Short answer: a practical starting budget for an Australian small business is around $200 a month, and most small businesses spend somewhere between $200 and $1,500 a month on digital marketing. Competitive markets and paid advertising push that higher. SEO no longer has to start at an agency retainer: platforms that do the ongoing work start from about $99 a month. What you pay depends on three things: which channels you use, how competitive your local market is, and whether you pay for the work (an agency or freelancer) as well as the media (the ad spend itself). The figures below are typical ranges you will see quoted in Australia. They are a rough guide to help you read a proposal, not a price list, so always compare at least two or three written quotes.
Typical Digital Marketing Costs by Service
Every quote is built from a handful of line items. Knowing the usual range for each one is the quickest way to tell whether a package is fair.
| Service | Typical range in Australia | How it is usually billed |
|---|---|---|
| SEO on a platform that does the ongoing work | From about $99 a month | Monthly subscription |
| Local SEO run by an agency | About $500 to $1,500 a month | Monthly retainer |
| SEO in a competitive market | About $1,500 to $3,000 or more a month | Monthly retainer |
| Google Ads management | A few hundred dollars a month, or 10 to 20 percent of ad spend | Monthly fee, on top of the ad spend |
| Google or Meta ad spend | Whatever you set; many local businesses start around $500 to $1,500 a month | Paid to Google or Meta directly |
| Social media management | About $500 to $2,500 a month | Monthly, by platforms and posts |
| Blog articles and content | About $100 to $500 per article | Per piece or in a monthly bundle |
| Email marketing software | Free to about $100 a month for a small list | Monthly subscription |
| Small business website | About $3,000 to $15,000 to build, more for custom work | One off, plus hosting and care |
| Website hosting and maintenance | About $20 to $200 a month | Monthly or yearly |
| Freelancer time | About $50 to $150 an hour | Hourly or per job |
Ranges move with your industry and location. A plumber competing in one suburb and a law firm competing across a capital city can buy the same service and see very different quotes, because the amount of work needed to rank or to win a click is different.
How Much Should a Small Business in Australia Budget for Digital Marketing?
A widely used rule of thumb is to put somewhere between 2 and 10 percent of revenue into marketing, sitting at the higher end while you are trying to grow and at the lower end once you are established. Treat that as a starting point rather than a rule, and work from what a new customer is worth to you. If revenue is still small, around $200 a month is enough to start, as long as it goes into one channel and stays there for a few months.
A practical way to set the number:
- Work out what a customer is worth. Take your average job or order value and multiply it by how many times a typical customer buys from you.
- Decide how many new customers you want each month. Be specific, because that is what you will measure the spend against.
- Pick one or two channels where your customers already look. For most local service businesses that is Google search and Google Maps before anything else.
- Fund those properly for three to six months before judging them. SEO in particular takes months to show results, while paid ads can show results in weeks.
- Measure cost per enquiry and cost per sale, not clicks or likes. Our guide to what ROI small business owners should expect goes through the numbers worth tracking.
Example Monthly Budgets
These three shapes are illustrations of how the ranges above combine, not packages or quotes.
- Starter, around $200 a month: one channel done well. Usually SEO on a platform that does the ongoing work, plus a Google Business Profile that is kept up to date.
- Growth, roughly $200 to $1,500 a month: two or three channels working together, for example SEO plus a modest Google Ads campaign plus regular content, with monthly reporting.
- Competitive, $1,500 a month and up: agency retainers, larger ad budgets, a steady content program and social media management, typically for businesses in crowded markets or serving a whole city or state.
Agency, Freelancer or Do It Yourself?
Doing it yourself costs the least in dollars and the most in time, and results depend heavily on your skills. A freelancer is usually cheaper than an agency and works well for one clearly defined job, but one person can only cover so many channels. An agency costs more per month and gives you a team across SEO, ads, content and websites under one roof. We compare the three in more detail in DIY vs agency: what is best for small business marketing, and cover what to look for in a digital marketing agency for small business.
What to Watch For Before You Sign
- Is the ad spend included? Many quotes show the management fee only. Ask for the fee and the media budget as two separate lines.
- Contract length. Long lock in contracts remove an agency's reason to keep performing. See why month to month marketing plans are worth asking for.
- Who owns the accounts. Your website, domain, Google Ads account and Google Business Profile should be in your name, with the agency given access.
- What gets reported. Agree up front that reports show enquiries and sales, not only traffic.
- Guaranteed rankings. No one controls Google's results, so a promise of a number one position is a warning sign. More traps are listed in the digital marketing mistakes small businesses make.
Where Mobile App City Fits
Mobile App City is a production company founded in 2011. Our team of designers, developers and marketers produces the websites, mobile apps, AI services and marketing campaigns that our partner agencies deliver to businesses in more than 14 countries. You can see the full range on our services page. AI services such as chat agents start from around $100 a month there. For SEO, Veloce is a platform that does the ongoing work: SEO, Google Maps and AI Search are $99 + GST a month each, or $199 + GST a month for all three with website care included. If you would like to talk through what your business needs, contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does digital marketing cost for a small business in Australia? +
A practical starting budget is around $200 a month, and most Australian small businesses spend roughly $200 to $1,500 a month. SEO on a platform that does the ongoing work starts from about $99 a month. Competitive markets, agency retainers and paid ads push spend above $1,500 a month. These are typical ranges, not fixed prices, so compare written quotes.
What is a reasonable monthly marketing budget for a small business? +
A common rule of thumb is 2 to 10 percent of revenue, at the higher end while growing, and around $200 a month is enough to start with one channel. A better test is what a new customer is worth to you: set a budget you can hold for three to six months and judge it on cost per enquiry and cost per sale.
How much does SEO cost in Australia? +
SEO on a platform that does the ongoing work starts from about $99 a month. Local SEO run by an agency is commonly quoted at about $500 to $1,500 a month, and SEO in a competitive market at about $1,500 to $3,000 or more a month. SEO usually takes several months to show results.
How much does Google Ads cost for a small business? +
You set the ad spend yourself, and many local businesses start around $500 to $1,500 a month. If someone manages the account for you, expect a monthly fee on top, often a few hundred dollars or 10 to 20 percent of the ad spend.
Is an agency or a freelancer cheaper? +
A freelancer is usually cheaper, at about $50 to $150 an hour in Australia, and suits one clearly defined job. An agency costs more each month but covers several channels with a team. Doing it yourself costs the least in dollars and the most in time.
