Social media marketing helps small businesses and large businesses alike, from increasing brand awareness to generating more leads. While you can manage your social media on your own at no to low cost, working with experienced professionals may streamline your social media marketing efforts and result in a larger ROI for your business. Here’s a cost breakdown of social media marketing services in 2024 so you can budget more accurately.
What’s Typically Included in Social Media Marketing Services?
Social media marketing services vary depending on the agency or freelancer you’re working with, but many social media services fall under the following categories:
- Social media strategy: Any research and planning of social media content, including competitive market research, keyword research, auditing existing social content, selecting platforms, determining a posting schedule, developing an influencer marketing strategy, and more.
- Social media creation: Any deliverables for social platforms, including text-based photos, images, videos, audio, stories, reels, captions, infographics, ads or paid campaigns, and more.
- Social media management: Any tasks involving the distribution and management of content across platforms, including scheduling and publishing content, community engagement, reputation management, monitoring performance and reporting analytics, and more.
Here’s an average cost breakdown for common social media marketing services:
| Social Media Service | Average Cost |
| Social Media Strategy | $500 to $5,000 per month |
| Social Media Audit | $300 to $5,000 per audit |
| Competitive Market Research / Analysis | Up to $1,000 per report |
| Influencer Marketing Strategy | Starting at $1,000 per month |
| Content Creation | See Content Creation Cost |
| Paid Social Media Campaigns | $450 to $6,000 per month |
| Social Media Management | $500 to $10,000 per month |
| Community Engagement | $500 to $15,000 per month |
| Analytics/Reporting | $500 to $5,000 per hour |
Costs will vary based on the scope of the sub-services you select.
Social media marketing often overlaps with other digital marketing services, including SEO and content marketing, so some offerings are often bundled and billed together. For instance, costs for content creation services like copywriting or generating visuals may already be covered if you’re currently working with a content marketing agency or freelancer. Because these intersections can make it difficult to estimate the total cost of various social media marketing services, it’s helpful to also understand the related costs of SEO, local SEO, and content marketing when putting together your budget.
Factors Influencing Social Media Management Costs
There aren’t fixed prices when it comes to social media services, which can make it difficult for you to estimate how much to set aside each year. If you want to hire a social media manager or agency, here are the biggest variables that’ll impact your final bill.
Scope of Social Media Services
Your unique social media marketing needs and the complexity of services you opt to pursue in your strategy will impact your overall cost. This is what mostly changes the scope of services:
- Number of social media platforms: It takes time to develop a tailored strategy for each social media platform based on its unique algorithm and content specifications—the more platforms you want managed, the higher the cost.
- Content creation: Creating high-quality content from scratch will be an additional expense if your business doesn’t provide it for the social media expert. Producing large amounts of original content will also drive up costs.
- Project size: Small or one-off projects, such as generating copy for captions, typically cost less than larger projects, like long-term social media management or extensive paid campaigns.
- Community engagement: You’ll likely need to spend more money if your business requires a significant amount of time for community engagement or online reputation management, like responding to negative customer reviews or offering customer service via your DMs.
Size of Your Business
- Small Business Social Media Marketing Cost: $100 to $5,000 per month
- Large Business Social Media Marketing Cost: $500 to $15,000 per month
Typically, small businesses or those that operate within a less competitive industry require less extensive social media marketing services, and often end up paying less than large-scale or highly-niche businesses. The size of your business also determines the scope of services you require, influencing overall costs.
Allie Gritt, Hurrdat’s Social Media Director, says,
“For small businesses, local engagement and brand awareness are top priorities. Large businesses need comprehensive strategies for global reach and engagement.”
Social media marketing for local businesses is usually limited to the immediate area, which makes for a more straightforward and less costly social media marketing strategy. At the same time, a national company usually calls for more complex marketing strategies, including larger-scale campaigns optimized for multiple locations. Targeting a wider audience is more intensive and ultimately more expensive.
In-House vs Outsourced
- Freelancer: $
- Marketing Agency: $$
- In-house: $$$
You have a choice in who you hire to complete your social media work—an in-house social media team, freelancer, or full-service marketing agency. No matter which route you choose, the overall cost will depend on the skills and experience levels of the individuals you hire.
An in-house marketing team gives you more control and consistency across platforms, but can be costly because you have to pay a salary around $58,000 (and potentially offer benefits) to everyone on the team. Or you could hire a social media freelancer to save money on benefits, but you might face issues with unreliable communication and inconsistent or low-quality work.
However, working with a full-service digital marketing agency may be a worthwhile investment for the dependability and quality of work they can offer. Though this solution comes with a higher price tag, businesses generally experience better results, more expertise, and less friction throughout the process.
