How much does social media advertising cost in Australia?

Building digital engagement for a business is a tried-and-tested way to improve brand awareness and acquire customers. And thanks to the variety of social media platforms that millions of people use daily, reaching out to one’s target market has never been easier.

But how much do social media advertising experts charge, and is it worth it to pay for their services? In this guide, you can discover the average social media advertising cost and how your social media marketing strategy and other factors can affect it.

What are the average costs of social media advertising in Australia?

You can find the average advertising costs on social media across the country’s major cities in the table below:

*Prices shown are typical total costs per social media task based on recent Airtasker data. Actual costs may vary.

What factors affect social media advertising prices?

To give you an idea of pricing and help you budget accordingly, this section outlines the factors that influence how much social media advertising professionals charge.

Advertising platform

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A successful social media advertising strategy involves knowing where to have ad placements. However, you should know that ad costs won’t be the same for all sites. Even across the Meta platforms, you’ll find that there are variations in pricing. For instance, the Instagram advertising rates are typically higher than Facebook ads cost.

Campaign objective

Your social media plan’s objectives can have an effect on social media ads cost. Generating more leads and increasing social media ad conversions are generally pricey due to the actions and user commitment involved, especially compared to producing brand awareness campaigns or improving engagement.

Target audience

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It can be more expensive to pay for social media ads if you have a niche target market in terms of interest, behaviour, location, and other factors. 

For example, if you want to promote a YA romance novel, it’s likely that a significant chunk of your audience belongs in a specific demographic—readers aged 12 to 18 active on #BookTok. In this case, expect your TikTok advertising cost to be higher than if your target group includes individuals from different generations on the same platform.

Ad format and creative requirements

Social media ad cost is also dependent on the ad format that you want to post. Advertisements comprising one or more images are usually the easiest—and therefore cheapest—to produce. Meanwhile, video ads and animated social media posts, while more engaging, are priced higher since making them requires more time and effort.

Campaign budget and duration

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Your social media advertising campaign’s budget and duration can directly impact your ad spend. Larger budgets will give a social media advertising expert more leeway and higher spending limits. And the same holds true for longer campaign durations since they require more resources.

Industry competition and seasonality

During peak seasons, such as holidays and nationwide events, social media marketing costs can be significantly higher. Industry competition can also raise social media ad costs when many brands are bidding for the same audience.

Campaign management and optimisation

How much does it cost to advertise on social media if you take campaign management and optimisation into account? Opting for additional services to reach your campaign’s objectives often means paying extra fees since these take expertise and time.

What are some ways to save on social media advertising?

If you have a tight budget for social media advertising, here are some tips you can consider to keep costs low:

• Know your audience and marketing goals to avoid wasting time and effort during planning and strategy execution.

• Repurpose old copy, photos, and videos to avoid having a big chunk of your advertising expenses go to content creation.

• Don’t post paid ads on several social media platforms; focus on those that your target consumers mostly use.

• Contact different service providers and ask about their rates so you can make comparisons and prevent overspending.

What should you look for in a social media advertising expert?

Learn how to find the right social media advertising expert by taking note of these considerations:

• Expertise and experience: Do their experience and skills align with your industry, target audience, business size, and advertising needs and preferences?

• Pricing: Do they offer flexible rates, especially for your budget?

• Reputation: Can they produce excellent paid ads based on their portfolio and their past customers’ ratings and reviews?

• Communication: Is it easy to get in touch with them, and are they good communicators?

Achieve more site clicks and impressions with Airtasker

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Want to have a digital edge over your business’s competitors? Why not engage a social media advertiser to get closer to your advertising goals?

Through Airtasker, you won’t find it difficult to connect with professionals with expert knowledge and skills. All you need to do is sign up on the platform and click the blue ‘Post a task’ button once you’re ready to start the search.