You don’t need a $10,000 marketing budget to win customers online in Brisbane. You need to spend a modest budget in the right order. Here’s how we’d spend the first $1,000 a month for a small business, with real Brisbane Google Ads costs and the free things to sort out first.
The short version: do the free foundations first: your Google Business Profile, a fast website with clear calls to action, and tracking. Then put most of your first $1,000 where your customers already look. For trades and services that’s usually Google. For cafés, salons and shops it’s often Facebook, Instagram and email. Check the numbers every month and move money to whatever brings in enquiries.
Step 1: Sort out the free foundations
Every dollar you spend later works harder if these are in place. None of them cost money, just a few hours of your time.
- Your Google Business Profile. It decides whether you appear in the map results for searches like “electrician near me”. Our Google Business Profile checklist walks through every setting.
- A website that loads fast and makes it easy to contact you. Your phone number and a booking or quote button should be visible straight away on a phone. One page per main service, and a clear list of the suburbs you cover. We’ve seen a faster website triple a Brisbane client’s leads.
- Tracking. Set up Google Analytics and Google Search Console, and track phone calls and form enquiries. At the very least, ask every new customer how they found you. Without this, you’re guessing.
- A review routine. Ask every customer for a Google review and reply to every one. Reviews help you rank in the map results and win the click once you do.
Step 2: Find out what a click costs in your industry
This is the number that decides how far $1,000 goes on Google Ads, and it varies hugely by industry. We pulled these ranges from Google’s Keyword Planner. They show what advertisers have typically paid to appear at the top of Google for each search.
| Search | Typical cost per click to appear at the top |
|---|---|
| plumber brisbane | A$13.45 – A$67.55 |
| electrician brisbane | A$9.38 – A$40.38 |
| lawyer brisbane | A$8.98 – A$32.01 |
| accountant brisbane | A$5.53 – A$24.59 |
| cleaner brisbane | A$4.27 – A$19.27 |
| builder brisbane | A$4.42 – A$16.11 |
| landscaper brisbane | A$3.65 – A$12.67 |
| physio brisbane | A$3.22 – A$12.00 |
| mechanic brisbane | A$3.32 – A$9.05 |
| hairdresser brisbane | A$1.11 – A$3.50 |
| cafe brisbane | A$0.26 – A$2.67 |
Here’s what that means in practice. $500 of ad spend buys roughly 7 to 37 clicks on “plumber brisbane”, or 41 to 155 clicks on “physio brisbane”. LocaliQ’s 2026 benchmarks put the average Google Ads conversion rate at 8.18%. At that rate, the plumber gets up to three enquiries and the physio gets three to thirteen.
Neither is wrong. An emergency plumbing job can be worth enough to justify an expensive click. But it does mean a plumber can’t rely on Google Ads alone on a small budget, while a physio, mechanic or salon often can get a lot from ads.
Step 3: How we’d split $1,000 a month
These are the starting points we use with Brisbane small businesses. They assume the free foundations are done. If you use an agency, its management fee is usually on top of what you spend on ads.
Trades and home services
Plumbers, electricians, builders, cleaners and landscapers.
- About $700 on Google Ads. Search ads only, targeted to the suburbs you actually want to work in, focused on high-intent searches like “emergency plumber” or “switchboard upgrade”. Run them during the hours you can answer the phone.
- About $300 on your website and local SEO. Better service pages, photos of real jobs and pages for your main suburbs. This is what lowers your reliance on expensive clicks over time.
Health and professional services
Physios, accountants, lawyers, clinics and consultants.
- About $500 on Google Ads for the services that bring in the most valuable clients.
- About $500 on SEO and content. Clear service pages, answers to the questions clients ask before they book, and content that AI tools like ChatGPT can quote. People research these decisions, so organic visibility builds trust and compounds month after month. Our guide to answer engine optimisation explains the AI side.
Cafés, salons and retail
Businesses that sell to locals who don’t always search for you by name.
- About $400 on Facebook and Instagram ads targeted to people within a few kilometres of you, promoting a new menu, an offer or an event.
- About $300 on photos, video and social content. Your posts are your shop window.
- About $200 on Google Ads for cheap, nearby searches, like “cafe near me”.
- About $100 on email and SMS. Bringing back customers you already have is the cheapest marketing there is.
Not sure whether paid or organic should come first? We compare the two in organic social media vs paid ads.
What not to spend on
- SEO packages that promise number one rankings. Nobody can guarantee a position on Google.
- Lock-in contracts and accounts you don’t own. Your website, Google Ads account and analytics should be in your name.
- Bought followers or reviews. They don’t bring customers, and the ACCC says fake or incentivised reviews can breach the Australian Consumer Law.
- Calls from “Google” asking for payment. Google doesn’t charge to list or verify your business.
- Too many channels at once. $1,000 spread across six platforms does nothing well. Pick one or two and do them properly.
How to tell if it’s working
Measure enquiries, not clicks or likes. Count the calls, forms and bookings each channel brings in, then divide what you spent by the number of enquiries to get your cost per enquiry.
Then compare it with what a customer is worth. If an average job is worth $900 and one in three enquiries turns into a job, you can afford up to $300 per enquiry before your ads stop paying for themselves. Most small businesses never do this sum, and it changes every decision.
Give Google Ads and social ads two to three months to settle before judging them. SEO usually takes longer, often three to six months, but keeps paying once it’s working.
Frequently asked questions
How much should a small business spend on digital marketing?
There’s no single right number. Start with an amount you can keep up for at least three to six months. For most Brisbane small businesses, $1,000 a month is enough to start once the free foundations are done. Industries with expensive clicks, like plumbing and law, may need more to compete on Google Ads.
Should I start with SEO or Google Ads?
Google Ads brings enquiries quickly. SEO and your Google Business Profile take longer but keep working without paying for every click. Most small businesses do both, weighting the budget towards ads when clicks are cheap and towards SEO when they’re expensive.
Is social media worth it for a small business?
For cafés, salons, retail and other visual, local businesses, yes. It’s often the main way customers discover you. For trades and professional services, social media is better for building trust, by showing your work and your team, than for bringing in new enquiries on its own.
Do I need a digital marketing agency?
Not to get started. You can do the free foundations yourself. An agency is worth it when your time is better spent running the business, or when your ad spend grows to the point where mistakes get expensive.
Want a second opinion on your plan?
Book a free 30-minute strategy call with IDM’s senior Brisbane team. We’ll look at your website, Google Business Profile and ads before we talk, and tell you where your first dollars should go, whether or not you work with us. See our SEO and AEO, Google and Meta Ads and social media services.
Sources
- Google Ads Keyword Planner, top-of-page bid estimates for Australia, October 2025 to September 2026 (IDM research, October 2026)
- LocaliQ, Search advertising benchmarks (2026)
- ACCC, Online reviews for products and services
- Google Business Profile Help, How to improve your local ranking on Google
Costs current as at October 2026. Click costs change with competition and season, so check Keyword Planner for your own searches before you set a budget.
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