Pricing is the first question every business owner has and the last thing most agencies publish. So here are the real numbers: what digital marketing costs in NZ in 2026, how the charging models work, and where the traps are.

How do digital marketing agencies charge for their services?

Four models cover nearly every agency in New Zealand:

• Monthly retainers, the most common. You pay a fixed fee for an agreed scope each month.
• Project fees, for defined builds like websites, brands, or campaign setups.
• Hourly rates, mostly for ad-hoc work and consulting.
• Percentage of ad spend, common for ads management, usually with a minimum fee.

NZ agency pricing in 2026: the real ranges

Hourly rates: freelancers charge $50 to $120 an hour; agencies charge $95 to $200 depending on seniority and city. If someone quotes under $50 an hour, ask who is actually doing the work, and where.

Monthly retainers:

• $500–$1,500 a month: a single channel done properly, Google Ads management, basic local SEO, or a focused social presence. This is the realistic entry point for a small trades or services business.
• $1,500–$4,000 a month: multi-channel work: ads plus SEO plus content, with monthly reporting and a real strategy behind it. Most growing NZ SMBs land here.
• $4,000–$10,000+ a month: full-service, an agency acting as your outsourced marketing department across strategy, channels, content and creative.

By service:

• Google Ads management: $300–$1,500 a month flat, or 10–20% of ad spend, ad spend itself is on top
• SEO: $750–$3,000 a month for meaningful NZ SMB campaigns
• Social media management: $500–$2,000 a month depending on content volume
• Websites: $1,500–$3,500 templated, $4,500–$15,000+ custom
• Brand identity: $2,000–$10,000+ depending on depth

What does a full-service agency actually do?

A genuine full-service agency runs strategy, paid ads, SEO, content, social, and creative under one roof, with one team accountable for the whole funnel. The value is coordination: your ads, landing pages and content pull in the same direction. The risk is paying full-service prices for single-channel attention, which is why reporting that ties activity to enquiries matters more than the service list.

How long does it take to see results?

Honest timelines by channel: Google Ads produces data within days and reliable leads within 4 to 8 weeks of optimisation. SEO takes 3 to 6 months to move and compounds from there. Social media builds over 2 to 3 months. Any agency promising page-one rankings in 30 days is selling you something other than SEO.

What are the risks of hiring a cheap agency?

Cheap agencies are cheap for structural reasons: offshore juniors running your account, template strategies recycled across every client, no conversion tracking, and reporting built on impressions rather than enquiries. The bill is small; the cost shows up as a year of flat enquiries and an ad account you cannot untangle. If the budget is tight, buy one channel done well rather than five channels done thinly.

What we charge at Jelly Digital

We publish our pricing because we think the mystery serves agencies, not clients: Google Ads management from $495 a month and websites from $1,495, fixed scope, conversion tracking always included, and reporting that counts enquiries, not impressions.