Pricing
Almost nobody in this industry publishes their prices. We reviewed the Australian market and found one provider in nine willing to put a number on a page — everyone else hides behind "book a call."
There's a reason for that. If you can't see the price, you can't compare — and the number can quietly become whatever they think you'll pay. We'd rather show you everything and let you decide.
You're quoted what's on this page. Nobody gets a better number for negotiating harder — discounts are for commitment, not for pushing.
Ad spend, software, photography, printing — all listed here, not sprung on you in month two. No surprise line items, ever.
If your budget or stage doesn't suit us, we'll say so on the first call and point you somewhere better. A no costs you nothing.
This isn't a cost. It's an investment we hold ourselves accountable to return — measured against the revenue, pipeline and margin it moves. And transparency isn't a marketing angle for us. It's the first proof we'll be straight with you about everything else.
Start with a fair, like-for-like question: what does one senior seat cost? Below is what the market charges for a single executive, agency or consultant — and where Raw Digital sits for a seat that covers considerably more than any of them. Building the whole team is a different comparison again — that's further down the page.
| Your options | Typical cost | What you get | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time Commercial Director | $300K–$350K+ / yrfully loaded | One senior leader across marketing & sales, full-time | 6+ months to hire, huge fixed cost |
| Full-time CMO | $250K–$320K+ / yrfully loaded | One senior marketing leader, full-time | Marketing only, and still a big fixed cost |
| Full-time C-suite hire (CFO / COO / CTO) | $250K–$400K+ / yreach, fully loaded | One more senior function, full-time | A separate six-figure salary for every seat — and still siloed from marketing and sales |
| Typical Fractional CMO | $36K–$240K / yr$3,000–$20,000 / month · advice only | Senior marketing leadership, part-time | Marketing only — sales, AI and ops out of scope |
| In-house marketing team | $200K–$420K+ / yr2–4 employees, loaded | A small team executing campaigns | Execution without senior leadership — juniors, high overhead, nobody owning the commercial outcome |
| Digital agency retainer | $2,000–$15,000+ / mo | Campaign execution | No seat at the leadership table |
| Independent consultant | $1,200–$3,000 / day | Advice and recommendations | Advice isn't execution |
| AI consultant | $1,500–$3,200 / day | AI strategy & automation | One lever only, disconnected from sales & growth |
| Raw DigitalOne accountable seat | From $4,500 / monththe Commercial Director seatFounders & start-ups can start from $1,500/mo — Founder's Partner | One accountable seat across sales, marketing and operations, with a specialist bench behind it — where every option above covers only part of the picture | No catch — fully remote, so you pay for talent, not overhead |
Market figures are indicative Australian ranges.
Start Here · Sessions
Not sure where to start? Not sure if it's marketing, sales, or something else entirely? These sessions are for exactly that. A senior leader helps you get clarity first — no commitment, no jargon, no guessing. Every session is credited against the next step, so nothing you spend early is wasted.
Built for businesses new to outsourcing this kind of work — a paid, no-obligation way to see how we think before you commit to anything ongoing.
Already know you're ready to commit? Skip straight to retainers below.
A focused 60-minute business needs analysis with lean reporting and a high-level roadmap of where growth is leaking and what to fix first. Credited against the next step.
Book NowA three-hour deep-dive and high-level audit across sales, marketing, brand and operations — the priorities and a shortlist of what to fix first.
Book NowA documented commercial strategy and a costed proposal across every lever, presented to you and your team — everything you need to say yes with confidence.
Book NowFor more complex businesses and larger teams — multiple divisions, stakeholders or locations. We tailor the depth, the sessions and the deliverables to fit, and scope it to you.
EnquireThen Scale · Retainers
Every tier is priced the same way: on your Commercial Director's senior time, at $1,500 a day* — the direction, strategy and accountability. Hands-on services (SEO, social, paid, content and more) are added from our catalogue as you need them. Most clients land between $8,500 and $12,500 a month — though the ladder starts much smaller and scales well beyond.
Every retainer starts with a three-month minimum to build momentum, then runs month to month with 30 days' notice. Many clients choose to pay the first three months upfront — it unlocks our money-back guarantee below, and a better rate.
We looked at 25 providers — 10 Australian, 15 global. We found none that combined senior sales & marketing leadership, operational excellence, and the talent to deliver — under one accountable seat.
That gap is exactly why Raw Digital exists. You're not paying for another agency — you're paying for the one seat that owns the whole result. Getting growth wrong costs far more than getting it right.
Not sure what you should be spending?
