Perth has one of the most competitive business scenes in Western Australia. The competition is healthy, meaning if you like a challenge, you have to be at the top of your game to keep up. One way you can do this is by marketing your business.

As of now, about 91% of Australia is connected to the internet, with cities like Perth leading in internet penetration. That means you should be marketing your business online, specifically using digital marketing tactics. But, as you might have noticed, there are no transparent digital marketing costs in Perth. Not anymore.

In this article, we break down the cost of digital marketing services in Perth, the factors influencing pricing, tips for reducing costs, and more.

Digital Marketing is an Investment, Not an Expense

Let’s get one thing clear: digital marketing is not just a mere expense but rather an investment. In other words, unlike other business expenses, digital marketing has huge potential to generate revenue, drive business growth, and establish a brand.

Digital marketing generates revenue by bringing in direct sales. However, this only happens when you invest strategically by working with experienced digital marketers who tailor solutions to your business.

Branding and business growth are essential to every business. If you want to portray your business in a certain way or appeal to a certain demographic, digital marketing can help you achieve that.

The same applies to business growth. With the right strategies, you can expand your business to new locations, introduce new products and services, and more.

Factors Influencing Digital Marketing Costs in Perth

The cost of digital marketing services in Perth will vary based on various reasons. In other words, you will pay more or less depending on a number of factors. Let’s learn about some of these factors.

Business Size and Industry Competitiveness

Most businesses, regardless of the size or industry they’re in, can benefit from digital marketing services. If you own a small business, your marketing strategies might be as simple as using content marketing to generate leads. Therefore, you will spend less compared to a larger business that is rebranding or doing a more complex thing.

Still, note that as a small business, you might have to spend a lot frequently, especially if you want rapid growth.

The other thing is that some industries are more competitive than others. For instance, if you offer a common service like landscaping or HVAC, you might have to spend more on marketing to beat the competition.

Scope of Services or Campaign Complexity

Digital marketing is an umbrella term for various strategies such as PPC, SEO, or social media marketing. When you contact an agency for digital marketing, they will recommend the services that your business would benefit from.

Some of these strategies, like SEO, require more expertise and time to see results. That means they might be expensive in the long term. However, the upside is that a service like SEO has the highest digital marketing ROI.

Pricing Models

Different digital marketing agencies in Perth have different pricing models for their services. We will discuss more about this in another section, but basically pricing models are the different payment agreements.

Some models might be expensive in the long run, while others might be cheaper. For instance, performance-based methods might be cheaper because you don’t get charged until you see results.

Type of Service Provider

Most businesses in Perth prefer to work with digital marketing agencies. Still, there are others that choose to work with freelancers or in-house teams. All these are factors that affect the cost of the services.

Generally, agencies charge a premium rate, but with good reason. This is because your project will be managed with experts from different departments. However, while freelancers provide results, they might be unreliable and lack a system.

Digital Marketing Pricing Models in Perth

As we have seen above, the valuation of digital marketing services depends on several factors. But when we are talking about the pricing models, different aspects are considered. Here are the common digital marketing pricing models.

Hourly rates: Service providers charge you a certain amount for every hour they spend working on your business. You are likely to be charged hourly rates for services like consulting. Rates can start as low as $20 (freelancers) and go as high as $300 (experienced agencies) per hour.
Project-based or fixed fee pricing: Once you have ironed out the details of what’s supposed to be done, the digital marketer might quote a fixed figure. Project-based pricing applies to services like web design.
Retainer fees: For this pricing model, you pay the agency a fixed amount of money every month for the agreed services. Retainer fees are recommended if you need a recurring service like social media management or SEO.
Performance-based pricing: In this model, the agreement requires that you pay the client once you see results from the digital marketing services. For instance, an agreement could be that you pay X amount for every qualified lead generated.

When discussing the services you need with your service provider, they will bring up their pricing model. Then, you can discuss with them your preferred method if you feel theirs is not what you expected.

Average Digital Marketing Costs in Perth

Now, let’s address the main issue — pricing. While we can’t price digital marketing services using a one-size-fits-all approach, we can outline the averages that most agencies charge.

For us, when quoting the costs, we break them down and assign a figure to every service. Hopefully, other agencies use the same approach too. If you are in need of full-service digital marketing services, expect to pay at least $10,000 or $50,000 on the higher end.

Since you are looking for average costs, here are the general estimates based on data from credible sites.

