The short answer: NDIS marketing ROI is strong because a single participant is worth a great deal over time. Work out your own value per participant (average annual funding you bill, multiplied by how long they stay), then measure cost per qualified enquiry and cost per participant by channel and compare the two. Because participant values run from tens of thousands to several hundred thousand dollars, even a handful of extra participants a year usually pays for the marketing many times over.
Most marketing maths assumes a low-value, one-off sale. NDIS marketing is the opposite. You are not trying to win a $50 transaction, you are trying to win a funded relationship that can run for years. That single difference is why marketing returns in this sector look so different from retail or e-commerce.
The scale is large and growing. As at 31 March 2025 the Scheme supported 717,001 participants, an increase of around 24,000 in a single quarter, according to the NDIA quarterly report. Each of those participants holds a funded plan, and most hold it for a long time. In our experience running campaigns for providers, the providers who win are the ones who treat each enquiry as the start of a multi-year relationship rather than a lead to be closed once.
Work out your own number first, because it drives every other decision. Take the average annual funding you actually bill per participant, multiply by the average number of years a participant stays with you, and you have a rough lifetime value. The two inputs vary enormously by support type.
For supported independent living (SIL) the figures are striking. An Australian National Audit Office performance audit found that, as at 30 June 2022, the average annual payment for a participant receiving SIL was $340,900. SIL participants made up only about five per cent of all participants but accounted for roughly 32 per cent of total participant payments. For participants not receiving SIL, the average annual payment was around $39,500. Across the whole Scheme, the average plan budget sits in the mid-$40,000s to low-$50,000s per participant per year, a range echoed by provider summaries of the NDIS quarterly data.
Now layer on retention. Participants tend to stay. The NDIA reports that 80 per cent of participants aged 15 and over who have been in the Scheme for more than two years report greater choice and control, a sign of how long relationships typically run. A participant who joins at any age can remain funded for years, and many remain until 65. So even a conservative tenure of three to four years turns an average plan into a six-figure relationship, and a SIL placement into something far larger.
A note on the word “worth”. This is gross billings, not profit, and you should run your own margin on it. The point is not the exact figure but the order of magnitude: in the NDIS, the cost of acquiring a participant is tiny next to what that participant is worth over the life of the relationship. That is the whole reason the ROI case is so strong.
Our free growth plan models your cost per participant.
Lifetime value is only half the equation. The other half is what it costs you to win a participant, and most providers never measure it. Here is the chain we use.
Two practical points from running this for providers. First, track by channel, not in aggregate, or you will keep funding the channel that looks busy rather than the one that converts. Second, attribute on first qualified contact and confirm conversions monthly against your intake or CRM records, because the gap between an enquiry and a signed service agreement in the NDIS can be weeks. Measuring this way turns marketing from a cost you hope is working into a number you can hold an agency, or yourself, to account on.
There is no single best channel, only the right mix for your support type and stage. In our experience three patterns hold up.
SEO usually wins on long-run ROI. Enquiries compound as your pages rank, and the effective cost per enquiry falls over time because you are not paying per click. It is slower to start, so it suits providers who can wait a few months for momentum. Google Ads buys speed. Cost per enquiry is higher and you pay for every click, but you can be in front of someone searching for your service today, which makes it the right tool for a new location or a sudden vacancy to fill. Coordinator and referral outreach often converts best for SIL and coordination-led services, because the introduction comes with built-in trust, and one support coordinator can refer many participants over time.
The strongest position is to run more than one and move budget toward whatever is producing the lowest cost per participant that quarter. A provider relying on a single channel is one algorithm change or one coordinator moving on away from a real problem.
Three errors cost providers the most. The first is measuring leads instead of participants: a channel that floods you with cheap enquiries that never convert is worse than a quieter channel that sends people who sign. The second is ignoring intake: slow or inconsistent follow-up quietly halves the ROI of every channel you fund, and fixing it is free. The third is judging marketing on a one-month view when participant relationships run for years, which makes any channel with a longer payback, SEO especially, look worse than it is. Measure cost per participant against lifetime value, give each channel a fair window, and the picture usually corrects itself.
It depends on the support type, but the numbers are large. The average NDIS plan budget sits in the mid-$40,000s to low-$50,000s per participant per year, and participants tend to stay for years, so a typical relationship runs into six figures. SIL is far higher again: an Australian National Audit Office audit put the average annual payment for a SIL participant at $340,900 as at 30 June 2022. Remember this is gross billings, so apply your own margin.
Track cost per qualified enquiry by channel, then your enquiry-to-participant conversion rate. Divide one by the other to get a cost per participant, and compare that to your participant lifetime value. Attribute on first qualified contact and confirm conversions against your intake or CRM records each month, because the gap between enquiry and signed agreement can be weeks.
There is no single winner. SEO usually delivers the best long-run ROI because enquiries compound and the cost per enquiry falls over time. Google Ads costs more per enquiry but produces results immediately, which suits a new location or an urgent vacancy. Coordinator and referral outreach often converts best for SIL and coordination-led services. Running two or three together and shifting budget to the best performer is strongest.
Usually yes, because participant values are high relative to campaign costs. A cost per participant of a few hundred dollars against a relationship worth six figures is a return most industries never see. Even a modest campaign that adds a few participants a year typically returns several times its cost.
It depends on the channel. Google Ads can produce enquiries within days, so payback can come inside the first month or two once one or two participants sign. SEO is slower to build, often three to six months, but the cost per enquiry keeps falling after that. Because participant relationships run for years, judge any channel over at least a quarter rather than a single month.
There is no fixed benchmark, because it depends on your support type and conversion rate. The useful test is relative: as long as your cost per participant is a small fraction of that participant’s lifetime value, the channel is working. Given average plan budgets in the mid-$40,000s and far higher for SIL, an acquisition cost in the hundreds of dollars is comfortable. Compare channels against each other and against your own lifetime value rather than chasing an external number.
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