Social Media Management Pricing: What Are the Costs for 2024?

On average, most US businesses spend $100-$5,000 per month on social media management, but large businesses can end up spending as much as $40,000+ per month cultivating their online image with campaigns, collaborations, and content.

How much you spend will vary greatly depending on whether you manage social media in-house, hire freelancers for campaigns, or hire an agency to manage your social media for you, like one of the best social media marketing companies for small businesses. Other factors that can influence how much you spend include the industry you’re in and the size of your business. Here’s a breakdown of what you can expect to spend:

• Small business: $100-$5,000 per month
• Medium-sized business: $5,000-$15,000 per month
• Large businesses: $15,000-$40,000+ per month

These amounts may seem like a lot, but remember that a strong social media presence will help you build an authentic connection with your audience – and positively engaging with customers like this is the only way to ensure that they keep coming back.

In this article, we’ll outline how much you can expect to pay for professional social media management tools and services, so that you can decide for yourself whether they are a worthy investment.

Social Media Management Pricing: Overview

Here’s what you can expect to pay for different types of social media management services and tools:

• Social media software tools: $0-$3,500 per month
• Social media agency: $500-$10,000 per month
• Freelance social media managers: $35-$350 per hour
• Social media ads: $0.10-$5 per click, per ad

You may have noticed a wide price range for social media management software. That’s because many software providers have low-cost or free plans for very small businesses looking to manage social media in-house. One example is Zoho Social, a low-cost DIY social media management tool. Using it will cost you either $10, $30 or $40 (billed annually) per brand per month. There are also providers like Hubspot that cater to larger businesses, with prices ranging from $800 to $3,600 per month.

Cost of Social Media Management Software

Social media management software can cost anywhere from $0 to $3,500 per month, although most businesses will pay in the $30-$1,000 per month range. In most cases, pricing for social media management tools is dependent on the number of users and the number of social channels you’re posting across. This is why costs can vary widely.

Using a social media management tool is generally cheaper than hiring freelancers or an agency to run your social media, as long as you don’t hire new talent for specialized social media roles, since you’ll only be paying for the software. If your existing staff are skilled with social media platforms and can dedicate at least 15 hours a week, using just social media tools, vs. a separate agency, could be a good option for your business. Implementing tools allows you to replace the manual effort of tasks, such as being online to post at desired times and logging into various accounts one by one.

Here’s what you can expect to pay with popular social media management tools:

How Much Does it Cost to Outsource Social Media Management?

When outsourcing social media management, you generally have two options:

• Hire a social media marketing and management agency: $500-$10,000 per month
• Work with freelancers: $35-$350 per hour

Social Media Marketing Agency Costs

Hiring a social media marketing agency to manage your social media will cost between $500 and $10,000, depending on your needs. The majority of businesses pay between $500 and $5,000.

You’ll often pay for social media marketing services on a monthly retainer, ensuring you have a regular set of services for a fixed, predictable rate. Some agencies have fixed monthly price plans, while others offer tailored solutions.

Below we’ve outlined some examples of monthly costs for social media marketing companies with good reputations:

Social media marketing should be a key pillar in your digital marketing cost strategy because you need it to deliver measurable results like improved conversions and more website traffic. When done right, you should see a healthy return on investment.

Hidden costs of social media marketing agencies

In an ideal world you’d know exactly what your monthly marketing costs would be. However, some additional charges may apply if you choose to hire an agency to handle your social media.

• Setup fees ($100-$1,000): . Also known as onboarding fees, you may have to pay a one-off charge to cover the introduction and training it takes to get your account started. Lyfe Marketing charges $300 in onboarding fees.
• Ad spend ($1,500-$3,000): If your marketing strategy includes paid post promotion, you’ll have to pay each platform. These costs are never included in agency retainer fees. Depending on your campaign goals, this could call for an extra $50-$100 per day or $1,650-$3,000 per month.
• Premium customer support: Some partners offer basic support as standard, with the option to upgrade for quicker and more direct assistance.
• Additional channels ($150): Look closely at your service agreement because only some social media channels will be included. You can typically pay $150 for each extra channel (for instance TikTok, LinkedIn, or Pinterest).
• Influencer fees (highly variable): If you want your brand name dropped by a content creator with an audience that trusts their opinions, this will cost extra. You may be asked to pay per piece of content or negotiate a longer-term agreement that includes multiple posts over a period of time.

