software subscriptions, data purchases, media spend, photography, filming, licensed assets, specialist review or technical implementation.

Confirm whether a quoted tool allowance is fixed, passed through at cost or subject to another charging arrangement. If usage can increase the bill, ask what is measured and how you approve additional spend.

For Canadian proposals, confirm whether the quote is in CAD or another currency, how conversion is handled if relevant, and which taxes are shown separately. Ask the supplier to state the applicable invoicing treatment. Keep the same currency and time period throughout your comparison.

A reusable quote-comparison worksheet

Copy the table and complete it from written proposals. Use “not specified” where an answer is missing. Request clarification before treating that item as included.

Compare a common period and equivalent scope. If a fee covers a different workload, either request a revised proposal or record the difference clearly. Avoid dividing a bundled team fee by an asset count when much of the purchased work is research, coordination or review.

Include the time your own team will spend

Map the client tasks beside the agency tasks. Who provides product facts? Who grants access? Who consolidates feedback? Who checks specialist claims? Who follows up after an enquiry or meeting?

Estimate that workload using your own operating assumptions. Keep the estimate separate from the agency invoice so the comparison remains transparent. A proposal that transfers more coordination to your staff may still fit your business, provided that time is available.

For example, compare two proposals for a campaign built from existing footage. If one includes scripting, editing, format adaptations and publishing, while the other assumes your team supplies the script and handles distribution, first resolve those scope differences. The lower headline fee does not yet answer which arrangement suits your team.

Ask about commercial terms while you can still clarify them

Read the proposal and agreement together. Ask how a scope change is authorized, how renewal works, what notice is required and what happens to unfinished work when an engagement ends.

Request written terms for the assets, accounts and data involved. Distinguish final deliverables from working files, licensed third-party material and tools or accounts that belong to another party. Ask what will be handed over, in which format, and whether any fee or access condition applies.

The useful output is an explicit agreement you understand. Do not assume ownership, cancellation rights or unlimited revisions from general wording on a marketing page.

A short request-for-scope template

Send the same request to each agency you are evaluating:

We need support with [business problem] for [audience and offer]. Our current team can provide [inputs and responsibilities]. Please propose the work you would own, included outputs or capacity, named delivery leadership, human review, revisions and reporting. Show the core fee, currency, billing period, setup costs, separate charges and applicable taxes. State assumptions, exclusions, client responsibilities, term, renewal, notice and handoff conditions. Please identify the information you still need to make the scope reliable.

After the first response, resolve the largest differences before requesting another version. This gives each supplier a fair basis for proposing the work and gives your team a usable comparison.

Connect the quote to the team you need

Ad-Wise’s service overview describes the work available. The pod model explains how research, content and outreach can be scoped individually or together. Use the 37-point agency checklist to examine the people, review process and evidence behind a proposal.

If you are preparing a brief, contact Ad-Wise with your current team structure, business problem and required outputs. Those details support a scope discussion that is specific enough to compare.