Substrate (Noun)
The Substrate Media Story
At Substrate Media, we believe business growth should be strategic, lean, and built for results, not weighed down by bloated agency models. We were founded to help small and mid-sized service and trade-related businesses (including professional services, trades, and building material suppliers) compete smarter and scale faster.
Our model is simple:
Deliver world-class marketing expertise for small and medium sized businesses, powered by leading digital marketing strategy, technology and AI, without the traditional agency overhead.
14+ years
Experience delivering digital marketing and media solutions
$20m+
Expertly managed PPC Google Ads that drive traffic, leads, and sales.
4.9 Rating
Trusted by 31 customers, proving our quality and reliability.
Substrate Media
Your Trusted Partner
The name “Substrate” reflects our role: the foundation for your business growth. We work beneath the surface to design advertising and marketing systems that fuel visibility, trust, and real commercial outcomes.
Substrate isn’t just another marketing agency. We’re a strategic growth partner, combining sharp advice, lean execution, and future-ready digital advertising solutions to help your business move faster, think bigger, and stay ahead.
Meet Mike
Mike founded Substrate Media to give small and medium-sized businesses access to high-quality, commercially-focused marketing, without the overhead, complexity, or misaligned priorities of traditional agencies.
With experience across marketing and agency leadership roles, accounting, consulting, and customer strategy, Mike knows real marketing success isn’t about buzzwords or awards; it’s about building lean, effective systems that drive profitable growth.
After years inside major firms and corporates, he saw how agency models often fail their clients, weighed down by internal costs, culture and inflexible service models. Substrate was built as the genuine alternative: strategic, transparent, commercially sharp, and designed for businesses ready to scale.
Mike’s Mission is Simple:
To help ambitious businesses grow faster, smarter, and stronger, without paying for what doesn’t add real commercial value.
Our Business Model:
Built for a New Era of Marketing
Substrate Media was designed from the ground up to challenge the traditional agency model and to build something better.
Where legacy agencies are bloated with overhead, complexity, and slow-moving structures, we operate lean, fast, and focused.
We combine expert advice, modern outsourcing models, and cutting-edge AI tools to deliver smarter advertising and marketing solutions, without making you pay for things that don’t drive growth.
Our business model means you get:
Senior expertise, not junior execution.
Tailored strategies, not templated services
Flexible, cost-efficient delivery, not bloated retainers.
Access to the latest marketing technology and AI, without the trial-and-error cost.
We don’t believe clients should fund agency overheads or inefficiencies. At Substrate, every dollar you invest goes further, and every strategy we build is designed to move your business forward, not just protect ours.
This is marketing built for today’s small to mid-sized businesses, not yesterday’s agencies
Our Beliefs
At Substrate Media, these aren’t slogans, they’re the principles that shape every strategy we build and every decision we make.
Honesty Always
We tell you what you need to hear, not just what you want to hear, because real growth starts with real conversations.
Integrity in Every Decision.
We act in your best interests, not ours. No hidden fees, no hidden agendas. Just transparent, commercially-sound advice.
Smarter, Simpler, Stronger.
We believe great marketing isn’t complicated. It’s clear, lean, and built to deliver measurable results — powered by strategy, technology, and intelligent execution.
Are we a fit?
We’re not the right choice for everyone, and we’re good with that.
We're a great fit if you:
- Value straight-talking advice over buzzwords or spin.
- Want marketing that’s lean, strategic, and built to drive measurable results.
- See marketing as an investment in growth, not just an expense.
- Are open to using modern tools, AI, and smarter processes to compete and win.
We're probably not the right fit if you:
- Are a Corporate or FMCG business.
- Want a traditional, slow-moving agency loaded with overhead and hand-holding.
- Believe marketing is just about "getting our name out there" with no commercial accountability.
- Prefer style over substance, or flash over results.
- Are not ready to embrace partners using new technologies and business models to deliver you more value.
We’re here to help ambitious businesses move faster, think smarter, and build marketing systems that drive real value, not just noise.
If that sounds like you, let’s talk...
How can we help your business?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Social Media Ads
Content Marketing
The 2X Value Promise
20% Cheaper. Don't Pay Till The Campaign Profits
We guarantee two things to our clients:
- Our service will will be at least 20% cheaper than your last agency
- We won’t charge a cent for our work until your media campaign generates enough revenue to cover both ad spend and our fees.
No Fluff. No excuses. Just simple, commercial results.
Digital Marketing Not Working?
Let's Get That Fixed.
Free 60-min Strategy Session (valued at $500)
What You'll Walk Away With:
- A personalised review of your current marketing strategy
- ROI and lead-gen performance insights
- Clarity on what’s working, what’s wasting money, and what to fix
- A lean, commercial marketing roadmap you can actually use
- Honest answers to your biggest marketing questions