Social Media Marketing Freelancer Costs

Social media marketing freelancers generally charge by the hour. Highly-rated social media managers can charge between $35 to $350 per hour, though most fall between $50-$85 per hour.

Depending on how many hours you contract freelancers for, and how many you use, this can amount to $500-$10,000 per month, roughly the same as an agency. Of course, you can always find someone willing to do the work for less money but beware of poor-quality marketing that could harm your business’s reputation.

So, if experienced freelancers cost the same as agencies, why use them? Some businesses hire freelance social media managers to run high-impact campaigns, while others prefer the flexibility of using freelancers, rather than entering into a long-term contract with an agency.

How to find social media marketing freelancers

You can easily find peer-reviewed social media managers through platforms like UpWork and Fiverr. Freelancers are generally rated and reviewed by companies who’ve used their services, so it’s easy to find well-endorsed professionals. Respective freelancer platforms also sometimes endorse certain freelancers as reliable for quality and punctuality.

There are also specialist agencies that have a network of freelancers. They offer a more thorough level of vetting and will match you to a specific pool of professionals according to your business’s needs. This option is usually more expensive. For example, MarketerHire’s requirement is a minimum monthly spend of $3,000-$6,000 for 10 hours of work.

Cost of Hiring an In-house Social Media Manager vs a Social Media Agency

As we’ve established, most businesses will pay between $500 and $5,000 per month for social media management services via an agency. So, let’s contrast that with the cost of hiring a full-time social media manager.

Social media manager salaries can vary wildly depending on the state you live in, but, the US average salary for a social media manager is between $50,000 and $70,000 per year. Per month, that’s $4,166-$5,833.

This is slightly higher than the average cost of hiring a social media management agency, but that doesn’t mean you should necessarily go for that option.

There are extra benefits to having your own dedicated staff member. A social media manager who is loyal to your company will know your business like the back of their hand. They’ll understand your brand’s tone and image better than most agencies. Frequent contact with internal stakeholders will ensure each post aligns strongly with your business strategy and values.

Plus, if you’re the type of business that would need to spend $10,000+ per month on an agency, it might be more cost effective to hire an in-house specialist.

On the other hand, hiring a social media agency is likely to be far more affordable for most small businesses. You’ll have to rely on your instincts to judge how well your chosen agency’s staff can understand and interpret your requests.

What to Ask When Hiring a Social Media Professional

Before you hire anyone, we recommend you ask any potential social media managers, whether they’re a prospective employee, freelancer, or agency, how they will achieve your specific business goals. You must also examine evidence of their past campaigns.

• How well do you understand my target market/industry?
• How will you approach content strategy and planning?
• What tools do you use to track performance?
• How will you ensure I get the best value for my advertising budget?

How Much Should a Small Business Pay For Social Media Management?

How to Do Social Media Management on a Small Budget

You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars each month to manage your social media. Here’s how to do it on a small budget:

1. Use entry-level software: If your business can dedicate one hour of work per day to social media, then you can manage it yourself. Social media management platforms like Zoho Social or Buffer have plans for small businesses that let you manage 1-10 social platforms for $5-$30 per month. If you want to get creative with graphics, you can also use platforms like Canva, which has a free plan or a $90 per month plan for small teams.
2. Hire inexpensive freelancers: Some entry-level freelancers only charge $35 to $55 per hour for social media management on an outsourcing platform like UpWork.com. If you’re really trying to get the lowest rates possible, you can outsource to English-speaking countries like India, the Philippines, Malaysia, or Singapore.
3. Use paid ads with caution: The cost of social media advertising is extremely variable so we’d suggest you test out paid ads one at a time, and only on one channel (your most successful one) at first. Typically, the more clicks and engagement your ad gets, the more you pay, so you don’t want to blow out your year’s marketing budget by doing too much too soon.

