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Rate rise squeeze: Perth business founder says cut the marketing waste, not the marketing

Online Strategy Co

Key Facts:

• The RBA lifted the cash rate to 4.85% on 3 November 2026, its fifth rise this year and the highest since 2008
• The big four banks lift variable home loan rates from 13 November
• Online Strategy Co founder Zara Avila shares five checks for finding wasted marketing spend before cutting ads, SEO or Google Business Profile activity
• Zara is available for interview

Online Strategy Co founder shares five ways small businesses can find wasted marketing spend before cutting ads, SEO or Google Business Profile activity

PERTH, Australia, 5 November 2026: With the Reserve Bank lifting the cash rate to 4.85 per cent on 3 November, its fifth rise this year and the highest level since 2008, Perth digital marketing agency Online Strategy Co is urging business owners to look for the waste in their marketing before they switch it off altogether.

With the big four banks set to lift variable home loan rates from 13 November, household budgets are facing another squeeze, and Online Strategy Co founder Zara Avila says many small business owners will be looking closely at what they spend each month.

It caps off a tough few months for small business owners, who since 1 October have been absorbing card fees they can no longer pass on as surcharges, and who pushed back hard when the ATO announced it would stop accepting credit card payments for tax bills, a move the federal government has since delayed until June 2027.

"When money gets tight, marketing is one of the easiest things to cut, because it's hard to see what it's doing for you," she said. "The problem is that switching it all off can cost you the enquiries that keep the doors open. Most of the time the smarter move is to find what you're paying for that isn't working, and cut that instead."

"A lot of business owners also assume the marketing they've already done will keep carrying them," she said. "It can for a little while, but your competitors don't stop, and by the time you notice the phone's gone quiet, you're paying to win back ground you'd already earned."

Zara, who learnt SEO running her own online store before founding Online Strategy Co in 2021, suggests five checks before cutting:

1. Can you see which marketing brings in enquiries? Look past clicks and rankings to the calls, bookings, leads and sales each channel is actually producing.
2. Are your ads reaching the right people? Before cutting your whole advertising budget, check the search terms your ads are showing for and the locations they're reaching, because money spent on the wrong searches is often the easiest saving to find.
3. Are you paying for work or tools you don't need? Look for duplicate subscriptions, overlapping services from different providers, and extras charged separately, such as AI search optimisation.
4. Are you about to cut something that's still working? Check the enquiries coming from SEO, Google Ads and your Google Business Profile before you decide what goes.
5. Could you change providers without losing everything? Check your notice period and who controls your ad accounts, website and content.

"If you're paying someone to look after your marketing, you should be able to ask what it's achieving and get an answer you understand," Zara said. "And if the numbers aren't there, the answer shouldn't automatically be to spend more. It should be to work out what's not working and why."

Zara is available for interview on what small business owners should check before reducing their marketing budgets.

About us:

Online Strategy Co is a Perth SEO and digital marketing agency, established in 2021 by founder Zara, with an office in the Perth CBD. Its services include monthly SEO, WordPress and Shopify web design, Google Business Profile management and Google Ads management. Every client's main point of contact is here in Perth. More at onlinestrategyco.com.au.

Contact details:

Zara Avila, Founder, Online Strategy Co
[email protected]
onlinestrategyco.com.au