January 24, 2023January 5, 2023

How Much to Charge for Social Media Management 2023 Guide

If you’ve ever wondered, “How much to charge for social media management in 2023?” a standard social media management package will cost $750 per month and cover Instagram and Facebook. Or, for a freelancer to manage your social media, you’ll pay between $285 to $795, depending on how many posts and channels you want to be covered.

It’s more crucial than ever to increase sales as businesses battle through a recession and the Covid-19 pandemic. The use of social media outreach can be a powerful tool for attracting new clients and boosting the loyalty of current ones.

In this article, we’ll explain how much social media management costs, breaking down the price of various services you can afford with your budget.

Table of Contents

Social Media Management Costs Overall

We must first be clear. No social media management fee is universally applicable. Brands will spend differently depending on their unique goals.

However, based on average costs, we determined a comprehensive social media management program is roughly $12,300 per month. This sum accounts for all expenses associated with social media management software, advertising campaigns, and content creation.

Content creation: $5,250 per month
Social advertising: $5,000 per month
Platform management: $2,050 per month
Total: $12,300 per month

Here is a breakdown of the formula we used to arrive at this number.

Launching a Social Channel and Creating Content

Although the cost of launching a social channel is technically free, running the profile and creating a content calendar costs a brand anywhere from $500 to $10,000 per month.

The estimated cost is based on variables like hiring talent. Do you use in-house talent or outsource content creation? For instance, at Sprout, our internal team members manage our content and social media, but we also outsource content creation.

Here are average rates for both:

Social Media Specialist salary: $6,000 per month
Social Media Manager freelance rate: $14-35 per hour
Creator compensation: $100-$425 per post or video

Which channels you use and how frequently you post monthly will also affect the price. For instance, you’ll devote more resources to creating video content for websites like YouTube and Instagram.

Ad Campaigns

To run a successful platform-specific advertising campaign, you should plan to invest at least $5,000 per month, according to Maggie Anderson, digital marketing manager at Sprout. She points out that often the cost can be much higher, so you should consider this number a starting point.

Anderson explains, “Determine your goal, campaign duration, and audience before deciding on your social media advertising budget. You can choose the platforms and targeting strategies that will work the best for your campaign with the help of these factors, which will ultimately affect your budget.”

Be prepared for the overall cost to rise as you use more platforms and run longer campaigns.

You may need to adjust your strategy based on campaign metrics in order to achieve your desired goals, so allow some room in your ad budget for this possibility.

Platform Management

Whether you manage multiple platforms through a social media management tool, an agency partner or both, you will pay around $100-$4,000 per month.

The quantity of inbound messages and mentions you receive, the size of your community, the number of profiles you manage, and the features you employ all have an impact on the cost.

Continue reading to learn more about the costs of working with a social media management agency and using a social media management tool.

How Much Does Social Media Marketing Cost?

In this case, you have two choices. You can either work with a social media management company, which typically charge monthly, or you can hire a freelancer, who usually charge by the hour. Below, we outline the average cost of both options.

Social Media Marketing Company Costs

The services of a social media marketing firm can come in anywhere between $50-$300 per hour depending on the breadth of services you’re looking for.

Taking digital marketing firm BrandLyft for an example. The majority of their clients have given them five-star reviews. Let’s look at some quick-fire stats from Clutch.co:

Hourly charge: $50-$99
Client focus: 80% small business (<$10M)
Cost of a four-month advertising and marketing project in 2021: $10,000-$49,999
Cost of a five-month digital marketing project including social media in 2021: <$10,000

Pricing may not always be done on an hourly or per-project basis. A standard set of services are offered by some social media marketing companies in monthly price packages. You can easily plan month-to-month budgets this way, which can relieve some of the weight from your shoulders.

