You are considering joining our marketing and sales program. The monthly costs are between 450 euro (Start-up program) and 7,800 euro (Mastery program), but are you really done with that? You want to know what other costs there are before you decide. That makes sense, because an unexpected additional investment can wreak havoc on your budget.

As head coach at Buzzlytics, I regularly get this question from companies considering joining our program. I created the program myself based on my years of experience training companies in marketing and sales and know exactly what you need to get the most out of the program.

This article gives you a complete overview of all possible additional costs, broken down into categories:

• staff
• software
• website-related costs
• hardware

I'll show you how costs vary between different program levels and which investments are essential versus which are optional. Finally, you'll get practical tips for using your budget wisely, so you know exactly what to expect when you get started with our program.

The most successful clients have appointed someone who focuses entirely on content.

One of the most important investments when implementing our marketing and sales program is appointing someone responsible for content production. Our most successful clients employ a content manager, but there are several ways to fill this role.

With smaller organizations, you often see that they opt for a part-time content manager or a freelancer who writes dedicated content for them. One of our clients works with content owners instead of one central content manager.

So it's not that you necessarily have to have a full-time content manager to work with us. We believe that different solutions can work, depending on your organization's specific situation and needs.

We do see that the most successful clients have appointed someone who focuses entirely on content. After all, writing three articles a week is not something you do on Friday afternoons between 4 and 5 p.m. You need someone who takes ownership of the content production process and makes sure deadlines are met.

Read also: What does a content manager cost?

Read also: Outsource content marketing or bring it in house

In addition to a content manager, we see that our most successful clients also employ a videographer. This person is responsible for creating, editing and publishing videos that visualize your expertise.

As with the content manager, there are several options here: hire a full-time videographer, work part-time with a videographer, or work with a freelancer or external agency. The choice depends on your ambitions, budget and the amount of video content you want to produce.

An often underestimated cost is the time your team needs to invest in the program:

• Content experts need to schedule time to be interviewed for content
• Sales reps need training to become better at sales calls
• Management must give direction and make decisions

This time investment is essential to the success of the program. Content experts in particular must set aside time for interviews so that the content manager can turn their in-depth knowledge into valuable content. This time pays for itself, because the content will ensure that sales cycles are shorter.

Sales reps, in turn, have to set aside time for training, but they will earn that time back in full because they make more efficient sales calls. So the initial time investment pays for itself.

One of the most important tools we recommend is HubSpot. This platform offers a complete solution for your marketing and sales activities. HubSpot's price varies greatly, depending on what features you need and the size of your organization.

For specific pricing information, please refer to our article on HubSpot costs.

For hosting and analyzing videos, we recommend Vidyard. This tool allows you to share videos, integrate them into your website and emails, and gain insight into how these videos are performing. You can use the basic free version of Vidyard, but then you obviously face limitations on the number of videos, the length of the videos, statistics and branding.

Also read: Vidyard vs. Loom

To ensure that your content is found properly, we recommend investing in an SEO tool such as SEMrush or a similar alternative. These tools will help you optimize your content, analyze keywords and monitor your position in search results.

A new category of tools that we recommend by default these days are AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT and Perplexity. These tools can support your content manager's writing and research, which can significantly increase his productivity.

It's important to emphasize that you still need a content manager with AI. The above tools are a supplement, not a replacement.

You may need to adjust your website or even have a completely new website built.

Depending on your current situation, you may need to adjust your website or even have a completely new website built. This involves costs such as:

• A website builder or agency that implements the changes
• A CMS (Content Management System) such as WordPress or HubSpot CMS
• Hosting and maintenance

If you have a good CMS that you can manage yourself, the costs will be lower than if you have to hire an external party for every adjustment.

Read also: Do you need a new website (often not)?

Within the program you will create several PDFs, such as:

• Lead generation PDFs
• Buyer's guides
• Seller's guides

You may need a designer for these documents, or at least design software if you want to do it yourself. This can be a one-time investment for templates, or recurring costs if you regularly have new PDFs designed.

If you are in the Essentials program or higher, you probably create several PDFs per month. For this, you can keep it simple and do it yourself, or you can invest in professional designs by a designer.

If you want to develop your website further, there are several advanced features you can consider:

• Scorecard tools (such as ScoreApp.ai)
• ROI calculators
• Price calculators
• A learning centre with advanced filters
• Chatbots or chat functions

These features can improve the user experience and help your visitors find information or make decisions faster. Costs for these vary greatly depending on complexity and whether you build them yourself or have them built.

To make videos, you need equipment. This can range from basic to professional:

• Basic: using your own smartphone
• Average: a good camera, tripod and basic lighting
• Professional: high-quality cameras, lenses, professional lighting, sound systems

We assume an investment of between 1,800 and 10,000 euros in video equipment. The most successful companies are closer to that 10,000 than to that 1,800 euros. This gives an indication of what a professional setup can cost.

In addition to the physical equipment, you also need software for editing your videos. Think of programs such as Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro. You also need enough storage space for all your video footage, which may mean investing in additional hard drives or cloud storage.

Tip: Have no idea where to start and what choices you should make? In our article on how to get started with video you can read what you really need and which hardware and software we recommend, including links to products with different price tags. That way you can put together a setup that fits your budget.

What is good to know is that there is no linear relationship between the program level (Start-up, Essentials, Growth, Mastery) and the additional costs. So it is not the case that you have more additional costs in Mastery than in Essentials.

Our most successful clients invest in a good foundation:

• A content manager (full-time or part-time)
• A videographer
• The right tools and software
• Quality equipment

But even here there are exceptions. For example, we have a client in Mastery (our most expensive program) who does not use HubSpot, has not purchased camera equipment, and does not employ a full-time content manager. They achieve results by managing their content production differently.

What does matter is ownership. You can cut costs, but someone has to take responsibility for the process and ensure consistent output. In our experience, ownership is better when there is a content manager who makes sure the necessary content is produced.

Base your investments on the impact each investment will have on your results

When making choices about what to invest in, it's important to consider the impact each investment will have on your bottom line. Start with the essential elements before investing in nice-to-haves.

In the Start-up program you have to deal with at least:

• Costs for building or modifying your website
• Costs for creating new content
• Possible costs for a PDF designer

If you're struggling with questions about your target audience, positioning or the best marketing channels, this workshop can give you the clarity you need.

There are budget-friendly alternatives for each category:

• Instead of a full-time content manager, you can start with a freelancer
• Instead of expensive camera equipment, start with a smartphone
• Instead of a complete HubSpot package, you can start with basic versions

Whether it's software, people or equipment, there are always ways to reduce costs while still getting results.

For startups, it is essential to have a clear direction from the beginning. The workshop can help achieve maximum results with limited resources.

Implementing our marketing and sales program always involves additional costs, but these investments form the basis for sustainable growth of your company. The main cost drivers are personnel, software, website-related costs and hardware.

The important thing to remember is that there is no linear relationship between the program level and additional costs. Your investments depend much more on your ambitions and how you implement the program. While our most successful clients invest in a content manager, videographer and various tools, there are always alternatives available to fit your specific situation and budget.

We at Buzzlytics show you the fastest way to growth, but we also understand that not every company has the same resources. Therefore, we like to think along with you about how you can achieve maximum results within the limits of your budget. By strategically choosing what to invest in and what not to invest in, you can still achieve excellent results.

Want to know more about how to invest wisely in marketing and sales? Schedule a meeting with one of our consultants. We will gladly help you make the right choices that fit your ambitions and budget.