How Much Does Childcare Marketing Cost in Australia?
If you've asked a few agencies what childcare marketing costs, you've probably had very different answers. Some quote a monthly fee, some quote a package, and some won't talk numbers until you've had a call. It's hard to compare, and it's hard to know what's fair.
This guide won't give you one magic number, because there isn't one. Instead, it explains what you're actually paying for, what pushes the childcare marketing cost up or down, and how to tell whether the money is working. It fits alongside our main guide to childcare marketing.
The short answer
What you spend depends on four things: how many places you need to fill, how many centres you have, how competitive your suburb is, and how much of the work you already have in place (a good website, real photos, a Google profile with reviews).
Most of the money goes into a few buckets. Once you know what they are, it gets much easier to compare quotes and spot gaps.
What you're actually paying for
Ad spend
This is the money that goes to Google, Facebook or Instagram to show your ads. It's separate from anything you pay an agency. With Google Ads you usually pay when someone clicks, and you can set the most you're willing to pay for a click (Google Ads Help).
You set a daily budget, but it isn't a hard daily cap. Google says a campaign can spend up to twice its average daily budget on a busy day, but over a month you won't pay more than 30.4 times that daily amount (Google Ads Help). Plan your monthly budget with that in mind.
Ideally the ad accounts are in your name and billed straight to your card, so you can see every dollar.
Management fees
This is what you pay a person or agency to plan, set up and run the ads, and to report on them. It's usually a monthly fee. Ask whether it's fixed, or a percentage of your ad spend, and what happens to the fee if you raise or cut your budget.
Photos, video and copy
Parents want to see real rooms and real educators. Stock photos and generic words make every centre look the same. Good photos, a short tour video and ads written for your families are often a one-off cost that keeps paying off, because you can reuse them across your website, ads and Google profile.
Your website
Every ad sends parents somewhere. If that page is slow, confusing or hard to use on a phone, you pay for clicks that never turn into tours. Sometimes a few fixes are enough. Sometimes it's a rebuild. Our guide to childcare website design covers what parents look for.
SEO and your Google profile
Your Google Business Profile is free to set up (Google). The cost is the time to keep it up to date, add photos and reply to reviews. Ongoing SEO, which helps your centre show up in normal Google results, is usually a monthly cost. See our guides to your Google Business Profile and local SEO for childcare centres.
What makes the cost go up or down
How many places you need to fill. One spare toddler spot is a very different job to a new centre with every room empty.
Your suburb. Where more centres are chasing the same families, clicks tend to cost more.
How many channels you run. Google search, Facebook and Instagram, SEO and local promotion all add up. Not every centre needs all of them at once.
How many centres you have. Each centre needs its own targeting, budget and reporting.
Your starting point. If you already have great photos, a strong website and plenty of reviews, less money goes into setup.
Our guide to childcare advertising compares the main channels, so you can start with the one that suits your vacancies.
Doing it in-house vs using an agency
Doing it yourself looks cheaper, because there's no fee. But it isn't free. Someone has to learn the ad platforms, write the ads, check the results each week and follow up every enquiry. If that someone is your centre director, that's time away from families, staff and running the centre.
An agency costs more on paper, but you're paying for experience and time. A specialist who already knows childcare (the enrolment cycle, advertising rules, what parents care about) should waste less of your budget while learning.
Many centres land in the middle: an agency runs the ads and reporting, and the centre handles tours, follow-up and social posts.
Questions to ask before you sign
What's your fee, and what's my ad spend, as two separate numbers?
What's included, and what costs extra (photos, video, website changes)?
Will the ad accounts and data be in my name?
Is there a lock-in contract, notice period or exit fee?
Will you report on tours and enrolments, or just clicks?
For the full checklist, read how to choose a childcare marketing agency.
How to tell if it's worth it
A marketing bill only makes sense next to what an enrolment is worth to you. Track three numbers each month:
Cost per enquiry: total marketing spend divided by enquiries
Cost per tour: spend divided by tours booked
Cost per enrolment: spend divided by children who actually started
Then compare that last number with the value of one enrolment. To give you a feel for it, government figures for the June quarter 2026 show centre-based day care averaged $14.60 an hour, and children in centre-based care attended about 34.4 hours a week on average (Department of Education). That's roughly $500 a week in fees before the subsidy. Use your own fees and how long families usually stay with you, because every centre is different.
Our advertising ROI calculator helps you run the numbers for your own centre. And if enquiries are coming in but not turning into enrolments, the problem may not be the marketing at all. Our guide to turning enquiries into enrolments covers the follow-up side.
Common ways centres waste marketing money
Judging ads on clicks, not enrolments. Cheap clicks from families outside your area don't fill rooms.
Sending ads to the home page. Parents should land on a page about the room or age group you're advertising.
Slow follow-up. An enquiry that waits two days for a reply often goes elsewhere.
Switching everything off when rooms fill. Families plan ahead, so a small, steady budget keeps next year's list growing.
Paying for everything at once. Start with the channel most likely to fill your current gaps, then add more.
FAQ
How much should a childcare centre spend on marketing?
There's no fixed rule. Start from the number of places you need to fill and what one enrolment is worth to you, then set a budget you can keep for a few months while you track cost per enrolment.
Is ad spend included in an agency's fee?
Not usually. Most agencies charge a management fee, and ad spend is paid separately to Google or Meta. Always ask for the two numbers separately.
Is Google Ads or Facebook cheaper for childcare?
It depends on your suburb and your goal. Google tends to reach parents who are already searching, while Facebook and Instagram are good for reaching local parents before they start looking. Compare them on cost per enrolment, not cost per click. Our Google Ads guide explains how to set a sensible budget.
Want a clear picture for your centre?
Every centre's numbers are different. Our childcare marketing team can look at your vacancies, your suburb and what you're spending now. Book a free chat and we'll show you where your budget is working and where it isn't, with no obligation.
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