Why a minimum of $10K/month ad spend?

Below that, management fees eat too much of the budget to pay back. I'd rather tell you that upfront.

Do I have to start with an audit?

Yes. Changing spend before tracking is verified is how budgets get wasted. The audit is included in the 90-Day Launch.

Google moved my account to AI Max. Is that a problem?

Not if someone is steering it. AI picks the queries; I set the guardrails, negatives and conversion signals so it spends on the right ones.

Who owns the ad accounts?

You do. I work inside your accounts with access you can remove at any time.

How much does a Google Ads consultant cost in Australia?

Freelancers usually charge by the hour and agencies often charge 10–20% of ad spend. I charge a flat monthly fee by spend band: $2,200 to $5,500 a month (AUD, excluding GST), with custom pricing for accounts above $150K a month. My fee doesn't rise every time you scale, so you get better value the more you spend.

Do you only work with Brisbane businesses?

No. I'm based in Brisbane and work with businesses across Australia and New Zealand, with calls on video and in person in South East Queensland.

Google Ads audit & management pricing

Clear scope. Clear price. No percentage-of-spend creep.

Three steps. Every engagement starts with an audit, so nothing changes in your account until we both know what's broken.

WEEKS 1–2Audit
MONTHS 1–3Launch
ONGOINGGrow

01 · Diagnose

Paid Media Audit

$1,950 one-off · ~12 hrs of senior review

Conversion tracking and GA4 check
Account structure, search terms and audiences
Competitor and auction review
Prioritised fix list with expected impact
60-minute walkthrough call

Fully credited if you start the 90-Day Launch within 30 days.

Book an audit

02 · Rebuild · Recommended

90-Day Launch

$3,500 setup

+ 3 months of management at your spend tier

The full Paid Media Audit (worth $1,950)
Tracking and GA4 fixed properly
Account rebuilt: structure, match types, negatives
90-day channel and budget strategy
Ready for AI search: AI Max and Performance Max set up with oversight

Example: $10K–$20K/month spend = $3,500 + 3 × $2,200 = $10,100 total

Start with the Launch

03 · Grow

Ongoing Management

from $2,200 / month

Flat fee by spend band, not a percentage
Weekly search term, audience and bid work
Creative and copy testing
Monthly report: what happened, why, impact
Direct access to me, no account manager

Month to month after the Launch, 30 days' notice.

Work out my fee

Not ready for a full audit?

Ads Health Check

About 5 hours of senior review of one Google or Meta account, delivered as a written report in 5 business days. Credited towards the full Audit.

What's working, and what's wasting budget
Your top quick wins to fix first
A 3-month strategy outline
30-minute walkthrough call

$800 Book a health check

Fee calculator

Drag to your spend. See what you'd pay.

Most agencies charge 10–20% of spend, so their fee rises every time you scale. A flat band keeps my incentive on results, not on spending more of your budget.

Monthly ad spend $40,000

$10K$200K+

SMART Digital Consulting$3,500

8.8% of spend, flat

Typical agency at 15%$6,000

That’s $30,000 a year kept in your budget.

See all management tiers

Monthly ad spend Fee / month Platforms included

$10K – $20K$2,2002

$20K – $60K$3,5003

$60K – $150K$5,5004

$150K+CustomAll

Extra platform: +$650/month. Ad spend is paid directly to Google, Meta, LinkedIn or TikTok. All prices AUD, excluding GST.

What your fee buys

Every hour is mine. No hand-offs.

Each fee is set by the senior hours your account needs. Nobody junior, and nothing sent offshore.

Under $20K/month spend≈ 14 hrsof my time a month, for $2,200

$20K–$60K/month spend≈ 22 hrsof my time a month, for $3,500

$60K–$150K/month spend≈ 34 hrsof my time a month, for $5,500

A typical month at $2,200

8 hrsWeekly search term, audience and bid work

3 hrsCreative testing

3 hrsReport and call

For comparison: a senior paid media hire in-house costs around $6,250–$7,900 a month in salary alone, before super, leave, tools and recruitment.

An honest comparison

Agency, offshore, or me?

I spent 15+ years agency and client side, and good agencies do great work. Each option fits a different business. Here's how they really compare.

SMART Digital Consulting

Typical agency

Offshore specialist

Who runs your account day to day

Me, with 15+ years in paid media

Usually a mid-level or junior specialist, with senior oversight

A specialist, usually executing a plan you provide

Continuity

The same person from audit onwards

Teams change as people move on, so handovers happen

Depends on the individual

Who you talk to

The person doing the work

An account manager

Mostly async, across time zones

Lowest cost

Flat fee by spend band; cheaper than agencies from ~$15K spend

Often 10–20% of spend, or a retainer

Hourly, the lowest cost by far

Team and resources

One senior specialist, plus trusted partners

Larger teams, proprietary data and tools, direct platform contacts

Limited

Large programmatic and media buying

Focused, campaign-level programmatic

Strongest: trading desks, premium data, volume rates

Rare

Strongest on

3 of 6

2 of 6

1 of 6

Strongest option on each row. Which matters most depends on your business.

An agency is the better fit when…

You need a large team across many channels at once
You're buying large-scale programmatic, TV or out-of-home and need trading-desk data and rates
You want dedicated contacts at Google, Meta or TikTok
Your spend is well beyond $150K a month

I'm the better fit when…

You want senior thinking on your account every week
You want to talk to the person doing the work
You'd rather pay a flat fee than a percentage of spend
You spend roughly $10K–$150K a month
You want results measured against your CRM and sales

If an agency is the better fit for you, I'll tell you, and I'm happy to point you to good ones.

Add-ons

When the problem isn't the ads.

Landing page CRO review

$1,200

Page-by-page fixes for the pages your ads send traffic to.

SEO & AI search audit

$1,500

Technical and content gaps, plus how you show up in AI Overviews.

Website direction brief

$1,800

Structure, UX and conversion brief your web developer can build from.

Strategy advice

90-min strategy session $295 · 10-hour advisory block $1,500

A second opinion on a plan, training for your team, or support for in-house marketers.

Common questions

“Every client works with me directly. No hand-offs, no juniors.” Essen Tsou, Founder

Why a minimum of $10K/month ad spend?: Below that, management fees eat too much of the budget to pay back. I'd rather tell you that upfront.
Do I have to start with an audit?: Yes. Changing spend before tracking is verified is how budgets get wasted. The audit is included in the 90-Day Launch.
Google moved my account to AI Max. Is that a problem?: Not if someone is steering it. AI picks the queries; I set the guardrails, negatives and conversion signals so it spends on the right ones.
Who owns the ad accounts?: You do. I work inside your accounts with access you can remove at any time.
How much does a Google Ads consultant cost in Australia?: Freelancers usually charge by the hour and agencies often charge 10–20% of ad spend. I charge a flat monthly fee by spend band: $2,200 to $5,500 a month (AUD, excluding GST), with custom pricing for accounts above $150K a month. My fee doesn't rise every time you scale, so you get better value the more you spend.
Do you only work with Brisbane businesses?: No. I'm based in Brisbane and work with businesses across Australia and New Zealand, with calls on video and in person in South East Queensland.

Not sure which fits? Start with the audit.

Get a Paid Media Audit

Wasting ad spend?Book an audit