As a rough guide: established businesses typically invest 5–10% of revenue on marketing and leadership, growth-focused brands 10–14%, and start-ups in high-growth mode 12–30%. See the full Australian benchmarks, by stage and sourced → Or use our Marketing & Leadership Budget Calculator → to work out your own number.
Every tier is customised to your business — these are starting points, not fixed packages.
About a day a month of senior commercial time, in your corner — the accessible on-ramp for founders and start-ups. Scale up the ladder as you grow.
3 days a month of your Commercial Director's time, directing your existing team or agency. No services bundled in — add any from our catalogue as needed.
5.5 days a month of your Commercial Director's time. Services added on as needed from our catalogue. Where most clients start.
8.5 days a month of your Commercial Director's time, reporting straight to you. Services added on as needed.
12 days a month of your Commercial Director's time, sized for a whole-function engagement. Services added on as needed.
A near full-time senior presence, fully customised — for scale-ups chasing serious growth and for enterprise clients. Multiple teams, entities or locations, scoped around you.
Quoted separately, on every tier
*Days can be split into blocks, minimum 2.5 hours per block.
Step 2 · Choose your services
Your retainer is the senior leadership. These are the hands-on services you add on top — take one, or a few, and scale as you grow. Or start with a single service on its own; each begins at the price shown, with exact scope confirmed in your proposal.
Every ongoing service starts at $2,500 a month, on a three-month minimum. That applies across any combination of ongoing services you choose. It isn't a sales tactic — below that level we can't give you the senior attention, reporting and accountability we promise, and we'd rather say no than under-serve you.
One-off Business Needs Analyses, strategy sessions and training sit outside this minimum and are priced separately.
All prices are in AUD and exclude GST. Indicative starting prices, subject to the $2,500 monthly minimum engagement. Two rounds of revisions are included on project work. Marketing retainers exclude ad spend, third-party tools and licences, and production costs such as photography, video and printing. Final scope and price are confirmed in your proposal.
Why invest, and why now
Most Australian SMEs actually spend well below the recommended range on marketing and leadership — and Harvard Business Review's analysis of 4,700 companies found that businesses which kept investing through a downturn grew up to 17% faster afterwards. McKinsey's research on resilient companies found the same pattern: those that kept investing built a 25-point higher EBITDA than peers who pulled back. See the full benchmarks, by stage and sourced →
Why three months — and why it isn't a lock-in
If you've been let down by an agency before, you're right to be cautious. So here's the honest reason for the minimum term: it isn't to tie you in, it's because three months is the shortest time in which this work can actually show up in your numbers.
Diagnosis, access, tracking and baselines. We fix what's leaking and get the numbers honest. Much of this is invisible from the outside — and skipping it is why most marketing fails.
The work goes live and starts compounding — campaigns running, content indexing, follow-up happening. Early signals appear, but they're signals, not results.
The first fair read on performance — measured against the baseline we set in month one, so you can see what changed and decide with evidence rather than a feeling.
Leave before that and you'd have paid for the groundwork and walked away just as it starts to pay — which isn't good for you, and isn't a fair test of us.
And we commit too, in writing. If the direction is wrong you can end it at 30 days, no notice period. Miss the KPIs we agree and you can leave a longer term early. Pay the first three months upfront and, if you're not satisfied with the trajectory within 30 days, we refund your fees in full — less third-party costs already committed on your behalf, such as ad spend. You're not locked in — you're committed to a fair test, and so are we.
Building senior commercial capability in-house means six-figure salaries, months of hiring and all the management landing on you. Here's the honest comparison at three stages — find the one that's you.
A senior commercial hire you can't yet justify
Founder's Partner
Senior direction from day one, on a start-up budget.
A CMO plus a small delivery team
Growth or Embedded Partner
Direction and delivery together, for around a third of the cost.
A full team — a C-suite seat plus delivery staff
Delivery or Enterprise Partner
A whole function, live in weeks, for a fraction of the price.
In-house figures are indicative fully-loaded Australian salary ranges. Raw Digital retainers cover the senior leadership seat; hands-on delivery is added from our catalogue as you need it — so your cost scales with need, not headcount.
Each session credits against the next, and beyond the initial three months every retainer runs month to month with 30 days' notice, and no exit fees. You stay because it's working, not because you're trapped.
Start with a Business Needs Analysis, or have a free chat first and we'll point you to the right step.
Have a free chatPrices are in Australian dollars and indicative — your exact figures are always confirmed in a written proposal. * Based on your Commercial Director's day rate; retainers are billed monthly. See our full Disclaimer.