Type of Service	Average Cost	Frequency
Social media marketing	$1,000 to $20,000	Monthly
Email marketing	$500 to $5,000	Monthly
Content marketing	$2,000 to $10,000	Monthly
PPC advertising	$600 to $5,000	Monthly
SEO	$1,000 to $5,000	Monthly
Social media advertising	$650 to $2,500	Monthly

Expect to be charged these prices by established digital marketing agencies in Perth. In some cases, the prices might be lower, depending on various factors, as we discussed earlier.

Why Digital Marketing Costs So Much in Perth

As you might have noticed, digital marketing is not cheap. Luckily, there’s a good reason for that. First of all, you should not view investment as an expense. Although it is recommended to budget for it, paying for digital marketing should be a no-brainer because of the tremendous benefits it has to your business.

Another reason why digital marketing costs so much is that it requires expertise and experience to produce results. You will notice that most of the low-ball offers are from newly-established agencies. While there is nothing wrong with new agencies, most of them don’t have the experience required to generate high ROI.

On top of the skills and expertise required to create a digital marketing campaign, we also take on various subtasks when executing it. For instance, we have to constantly monitor, analyse, and make reports of what’s happening.

Lastly, digital marketing requires premium tools for planning, developing, executing, and managing the campaign. When determining the price, we have to factor in these costs, too.

What is the ROI of Digital Marketing?

ROI stands for returns on investment. Since digital marketing is an investment, we have to measure the amount of returns it generates. Plus, we measure this value to assess the performance of the campaign for decision making purposes.

The ROI of digital marketing varies greatly depending on several factors. Some of these factors include;

The effectiveness of the strategy being used.
The channels being used
Tracking and reporting accuracy
Goals of the campaign

Generally, companies that invest in professional digital marketing services in Perth experience huge ROI. On average, they get a 5:1 ratio, meaning for every $1 they spend, they get $5 back.

A high positive ROI signifies business growth. Therefore, if you want to grow your business efficiently, consider digital marketing.

Tips for Reducing Digital Marketing Costs in Perth

If you have a tight budget but you still want to benefit from digital marketing, there are a few things you can do to slash the costs. The best part is that slashing the cost doesn’t necessarily mean that you get poor services. It’s all about spending wisely.

The first thing you should do when you contact the digital marketing service provider is ask for the actual price inclusive of other unaccounted costs. The reason for this is that digital marketing can have hidden costs such as subscriptions, ad spend, and more.

In connection to the above, ensure you anticipate costs beforehand. Anticipating costs means the ability to extrapolate expected costs. This helps you gauge the overall amount it will cost you at the end of the day.

Choosing only the most necessary services can also save you money. For instance, if you are a relatively new company, you should focus more on SEO and social media marketing to establish your brand.

Using the ROI data to assess the viability of the digital marketing strategies is also a great way to cut costs. This is because the ROI will tell you which strategies are not performing and you can cut their budgets.

Comparing Digital Marketing Service Providers in Perth

Typically, you will have the option of working with one of three types of digital marketing service providers in Perth. These are agencies, freelancers, and in-house teams. Let’s discuss them.

Digital Marketing Agency Services

These are organisations that employ different service providers to offer digital marketing services under them. Agencies are established, professional, and supportive, making them ideal for a business that doesn’t have the time to manage digital marketing services.

Most agencies charge a premium price for their services. This is because you get the full experience, including dedicated support, all-around expertise, and much more.

Freelance Digital Marketers

When it comes to freelancers, the model of operation changes. These specialists act independently, meaning you will communicate directly with the person who’s offering the service.

In most cases, freelancers are relatively affordable, but their services are not fully reliable. One reason for the unreliability is that if the freelancer is incapacitated, the project stalls, as opposed to agencies where someone else can pick up the project.

In-house Digital Marketing Teams

You also have the option of forming an in-house digital marketing department and hiring staff to work only for you. Unlike freelancers and agencies, in-house teams work only on your projects.

In-house teams are best suited for large organisations which have huge digital marketing budgets and needs. Otherwise, if you only run a small or medium-sized business, you’re better off with an agency or freelancer.

Choose the Right Digital Marketing Agency

Digital marketing is no longer a nice-to-have service for your business. It’s the most guaranteed way to grow your business, generate sales repeatedly, and stay ahead of the competition in today’s world.

SLINKY is a full-service digital marketing agency based in Perth serving the locals with SEO, social media, PPC, email marketing, web design, among other services. If you are looking for a credible, experienced, and result-driven partner, we are here to help. Call us now and let’s get started.