Typically, a combination of these methods – in-house work with software, backed by freelancers and paid advertising– will yield the best results for the lowest price.

On a small budget, you won’t be able to push out content as frequently as businesses that spend over $5,000 a month on social media. But, you’ll still be able to grow your reach and your business.

Cost of Social Media Advertising

The cost of social media advertising is highly variable, and depends not only on the social platform you’re posting your ads on, but also on the budget you agree with the platform, and how much engagement your ads get.

Let’s take Meta as an example.

When you run an ad campaign on a Meta platform, like Facebook, you’ll set a certain maximum amount you’re willing to spend. However, you’ll only be charged for each impression (view) or click from a user. This is known as “cost per click” or CPC. This means you can set a campaign budget of $1,000, but you may only be billed $700.

Facebook algorithms actually calculate which ad is likely to achieve the most engagement from certain users and allocate ad space based on an auction system. There are dedicated bidding strategies that can boost your chances of winning ad visibility. It’s complicated – and that’s why most business leaders delegate these calculations to paid marketing or “biddable” specialists. This could be an in-house marketing team, a social media agency, or a freelancer you’ve hired.

Here’s how much you can expect to spend on average for advertising on different social media platforms:

What Social Media Channel has the Best ROI?

Across industries, marketing leaders most frequently named Facebook (29%) as the social media channel that delivered the best return on investment (ROI).

That was followed by Instagram (29%), YouTube (26%), and TikTok (24%). LinkedIn was the best investment for just 16% of respondents.

How to Calculate ROI on Social Media Ad Spend

Here’s how to calculate ROI on social media ad spend, using Facebook as an example.

1. Find out how much your ad cost you

Let’s say you pay $0.97 for Facebook PPC (pay-per-click) ads. This means that’s the amount you pay for each time a customer clicks on your advert link.

Now let’s say you get 1,000 clicks. 1,000 x 0.97 = 970.

That means your ad costs you $970 in total.

2. Add in the cost of social media management and content creation

You now need to add in the cost of content creation and social media management fees, which may be rolled into one package if you hire an agency. Say this is $350 in graphic design fees plus $400 in social media management fees.

So, that’s 970 + 350 + 400 = 1,720

Your total campaign spend is $1,720.

3. Find out how much you earned from your ad

You’ll then need to figure out the total revenue earned from the campaign. You’ll need to track user behavior once they land on your site or store from the social ad.

Say you calculate $3,200 in sales from customers who clicked on the social ad.

4. Subtract your ad spend from your ad revenue

So, to calculate your ROI, you need to subtract the costs of the campaign from the total revenue, and that’s your net profit.

In this case, $3,200 – $1,720 = $1,480.

It’s not a minus number, so that means you’re doing well. However, you may not find every campaign is profitable – and this is normal. It’s better to look at the bigger picture and measure all your paid social campaigns together. Try to analyze how you could improve on your results, either with better targeting or higher-quality ads.

Measures of Good ROI by Industry

Depending on your industry, linking increased revenue to your social media efforts can be a little tricky.

Here are a few metrics that various industries should keep an eye on after a social media campaign:

• Increased website traffic – consultancy and services
• More customers through the door at lunchtimes – food and beverage vendors
• An uptick in sales – ecommerce, designers, resellers, and physical stores
• More bookings – medical and personal services, or hotels
• Better attendance at events (x% more visitors than previous event) – B2B, weddings or events-based businesses

Is Social Media Marketing Worth it?

The majority of businesses and marketers agree that social media marketing is a worthwhile investment. According to current research, 73% of marketers report that their social media marketing efforts have been effective, and 90% say it has increased their business’ exposure.

Although ultimately the benefit of good social media marketing and management is measured in increased revenue, here a few ways increased social media efforts can achieve this:

• Widened brand awareness (reaching new potential customers)
• Improved communication with existing customers, building rapport and understanding
• Increased opportunities to define yourself as a company (including beliefs and values)
• Increased potential to engage with prospective clients using ABM and ABX strategies
• Improved ability to quickly address customer dissatisfaction, concerns, and complaints via social channels