Here are some examples of the lowest monthly costs for social media marketing companies we’ve found to be high quality:

Social High Rise responds to customer reviews and increases local search traffic: $249
Lyfe Marketing monitors your Facebook and Instagram, sending 12 posts a month: $750
Authentic Agency creates and publishes social media ads: $1,497

Social Media Marketing Freelancer Costs

Nowadays, it’s simple to find peer-reviewed social media managers who are available for freelance work on websites like UpWork and Fiverr. Top-rated and thoroughly checked freelancers who had been recommended by their respective platforms as dependable for quality and punctuality were taken into consideration when determining these prices. You can always find someone willing to do the work for less money, but buyer beware of poor quality marketing which could actually harm your business rather than enhance it.

Here’s an idea of standard costs of custom social media post creation (including research and creative content production):

Four social media posts with relevant hashtags and captions over two channels: $285
10 social media posts across two channels: $395
20 posts across three social media accounts: $595
30 posts across four social media accounts: $795

What Would It Cost to Do Social Media Marketing Myself?

The first cost you’ve got to consider if doing social media marketing in-house is the staff time; the upkeep of one social media channel ideally requires an hour of concentrated work per day. If you’re willing to commit the time to posting regular updates and monitor customer messages, it’s a great way to maintain brand authenticity. Additionally, you can guarantee that the tone and content of every message are consistent.

Using high-quality social media tools, you can do this for nothing or for a low cost. Our top recommendation is Planable, which allows for clear channel oversight and makes it easy for colleagues to work together on making, planning, and approving posts. You can start for free, and plans for upgrading are $13 monthly per user or $26 for better features.

Alternatively, Hootsuite offers a free 30-day trial and a much more comprehensive set of tools. Pricing is $49 monthly per user; $249 monthly for three users or $739 monthly for five users. In the section titled “Are Social Media Marketing Tools a Cheaper Option?” at the bottom of this page, we’ll discuss tool pricing comparisons in more detail.’.

What Social Media Services Will I Get for My Money?

Here’s the question you really want to be answered: “What specifically will I receive in exchange for X thousand dollars?” and it’s important you can give a satisfactory reply when the finance department hears your figures.

Here’s a list of basic social media management services you can expect to receive:

Optimize or create social media profiles from scratch
Develop a content calendar
Create and publish original content (e.g. posts and tweets) to increase brand exposure
Responding to customer questions, reviews and complaints across social platforms
Connect with influencers to broaden the reach of your content

Do some of those sound a little nebulous to you? You might be wondering whether clicks, hearts, shares, and follows actually result in higher sales, turnover, and ROI. It’s true that having more followers doesn’t automatically mean more customers, and it’s not a good goal to just “add more followers” in exchange for your marketing budget. You should give your success criteria more consideration.

Prior to meeting with a potential social media manager for the first time, you should create specific business objectives based on your sector. Here are some examples:

Increased website traffic of at least x% – consultancy and services
More customers through the door at lunchtimes – food and beverage vendors
Uptick in sales – ecommerce, designers, resellers and physical stores
More bookings – medical and personal services
Better attendance at events (x% more visitors than previous event) – hobby clubs or religious groups

Instagram is the number one most used social media channel for marketing purposes, followed by Facebook and then Twitter. Statistics: HubSpot 2021

Don’t forget, however. that there will inevitably be more intangible benefits to polishing up your social media presence. Though more difficult to quantify, you might want to take into account the potential ripple effects of these in terms of better investment opportunities, attracting and keeping talent, and adapting to market changes. To name a few:

Widen brand awareness
Improve brand reputation
Increase opportunities to define yourself as a company (including beliefs and values)
Strengthen customer loyalty
Better communication with customers, building rapport and understanding
Manage customer dissatisfaction, concerns and complaints

To see the larger brand value in the aforementioned, it does take more creative thinking. You always have the choice to invest more directly in social media advertising if your business needs to concentrate on sales and conversions.

If you choose to pay for social media advertising services, these should entail:

Lead generation
Driving website traffic through paid-per-click advertising
Precise audience segmentation and targeted advertising
Run social media advertising campaigns

Three different Facebook ad types are listed by Social High Rise, with monthly prices ranging from $99 to $399.

