How much should you actually
spend on paid ads?

The most common budget question we get isn't 'how much' — it's 'how little can I spend before this is pointless?' Fair question. Here's the maths we run in every first call.

Work backwards from a conversion

Start with what a lead or sale is worth, not with what you can afford. If a customer is worth A$400 profit and your close rate is 25%, a lead is worth A$100. Now spend enough to buy roughly 10–20 leads a month — below that, you can't learn or optimise, you're just sampling. That's A$1,000–2,000/mo minimum in most Australian markets.

Channel minimums, honestly stated

• Google Search: A$1,500–2,500/mo — intent costs more but converts faster.
• Meta: A$2,000–3,000/mo — needs volume to feed the algorithm and test creative.
• TikTok: A$1,500/mo — one campaign, tight discipline.
• LinkedIn: A$4,000+/mo — expensive clicks mean small budgets never stabilise.
• Remarketing: 15–20% of your cold-traffic budget — never the main spend.

The management fee reality

A A$1,000/mo management fee on a A$1,000/mo spend means half your money buys labour, not media. Below roughly A$2,500/mo in spend, DIY or a lighter-touch engagement usually beats full management — we'll say so on the call if that's you.

There's no minimum that makes ads work — there's a minimum that makes them measurable.

The 90-day rule

Whatever number you land on, commit it for 90 days. Month one builds and learns, month two corrects, month three shows the trend. Pulling spend at week five because 'nothing happened' is the most expensive decision in paid media — you paid for the learning phase and skipped the payoff.

Bring your margins and your close rate to the audit call — we'll build the number with you in fifteen minutes.