Social media marketing in Melbourne: what businesses actually pay.

The short answer: published Melbourne prices in 2026 run from about $349 a month for template-style posting, through $625 to $1,500 for basic management, up to $2,000 to $8,000 a month for full-service agencies with strategy, video and reporting. Mine starts at $5,000. The spread looks chaotic until you know the one question that explains it: how much original video content is actually included.

Here's the problem I noticed when I researched this properly: search "social media marketing Melbourne" and page one of Google is entirely agencies saying they're wonderful and directories listing two hundred of them. Nobody answers the question a business owner is actually asking: what does this cost here, and what do I get for it. So here it is, with Melbourne numbers, from someone whose own prices are on the table too.

The Melbourne market, level by level

• $300 to $600 a month — scheduled posting. Template graphics, captions, a posting calendar. You supply the photos and the ideas. This keeps an account alive; it doesn't grow one, because there's no original video and video is what the algorithm feeds.
• $625 to $1,500 a month — basic management. Posting plus some light content creation and community management, usually by a freelancer or a junior at a small agency. Fine if you're providing strong raw footage yourself.
• $2,000 to $3,500 a month — mid-tier agency. Melbourne's established agencies mostly start here. Strategy, a content calendar, some produced content, monthly reporting. Ask precisely how many original videos per month; the answer varies wildly at identical prices.
• $3,500 to $8,000 a month — full service. Strategy, on-site shoot days, native video editing, scheduling, community management and reporting as one system. This is where I sit, from $5,000. I've broken down the full national market here, including exactly what my clients get.

Why Melbourne prices confuse everyone

Two agencies quote you $2,500. One delivers twelve original videos filmed at your business every month. The other delivers stock imagery with your logo on it and reposts your own photos. Same invoice, completely different product. The price tells you almost nothing in this city; the inclusions tell you everything. Which is why the real comparison is never agency versus agency, it's who does the work and how much of your own time each option quietly costs.

The three questions that sort Melbourne agencies in five minutes

• Who actually makes my content? The person pitching you, or a junior you'll never meet? Founder-led means the person accountable is the person filming.
• How many original videos a month, filmed at my business? A number, not an adjective. "Regular engaging content" is not a number.
• Show me a local result with real numbers. Not follower counts. Views, growth, and what it did for the business. Here's mine: a Fitzroy pub from 35,000 to 300,000+ monthly views, and a Victorian butcher past a million, both with zero ad spend.

A note for Melbourne hospitality

If you run a venue, this decision matters more for you than for almost any other business in this city. Melbourne eats and drinks off Instagram: people discover a venue in the feed, send it to a mate, and check Google reviews last, not first. The venues winning right now aren't the ones with the biggest budgets, they're the ones giving people a reason to come in and filming it properly. I've written a full breakdown of what venues specifically should spend, level by level, from someone who worked hospitality floors for years.