How Much Does Social Media Marketing Cost Per Month?

It’s important to consider carefully which services, given your monthly budget, you can afford. Generally speaking, your social media manager will cover more social media channels as your budget increases.

To give you a clearer picture, let’s explore the price plans, add-ons, and additional costs charged by two of the best social media marketing companies: Lyfe Marketing and Social High Rise.

Lyfe Marketing Pricing

Lyfe Marketing will handle this for you if you’re having trouble finding the time to upload new posts and respond to comments on social media. Up to ten user comments will be addressed each day, and they will produce original content for your brand.

If you only use Facebook and Instagram and you’re happy with 12 posts a month, you can pay $750 per month plus a setup fee of $150. However, you’ll pay more if you have bigger requirements and ambitions.

A monthly hourly consultation and an account manager are included with every plan to make sure your campaigns are on track. The monthly catch-up is a great opportunity to ask nagging questions about your social media strategy and get professional guidance on how to handle your public image.

Lyfe Marketing Social Media Management Pricing Plans

Starter Plan	Growth Plan	Scale Plan	Custom
Price $750 per month	Price $1350 per month	Price $1550 per month	Price Custom
Features 12 posts per month (images) Facebook and Instagram 10 comment responses per day Sponsored posts Reporting	Features 12 posts per month (vertical video) Facebook, Instagram and TikTok reels 10 comment responses per day Sponsored posts Reporting	Features 20 posts per month (vertical video) Facebook, Instagram and TikTok reels 10 comment responses per day Sponsored posts Reporting	Features Variable posts per month (video and images) Facebook, Instagram and TikTok reels 10 comment responses per day Sponsored posts Reporting

Lyfe Marketing charges a one-off setup fee of $150 for social media management services.

Add-Ons

Add-on	Cost (per month)
Management of each additional social network (such as Twitter or LinkedIn)	$150
Monthly 15-second animation videos	$200

Social High-Rise Pricing

One of the best social media marketing companies for small businesses, Social High Rise’s core social media management plans are cheaper than Lyfe Marketing’s, starting at $249. But it’s unclear how many social media posts this cheapest plan gives you access to. Social High Rise also offers a variety of paid add-ons to bolster your Facebook posts and advertising, ranging from $25 to $399 per month.

Social High Rise Social Media Marketing Pricing Plans

Customer Service	Customer Experience	Customer Delight	The Enterprise Plan
Price $249 per month	Price $349 per month	Price $499 per month	Price Bespoke
Features Dedicated account manager Local search engine optimization Unlimited customer review responses Online customer service for restaurants	Features Reporting dashboard 20+ posts/month on FB + Instagram Local search engine optimization Outreach potential customers	Features Reporting dashboard 20+ posts/month on FB + Instagram Local search engine optimization Unlimited customer review responses	Features A bespoke plan for small to medium-sized businesses with two or more locations

Each plan comes with a one-off setup fee of $199.

Add-Ons

Add-on	Cost (per month)
Twitter add-on package: 2-3 customized tweets per week Build and optimize your Twitter page Customer outreach	$99
Facebook Boost Posts (for quick exposure and targeting current fans)	$25
Facebook Boost Posts+ (for reaching a wider audience)	$50
Facebook Boost Posts Max (for customer retention or reactivation)	$75
Facebook Ads Starter Campaign (small campaigns with a few ads per month)	$99
Facebook Ads Builder Campaign (for growing your audience and promoting events)	$199
Facebook Ads Growth Campaign (for promoting store openings, gift card sales, and online orders)	$399

How Much Do Businesses Spend on Social Media Marketing?

According to research by the Content Factory, the average company in the US spends between $200 and $350 per day on social media marketing. This means total costs can end up somewhere between $6,000 and $10,500 per month, equating to anywhere between $72,000 and $126,000 annually.

These numbers are significantly higher than the ones we’ve provided because they take into account all possible expenses, such as hiring and training internal social media staff. These are things you don’t need to worry about when you work with a social media management company or freelancer – so you can see how you might save money by working with a third party instead of managing your social campaigns in-house.

