The Truth About Marketing Costs in Brisbane
I was sitting down with a sparky from Chermside last week. He’s been in business for three years, does great work, and his customers love him. But he was frustrated.
"I spent five grand on some 'brand package' last year," he told me, "and I couldn't tell you if it brought me a single lead. Now I’ve got a bloke calling me every day telling me I need to spend two grand a month on Google or I’ll go bust. What do I actually need to spend to grow this thing?"
It’s the most common question we get at Local Marketing Group. Most small business owners feel like they’re just throwing money into a black hole and hoping a few phone calls pop out the other side.
Here’s the reality: Marketing isn't a cost; it’s an investment. But like any investment, if you put your money in the wrong place at the wrong time, you’ll lose it. A bloke starting out with one ute shouldn't be spending the same way as a law firm in the CBD with twenty staff.
In this guide, I’m going to break down exactly what you should be spending based on where your business is at right now. No jargon, no fluff—just what it costs to get results.
Stage 1: The "Getting Off the Ground" Phase
Goal: Get the phone ringing and stop looking like a hobby. Typical Budget: $2,000 – $5,000 (one-off) + $500/month.
When you’re just starting out, or if you’ve been relying purely on word-of-mouth and it’s starting to dry up, you have a "trust" problem. People might hear your name, but when they look you up, they aren't sure if you're a real business or just some guy with a ladder.
At this stage, your biggest waste of money is fancy advertising. Why? Because if you pay for ads but your business looks amateur, people will click, see a messy Facebook page or a broken website, and leave. You’ve just paid Google or Facebook to show people you aren't ready for their business.
What to spend your money on first:
1. A Professional Look: You don't need a world-class logo, but you need to stop looking like an amateur so you can actually win the better, higher-paying jobs. This means a clean logo, a decent shirt with your name on it, and clear signage on the ute. 2. A Website That Works on Phones: 80% of your local customers are looking for you while they’re on their phone. If your site is hard to read or doesn't have a big "Call Now" button at the top, you're losing money every day. Expect to pay $2,000 - $4,000 for a solid, basic site that actually converts visitors into callers. 3. Google Business Profile: This is free to set up, but pay someone a few hundred bucks to do it right if you aren't tech-savvy. This is how you show up on the map when someone searches "plumber near me."The Trap: Don't spend $10,000 on a massive custom website at this stage. You need those funds for fuel and gear. Get the basics right so that when someone hears your name, they see a professional outfit.
Stage 2: The "Steady Growth" Phase
Goal: Consistency. No more "feast or famine" months. Typical Budget: $1,500 – $3,000 per month.
This is where most Brisbane businesses sit. You’ve got a couple of staff, you’re busy, but you’re worried about what happens next month. You want a steady stream of enquiries so you can pick the profitable jobs and say no to the tyre-kickers.
At this stage, you need to start paying for "traffic." You have a good shopfront (your website); now you need to bus people to it.
Where the money goes:
Google Ads: This is the fastest way to get the phone ringing. You pay when someone clicks. In Brisbane, depending on your industry, you might spend $1,000 - $2,000 a month on the ads themselves, plus a fee for someone to manage them. Review Building: Your reputation is your biggest asset. We worked with a landscaper in Carindale who had zero reviews. We helped him fix his business reputation and within three months, his enquiry rate doubled because people finally trusted him as much as his old customers did. Content that Answers Questions: Stop posting "Happy Friday" on Facebook. It doesn't make you money. Spend time or a little bit of money creating helpful advice. If you’re a pest controller, write about "How to tell if you have termites after a Brisbane storm." This shows you know your stuff.The Reality Check: You will see results from ads within days, but it takes about 3 months to really dial them in so you aren't wasting money on bad clicks. Be patient.
Stage 3: The "Market Leader" Phase
Goal: Dominating your local area and building a brand that sells itself. Typical Budget: 5% – 10% of your total revenue.
Once you’re doing $1M+ in turnover, marketing changes. You aren't just hunting for the next job; you’re building an asset. You want people to think of
your company name the second their hot water system blows up, before they even go to Google.What this costs and why:
Brand Strategy: This sounds like a corporate buzzword, but it’s actually about how you win. It’s making sure the way you talk wins customers instead of pushing them away. It’s about being the "premium" choice or the "fastest" choice and making sure every part of your business proves it. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation): This is the long game. It’s about making sure Google likes your site so much that you show up at the top for free. It costs more upfront ($1,500 - $3,000 a month), and it takes 6-12 months to work, but once you’re there, the "cost per lead" is much lower than ads. Video: At this level, you should be using video. Show your team, show your finished projects, and show your face. It builds massive trust. A professional video shoot might cost $2,000 - $5,000, but you can use that footage for a year.Why Most Small Businesses Waste Money
I see it all the time in South East Queensland. A business owner signs up for a "cheap" $200-a-month SEO package from a guy overseas. Six months later, they’ve spent $1,200 and have zero new customers. That’s not a bargain; it’s a waste of $1,200.
Marketing is expensive when it doesn't work. It’s cheap when it brings in more profit than it costs.
The Three Biggest Money-Wasters:
1. Buying "Likes" or "Followers": These aren't customers. They won't buy from you. They are a vanity project. If someone promises you 1,000 new followers, run the other way. 2. The "Yellow Pages" Trap: Many older business owners still drop thousands on print directories or old-school advertising that no one looks at. Take that money and put it into Google. 3. Inconsistent Messaging: If your website says you’re a "Premium Service" but your quote is a messy scrawl on a piece of paper and you turn up late in a beat-up van, you’ve wasted every cent you spent on the website. Your marketing and your reality have to match.How to Calculate Your Own Budget
If you’re still unsure, use this simple rule of thumb:
To Maintain: If you have enough work and just want to keep it that way, spend 2-3% of your gross sales on marketing. This covers your website hosting, keeping your Google profile active, and maybe a small ad spend. To Grow: If you want to add another crew, another van, or open a second location, you need to spend 5-10% of your gross sales.
For example, if you're doing $500,000 a year and you want to get to $750,000, you should be looking at an annual marketing investment of $25,000 to $50,000. That sounds like a lot, but if that $50k investment brings you an extra $250k in work with a $100k profit margin, you’ve just doubled your money.
What Should You Do First?
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don't try to do everything at once. Here is the order I tell my mates to follow:
1. Fix your image. Make sure you don't look like a cowboy. Get a decent logo and a clear, simple website. 2. Get reviews. Ask every happy customer for a Google review. It costs $0 and is more powerful than any ad. 3. Turn on the tap. Use Google Ads to get immediate calls while you work on your long-term plan. 4. Track everything. If someone calls, ask "How did you hear about us?" If you don't know what's working, you can't stop the waste.
The Bottom Line
Marketing isn't some magic trick. It's just a way to tell more people that you have a solution to their problem. Whether you're a tiler in Ipswich or a consultant in Milton, the rules are the same: look professional, be easy to find, and prove you can be trusted.
Most of what you read online is written for big companies with massive budgets. For a Brisbane small business, you don't need a "viral video" or a "complex funnel." You need your phone to ring when someone’s toilet is leaking or they need their taxes done.
At Local Marketing Group, we don't care about fancy awards or technical jargon. We care about how many extra jobs you booked this month because of the work we did. We help Brisbane business owners stop guessing and start growing with marketing that actually makes sense for their bottom line.
Ready to stop wasting money and start getting more phone calls? Contact us today and let’s figure out a plan that fits your stage of business.