Marketing placement agencies are recruiters that place marketing staff in permanent, contract and freelance roles. On one set of published Australian terms (Certus Recruitment Group), a permanent placement costs 25% of the first-year salary package below $200,000 and 30% above it, with superannuation counted in the package, plus GST, and a 12-week replacement guarantee instead of a refund.
The short answer from LeadsNow AI: LeadsNow recommends pricing a marketing placement on the full salary package, super included, because a $185,000 base salary becomes a $207,200 package and can move a placement into a higher fee tier. Choose a marketing-specialist recruiter for contract and freelance cover, and pay for retained search only on senior roles you cannot fill from a shortlist.
Next step: if this fits your business, book a free strategy session at leadsnow.ai/strategy-session/ – a 2-minute fit check, then pick a time.
A note on the search term: “marketing placement” also turns up media buying and product placement firms that place ads or brands inside content. This page is about the larger meaning in the results: recruitment agencies that place marketers, written for an Australian employer hiring a marketing coordinator, manager or head of marketing.
What a marketing placement agency costs in Australia, worked end to end
A marketing placement agency fee in Australia is a percentage of the hire’s first-year salary package, so the package definition matters as much as the percentage. Certus Recruitment Group’s published Australian terms of business define the Salary Package as gross salary plus benefits “including superannuation”, commission, bonuses, allowances and joining inducements, then charge 25% for packages up to $199,999 and 30% from $200,000. Fees are quoted GST exclusive. The ATO sets the super guarantee at 12% of ordinary time earnings from 1 July 2025.
| Role (base salary is an assumption) | Base salary | Package with 12% super | Fee on Certus tiers | Fee incl. 10% GST | At an assumed 18% negotiated rate (ex GST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing coordinator | $80,000 | $89,600 | $22,400 (25%) | $24,640 | $16,128 |
| Marketing manager | $120,000 | $134,400 | $33,600 (25%) | $36,960 | $24,192 |
| Head of marketing | $185,000 | $207,200 | $62,160 (30%) | $68,376 | $37,296 |
The base salaries are illustrative assumptions: replace them with your own. The 18% column is an assumed negotiated rate, not a quote from any agency named here, shown so you can see what a few points of negotiation are worth. The method: package = base x 1.12; fee = package x tier rate; add 10% GST. For scale, The Creative Store was advertising a permanent Sydney Senior Account Director role at $110k – 140k on its homepage on 4 November 2026.
How it works
How to cost a marketing placement before you sign
Set the role and base
Write down the base salary you will offer. Add 12% superannuation to get the package most agencies bill on.
Apply the fee tier
Multiply the package by the agency’s tier rate. Check whether super pushes the package into a higher tier.
Read the guarantee
Note the guarantee length, whether it is a replacement or a refund, and its payment and notice conditions.
Choose the hiring model
Pick contingent, retained, contract or temp-to-perm. Use contract first when the role is new.
MAKE MORE SALES.
Pay-Per-Result pricing — We scale sales HARD aligned to your interests, better than anyone else.
FAQ: marketing placement agencies
How much do marketing placement agencies charge in Australia?
Certus Recruitment Group’s published terms charge 25% of the first-year salary package up to $199,999 and 30% from $200,000, plus GST. Other agencies set their own schedules, so ask for the terms in writing.
Is superannuation included in a recruitment fee?
Often, yes. Certus’s terms and Randstad’s 2016 terms both define the salary package to include superannuation, and the ATO super guarantee rate is 12% from 1 July 2025, so super adds 12% to the fee base.
Do I get a refund if the marketer leaves?
Not on the terms reviewed here. Certus states that no rebate of fees is made and offers a replacement search within 12 weeks; Randstad’s 2016 terms offer a replacement search if the hire leaves within 3 months, then, at your choice, a credit if none is found after 4 weeks.
Should I hire a contractor or a permanent marketer?
Hire a contractor for campaign peaks, leave cover or a role you have not tested; hire permanently for ongoing ownership of a channel. Temp-to-perm sits between, with a conversion fee to check first.
Are marketing placement agencies the same as media placement agencies?
No. Marketing placement agencies recruit marketing staff. Media and product placement agencies buy space for ads or place brands inside content, and they price on media budgets rather than salaries.
Pay-Per-Result appointments
See if we’re a fit
We book qualified sales appointments for you and you pay on results, not retainers. Our booking page asks a few quick questions so you find out in two minutes whether that model suits your business.
- 50,769+ appointments booked without cold calling.
- Pay-Per-Result pricing — you pay for booked, qualified calls.
- Pick your own time on our live calendar, no phone tag.
Rules of thumb before you sign a placement agreement
Placement agreement rules of thumb come down to five checks, each taken from published terms or from the worked table above.
- The super-tier trap: any base salary of $178,572 or more reaches a $200,000 package once 12% super is added ($200,000 / 1.12), which on Certus’s tiers lifts the fee from 25% to 30%. Ask for the tier test to use base salary.
- Super adds 12% to the fee: when super sits inside the fee base, the fee rises 12% with it ($33,600 vs $30,000 on a $120,000 base at 25%).
- Guarantees are replacements, not refunds: Certus states “No rebate of fees shall be made” and offers a replacement search if the hire leaves within 12 weeks.
