Recommended media budget, first six months
To: Lesego Mosupye CA(SA), CFO cc: Kegomoditswe Sethosa (CEO), Wendy Toscano, Thatiso Dube From: Jashughatt Media (Pty) Ltd ยท Date: 8 June 2026 Re: What the ad budget should be, alongside the R135,000 monthly fee
The short version
This sits next to the spend master (what you pay the platforms now) and the growth model. The rule is simple: total spend holds at today's level while we test, and rises only when a test earns it. The media budget is separate from the R135,000 fee and is paid to the platforms at cost, never marked up by us.
What you spend now
Read live from the accounts (May 2025 to May 2026). On the recent monthly run-rate (the last few months), with both channels live, you spend about R176,000 a month: Google about R84,000 and Meta about R92,000, with no TikTok. Across the full 13 months the totals are R1,097,415 on Google and R759,858 on Meta (active only from September 2025), R1,857,273 in all; full detail is in the spend master. The Meta account was paused on an unpaid balance at audit, so step one there is to settle and resume, not to add budget.
What we recommend
Two steps. The test phase holds total spend flat and funds a TikTok test entirely from proven waste. The scale phase rises only on a measured result.
| Channel | Test phase (months 1 to 3) | Scale phase (months 4 to 6) | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | about R73,000 | about R80,000 | Stop two near-dead campaigns; split brand from non-brand |
| Meta | about R92,000 | about R95,000 | Settle and resume; recover signal, seed buyer audiences |
| TikTok (test) | about R11,000 | about R40,000 | Measured test with a holdout; scales only on result |
| Total per month | about R176,000 | about R215,000 | Flat while we test; rises only on a result |
The TikTok test is funded by reallocation, not new money. About R137,668 (R78,620 plus R59,048) currently goes to a YouTube reach campaign and a Botswana campaign that drove 6 purchases between them in 13 months (Google Ads, read live from the account; full detail in the diagnostic). That money funds the test. There is no new spend in the test phase.
Across the six months this is about R1.17M of media, within the growth model's plan. The step up to about R215,000 a month happens only if the TikTok test proves it.
Why this split
Each channel reaches a buyer at a different cost per visit (PROXY benchmarks, SA e-commerce norms): TikTok about R2.00, Google non-brand about R4.50, Meta about R5.50. TikTok is the cheapest way to reach the core 16-to-28 audience, and is the one platform that audience uses where there is no spend today. We measure the test on a holdout, on your own terms, not on a platform's own attribution claim.
Indicative figures, to be confirmed against the first weeks of live data and your own targets. Media budget is exclusive of the R135,000 monthly fee and is paid to the platforms at cost.