There is no denying that social media marketing can be expensive, but the benefits of a successful campaign will pay off by assisting your company in attracting new clients and increasing sales. So, in the end, the rewards you’ll gain make it a worthwhile investment.

How Much is Social Media Marketing Worth?

The majority of companies and marketers concur that social media marketing is an investment worth making. According to 2022 stats, 73% of marketers report that their social media marketing efforts have been effective, and 90% say it has increased their business’s exposure.

Additionally, we are aware of the growing popularity of social media marketing. It is anticipated that in 2022, social media advertising will cost $173 million. In fact, social media advertising is currently the second-biggest market in digital ads.

However, how do those numbers affect your company’s bottom line? One way to calculate the ROI (return on investment) of your own social media marketing campaign is to measure your quantifiable goals, such as the number of online form submissions or product purchases you gain, compared to the amount of money you spend on your social media marketing.

As an illustration, suppose you pay $0.97 per click from a customer on your advertisement link, which is the typical price for Facebook PPC (pay-per-click) ads. Let’s say you receive 1,000 clicks now. Overall, you have spent $970. You’ll then need to divide that total spend figure by your average cost of acquiring a new customer in order to get your ROI percentage for Facebook PPC advertising.

Also read: Snapchat Ads Manager: A Beginner’s Guide

Are Social Media Marketing Tools a Cheaper Option?

Using social media tools could be a smart move for your company if your staff members are adept at social media, have the attention span to focus on it for at least an hour each day, and are aware of the constantly shifting trends in your industry. You can use them to eliminate the manual effort involved in tasks like logging into each account one by one and being online to post at predetermined times.

Only the monthly tool fees are due because you’re using your own or your staff’s time. The retainer fee for the agency is avoided. General pricing for social media management tools is dependent on the number of users and the number of social channels you’re posting across. That’s why costs are as wide as $0-$1933 per month.

Here’s a summary of some top social media marketing tools:

A small business could pay $6 per month per social channel (eg, For Buffer’s Essentials plan, choose Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. That will eliminate the inconvenience of having to remember to log in and create a fresh social media post each morning. Buffer has a useful scheduling tool that enables you to compile a lot of social media content in advance.

Signs It’s Time to Change Your Prices Or Your Pricing Model

No matter how long you’ve been in business, these are the warning signs:

You have an influx of work that you can’t handle
You can’t keep up with all of your leads
Everyone who reaches out to you is a “yes” — none of your leads say “no”
You feel resentful and burnt out
You can’t hit your financial goals (such as saving a certain percentage for retirement or expenses and investments that will likely help you grow your business)

Any one of these indicators could indicate that you need to increase your prices or alter your business strategy. It may be time to switch from hourly billing to monthly billing for a predetermined service. Perhaps it’s time to expand your team and outsource work; in that case, you may need to raise your prices in order to maintain a healthy profit margin.

Final Thoughts: How Much to Charge for Social Media Management

It’s important to consider the resources you’ll need to achieve your objectives when designing your social media management budget. While the upfront costs of social media might seem expensive, finding the right mix of tools will set you up for future success.

The development of your social media presence is a marathon, not a sprint, after all. Long-term gains will result from the investments you make today in your management strategy.

The lowest spend you can get away with for social media management is $249 per month with However, that excludes any specially created social media posts with pertinent hashtags and captions. For four of these per month you can expect to pay $285 to a freelance contractor. The services of a highly-rated social media marketing firm such as Authentic Agency start at $1,497 per month.

Editor’s Pick Planable	Buffer	Social Pilot	Sprinklr

Best for Team collaboration	Best for All round social media oversight	Best for Overall audience engagement	Best for Overall social media campaign tool
Price Range Free-$1933 per month	Price Range $5-$100 per month	Price Range $29.75-$127.50 per month	Price Range Pricing on request
Free Trial/Plan	Free Trial/Plan	Free Trial/Plan	Free Trial/Plan