Common Social Media Service Pricing Options
Before you negotiate rates with anyone you’re hiring to do social media marketing for your business, you have to understand the pricing models, how they work, and which circumstances you’d choose one over the others. Below are the most common ways that social media managers and freelancers charge their clients, as well as benefits and downsides of each option.
Hourly Rate
- Freelance Social Media Expert: $15 to $150 per hour
- Social Media Marketing Agency: $50 to $300 per hour
Social media marketing hourly rates fluctuate based on the expertise of the professionals you hire and the type of services you need them to complete. More complex tasks result in higher prices because they take longer to finish and require more expertise. This model is best for specific tasks like consulting and one-off social media projects. It’s a great way to start negotiating if you want your hire to prove their capabilities before agreeing to a longer-term or flat-rate payment plan.
Monthly Retainer
- Freelance Social Media Expert: $500 to $10,000 per month
- Social Media Marketing Agency: $1,000 to $20,000 per month
This is when professionals reserve a set number of hours each month to complete your desired social media services. If you want a fixed, predictable monthly fee for a predetermined set of tasks, monthly retainers are well-suited for your business. This social media pricing also works for those needing ongoing support and long-term social media marketing assistance. Although this pricing plan may initially seem more costly, monthly retainers can save you money in the long run, as you’re paying for a combination of services rather than having to pay for each one separately.
Performance-Based
- Freelance Social Media Expert: Varies
- Social Media Marketing Agency: Varies
In this model, you pay the agency or freelancer based on how effectively your social media content performs based on pre-determined goals like impressions, audience growth rate, conversion rate, return on ad spend (ROAS), and more. That said, overall costs depend on how well a social media marketing campaign is executed and whether certain performance benchmarks are achieved. While this model provides an incentive for social media experts to do exceptional work, it can be challenging to predict how much a performance-based pricing model will cost you until the work is already done.
Project-Based
- Freelance Social Media Expert: $500 to $5,000 per project
- Social Media Marketing Agency: $500 to $50,000 per project
If you’re seeking social media services for a specific campaign or project with a clear scope, but don’t foresee a need for ongoing services, you might want to find someone that offers project-based pricing. This social media pricing structure involves agreeing to a fixed fee for a particular campaign or set of services. A lump sum payment offers predictability, which can be helpful when budgeting. However, remember that this model limits tasks to that one specific project, meaning you’ll have to continue maintaining your social media presence on your own once work for that project has completed.
Package-Based
- Basic: $200 to $3,000 per month
- Mid-Level: $450 to $5,000 per month
- Premium: $500 to $10,000 per month
With package-based pricing, an agency or freelancer sets a price for a bundled group of services, often offering tiers that increase in cost and more advanced services. Basic packages may cover posting five times per month and offer basic data reporting, for example, whereas more involved services like community management may be limited to more expensive packages. This model helps social media experts streamline their services, and typically offers you a better deal than what you’d be paying for the individual services on their own.
How to Set Your Social Media Rates
Whether you own a marketing agency or work as a social media freelancer, it can be challenging to figure out how much to charge clients for your social media services. Here are some tips for determining appropriate social media marketing rates:
- Research competitors: Determine how much freelancers and agencies in your area charge for services like yours. Take current market prices and industry standards into account to ensure you set competitive rates.
- Consider your expertise: If you have years of experience or a wide range of marketing skills under your belt, you’ll likely have higher rates than those with fewer credentials.
- Calculate expenses: Consider the expenses associated with your services to set rates that align with your desired profit margin. Be sure to factor in the cost of social media scheduling tools and other software, as well as estimate how much time and effort will be required to complete various tasks.
- Evaluate client needs: When creating pricing plans, consider each client’s unique needs. You may want to offer custom proposals for each client, modifying your prices based on their specific requirements.
- Choose a strategic pricing model: Select a pricing model that aligns with your preferences and business offerings.
- Be transparent: Justify your rates by clearly outlining what services are included in your pricing, providing a concrete timeline for clients, and showcasing a solid portfolio of your past work.
- Adjust rates over time: Modify your rates periodically based on client feedback, changing industry standards, and your growing business.
Is Social Media Marketing Worth It?
Yes, effective social media marketing can help businesses of all sizes connect with a larger audience and generate leads, resulting in a significant ROI. For example, when Omaha Whiskey Fest wanted to increase ticket sales, Hurrdat Marketing partnered with them to build and launch a social media campaign—within the first week, average ticket sales doubled.
Along with boosting conversions, social media marketing can also help your business:
- Raise brand awareness
- Strengthen brand loyalty
- Enhance audience engagement
- Build customer relationships
- Increase website traffic
- Attract new talent
Need help with social media management? Hurrdat Marketing’s experienced team of social media experts offers comprehensive social media marketing services, including content creation, paid campaigns, and more. Contact us today to learn more!
