Investing in social media management can greatly benefit your business by increasing brand awareness, generating leads, driving traffic to your website, and enhancing community engagement. However, it’s important for business owners to understand how the costs associated with social media translate into tangible business results.
If you’re looking to gain support for your social media strategy and create a budget, this guide on social media management costs will provide the valuable insights you need to plead your case.
Let’s start by examining what is typically included in the cost of social media management, comparing the costs associated with social media agencies for varying types of campaigns, and determining the average expenditure for businesses. Let’s delve into the details.
Cost of Organic Social Media Management
The cost of social media management varies from agency to agency, but what else is taken into account?
- Strategy – Do you want the agency to create a strategy for different platforms to meet your business objectives? Most likely this would include a content calendar,hashtag research, and best practices research, such as the best time of day to post and the frequency.
- Content creation – Do you want the agency to create content for you to post? As this is more time consuming and requires more skill and tools this will increase the overall cost.
- Full social media management – As well as creating the strategy and the content to post, this option includes all the scheduling and community management. This is the most involved level and again increases the price. The benefit of this is that you leave it in the capable hands of the experts who are dedicated to maximising results on each platform.
According to Adzooma the current average costs for organic social media management are:
- £650 per day
- £1,120 for a monthly retainer
- £400 per campaign
- Content creation
- Strategy
Other factors that will have an effect on cost is how many platforms you want to be present on. Each platform has its own unique audience and functions so choosing the right platform for your business is crucial to success. Not sure what social media platform your business belongs on? Read our blog to help you define your social media strategy.
Cost of Social Media Ad Campaigns
To execute a successful platform-specific advertising campaign, it’s advisable to allocate a minimum of £300 per month, according to Tony Ilias, Digital Glue’s head of digital marketing. He emphasises that often the cost can be higher, so consider this figure a starting point. It will be different each time based on your targeting.
“Before finalising your social ad campaign budget, pinpoint your goal, campaign duration, and audience. Also make sure you have chosen the right channel for PPC ads. These factors will help you choose target strategies and platforms that will work best for your campaign—which ultimately determines your budget.”
Your campaign metrics will highlight areas where you may need to optimise your strategy to achieve your desired objectives, so ensure you have some flexibility in your ad budget. Find out more about average PPC costs for Facebook and LinkedIn.
Are There Additional Costs Associated with Social Media Management?
We’ve covered different levels of social media management and paid advertising, but you might be wondering if there are any additional costs to consider when hiring a social media agency.
- Content creation: Some agencies may charge additional fees for some content creation. For example, video content might incur an additional charge due to the time and skill needed to create impactful videos.
- Influencer collaboration: If your social media strategy includes working with influencers you will need to determine a budget for influencer fees. Working with micro-influencers can cost anywhere from £100 to £3000. The amount usually depends on the type of content you want them to produce and how many followers they have.
As ever, the real answer to the question is it depends. As outlined in this blog, there are several factors that contribute to the overall cost of social media management and it is important to carefully consider your strategy. The full cost of social media management can range from £400 for a one off campaign to £3000 for full scale 3 month social media management that incorporates paid campaigns.
If you need help defining your strategy get in touch with Digital Glue. Our team of experts are happy to help.