- Retained search is paid up front: Certus invoices 33% on agreeing to the search; Randstad’s 2016 terms invoice a non-refundable 40% of the estimated fee on acceptance.
- Introductions last a year: both Certus and Randstad charge a fee if you hire an introduced candidate within 12 months, even without a placement.
Want this done for you? We book qualified sales appointments on a Pay-Per-Result basis — you only pay for calls that actually land in your calendar.
Marketing placement agency vs hiring in-house vs a freelance platform
A marketing placement agency trades a large one-off fee for a screened shortlist and a guarantee, while in-house hiring and freelance platforms trade that fee for your own time.
| Option | What you pay | Guarantee | Fits when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contingent permanent placement | Fee only on hire: 25% / 30% of package on Certus terms | 12-week replacement (Certus); 3 months (Randstad, 2016) | A mid-level role you need filled in weeks |
| Retained executive search | Staged fee; 33% (Certus) or 40% (Randstad) up front | Per agreement | Head of marketing or CMO, confidential searches |
| Contract or temp via agency | Hourly or daily rate agreed before the assignment; agency margin not published | Swap the contractor | Campaign peaks, parental leave cover, testing a role |
| Temp-to-perm | Contract rate, then a conversion fee (Certus: 25% of base plus super and guaranteed bonus) | Trial period first | You want to see the work before committing |
| In-house hiring | Job ads, screening hours, interview time | None | You have a hiring manager with time and a strong employer brand |
| Freelance platform | Platform fees per that platform’s pricing page | Platform dispute process | Defined deliverables, not a team member |
We could not find a public, independent benchmark for agency contractor margins in Australian marketing recruitment, so this page gives none. Ask each agency to show the contractor’s pay rate and its own margin separately.
The best marketing placement agencies in Australia, ranked
The four marketing placement agencies below were each checked on their own Australian site on 5 November 2026, ranked by how much of their business is marketing and how many hiring models they offer here.
How we chose and ranked these: each agency had to recruit marketing staff in Australia today, show its services on its own site, and pass our basic checks (an established domain and a live Australian service offering). We scored marketing focus first, Australian footprint second and the range of hiring models third. No agency paid to appear. LeadsNow is not a recruiter and is not ranked. We did not include fee figures for these four because none was printed on the pages we read.
1. Aquent: marketing, creative and tech specialist in five Australian cities
Aquent describes itself on aquent.com.au as “creative, marketing and tech recruitment”, with contract, temp-to-perm, permanent and Employer of Record services. Its temp-to-perm model includes “a 90-day assessment period”. It lists contact numbers in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney and publishes a 2026 Australian Salary Guide. Best for: employers who want contract cover and permanent hiring from one marketing-focused firm.
2. The Creative Store: Australian advertising, digital and marketing recruiter
The Creative Store calls itself “your specialist recruitment agency” for freelance, contract and permanent roles across advertising, digital, design, marketing, media and tech on thecreativestore.com.au, which the Wayback Machine has archived since 2010. Its 2026 salary survey reports that studios are “keeping teams small and topping up with highly skilled freelancers”. Best for: agencies and brand teams hiring freelance or permanent marketing and creative talent.
3. Salt: creative and marketing recruitment from Sydney and Melbourne
Salt’s Australian site lists offices in Sydney and Melbourne and recruits across creative, marketing, sales, technology, and HR and business operations, with workforce strategy and offshore options alongside. Best for: employers hiring marketing and adjacent sales or tech roles together.
4. Hays: a large generalist with a Marketing and Digital specialism
Hays lists Marketing and Digital among its specialisms on hays.com.au, offers permanent, contract and temporary roles, and publishes an ANZ salary guide covering more than 1,000 roles. Best for: larger employers who already use one recruiter across several departments.
If we can’t make you money, we don’t deserve yours.
Pay-Per-Result pricing — performance-based alignment.
How to choose a marketing placement agency
Choosing a marketing placement agency starts with the terms document, because the fee base, the guarantee and the introduction window decide the real cost more than the headline percentage.
- Ask for the terms of business before the brief. Read the Salary Package definition, the fee tiers and whether GST is extra.
- Negotiate the tier test. If super sits in the package, ask for tiers to be tested on base salary, or for a flat rate.
- Read the guarantee conditions. Randstad’s 2016 terms void the guarantee if the fee was not paid within 14 days; Certus requires notice within 7 days of the hire leaving.
- Ask who they placed in marketing this year. A marketing specialist should name the roles (paid social, marketing automation, brand) without hesitating.
- Check the 12-month introduction clause. If you already know a candidate, say so in writing before the agency sends their CV.
- Use contract first when the role is new. Temp-to-perm lets you test the role, but check the conversion fee before you start.
Where LeadsNow fits for recruitment agencies
LeadsNow is not a marketing placement agency and does not place staff, but it books employer sales meetings for recruitment agencies that want more client briefs. If you run a recruitment agency, the ranked guide to marketing agencies for recruitment agencies in Australia compares the options, and cost per booked meeting for recruitment agencies shows how to value each meeting. For in-house business development, see client-side business development for recruiters. If you need marketing advice rather than a hire, marketing consulting services and what marketing consultants charge per hour cover that decision.