When we think about social media marketing cost, it’s not just a case of paying for ads. In theory, any organic content you create is free, while advertising is paid, usually per click. But we also need to consider:
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- The cost of scheduling tools
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- The cost of content creation tools
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- The cost of outsourcing.
When you outsource your social media marketing, you may benefit from having all three of these costs rolled into one. So, how much does social media marketing cost? Let’s break it down by service and value.
Contents:
The value of outsourcing your social media
As of January 2023, the UK has been home to 57.1 million active social media users – quite a staggering number! This means that if you’re looking to boost your company’s profile and generate more leads socials are the place to be. Here are a few ways outsourcing your social media tasks to a professional can prove cost-effective.
If you’re going to advertise, you need to be very careful with budgets as they are based on cost-per-click. With limited content marketing know-how, this can be tricky to fine-tune. But by using a professional, you can cut down on costs from targeting the wrong audiences or keywords. Equipped with digital marketing techniques such as customer segmentation, they’ll match up the right channels with the right type of content to get each of your target demographics clicking.
Paid social media
Similarly, managing paid social media is not easy – often, staff need to take exams to get to a strong standard. Courses like Facebook for Business cost up to £110, although you can access a roster of hundreds of social media marketing classes via LinkedIn Learning at the price tag of $19.99/month. Or if you’re up to the challenge, you could cram in as many courses as you can during the free month’s trial. But, as you might expect, this is not the best way to learn and retain knowledge.
Content creation
Social media content is more than just words – it’s images, graphics, videos, interactive elements. For real hard-hitting content, you need to use the right tools to do this, which can be costly. For example, even a simple design tool like Canva can cost up to £130 per year for full access to a library of premium graphics, fonts and images.
Similarly, professional-looking video content will require editing tools like the Adobe Creative Suite. This costs up to £99.80 per year– not to mention the time and costs of training. By working with an experienced professional, you can save on these costs. Professionals use the same software for multiple clients, so there is no extra cost to them to use this software for you. The result? Big savings!
Sourcing images
As sourcing high-quality images is an integral part of maintaining your online brand, you may also want access to a library of stock images. There are a number of free stock image websites out there, but you will again find that they are somewhat limited. While the free ones might not have the sleekest images or an extensive library, you’ll certainly be able to find enough high-quality copyright-free images to do the job for small projects.
If your campaigns require a greater deal of flexibility and choice image-wise, outsourcing your social media costs here is a canny way of shaving a little off the overall price as the agency or other professional will pay for the subscription, managing and sourcing assets for you.
Scheduling social media
Free social media scheduling
Like Canva, you can use social media scheduling tools for free – but the functions are very limited. Take, for instance, TweetDeck. This tool allows you to view multiple timelines in one handy dashboard in addition to tracking and scheduling your Twitter content. Likewise, you can use Meta Business Suite to create, schedule and manage posts and stories across your Facebook page and Instagram account.
The problem with these free tools, however, is that they can be buggy, and they lack more specialised customisation. But most of all, the UI and functionality of other scheduling tools are simply better. But that’s not to say that these free social media tools aren’t useful to beginners just beginning to learn the ropes or small business owners looking to eliminate the time synch of scheduling posts manually.
Paid social media management tools
You really get what you’re paying for. Often social media schedulers will include handy features such as automated replies to comments, generative AI and advanced analytic reporting to support you in calibrating your social media strategy. These tools provide key insights such as the most popular hashtags, and real-time reporting on the best times for engagement, and outsourcing will give you this data without having to pay for the software upfront.
Advanced tools like Hootsuite can cost up to £660 per month and can take some time to master, which is why they are better off in the hands of professionals who can exert their specialised knowledge.
What is the social media cost for outsourcing?
By all means, you can manage your social media in-house if budgets are tight. However, as you can see from the ‘added costs’ above, it is far more cost-effective long-term to bring in the professionals. So, how much should outsourced social media cost?
What you’ll get from outsourcing
Although some critics might denote social media as one of the “easier” marketing channels to handle, don’t let them sway you. Given social media’s power in terms of customer retention and SEO signals, it really shouldn’t be an afterthought. When you outsource your social media, you should expect:
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- A full social media marketing strategy
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- The benefits of scheduling and content creation tools
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- Proofreading and sense-checking wording
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- Visual media editing
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- Reports and feedback
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- Expert guidance and scalability.
The benefits of outsourced social media
The reasons behind hiring an agency to do your social media are manifold, but more often than not they’ll boil down to one key motivation: you need help filling in the gaps.
Working with a social media agency is ideal if you need more hands on deck, your team lacks the specialism required for a particular project or you want to exploit their deeper expertise of specific social media channels. With a specialist at the helm, you can rest assured that you’re saving time for your in-house team, beating your competition and reducing your overall social media marketing cost with a professional, more targeted service.
Factors influencing pricing
If you have a prefatory scroll on a freelancer service platform like Fiverr or Upwork, you’ll find that the fees associated with social media marketing will vary widely. Then go look at a bunch of different agencies and they will vary even more, making the decision especially difficult for those uncertain of what they’re looking for.
Generally speaking, however, cost factors influencing how much professionals charge will include the following:
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- Specialism required
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- Number of social media channels used
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- Strategy such as PPC, influencer marketing or social shopping
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- Reach and/or business size
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- Customer engagement speed, volume and consistency
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- The quantity of original content required
How much do social media marketing agencies charge?
Social media management cost structure for agency rates
Agencies will charge you between £700 and £2,000 for the initial strategy. After that, you may enter into a monthly retainer, which is usually charged at agency day rates.
The average day rate for social media management in the UK is £350. So, let’s look at an example package for small businesses:
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- Initial strategy = £700
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- Monthly management to include reporting, content creation, editing and scheduling at 2 days per month = £700 per month.
Over a year you can expect to pay £9,100. The average salary of a social media manager in Britain is £25,818 – not to mention the training and additional software!
Freelancers
While you can expect to see a social media marketing from an agency cost between £300 and £2000+ a month, depending on the scope and specialism required, freelancers tend to charge daily or hourly rates.
On average, freelancers may charge from £15 to £60 per hour subject to the complexity that the campaign demands. Take care to research industry-standard fees; you may need some knowledge yourself to check you’re getting the right person for the job. Always make sure that your social media partners are reputable professionals, so you can make the most of the budget you have available.
Platform-specific agencies and freelancers
Another option available to businesses looking to broaden their social media repertoire is seeking out platform-specific services to plug a hole in your overall strategy. For example, you may find the services of a professional offering Pinterest management reaches a whole new audience. Likewise, TikTok could bring swathes of traffic to your business through specialised influencer marketing.
Outsourcing your social media this way is a clever solution for filling in those gaps, but if you are looking for an overarching strategy it’s best to stick with an agency that is a jack of all trades and can offer cohesive, holistic campaigns across platforms.
How to choose an agency (or freelancer) to outsource your social media marketing
Hiring professionals to manage your social media campaigns is all about finding the right talent at the right price. As we’ve mentioned, there’s no shortage of agencies and freelancers out there, so how do you find the perfect match to take care of the proverbial key? Well, you could start by asking these 4 key questions.
1. Do our values align?
As you’ll be working closely with your social media partners and engaging in detailed conversations about your brand, you’ll want to ensure that you share the same vision and values. Check out their website and social media feeds to see what makes them tick. If you strive for the same things, you will likely experience smoother communication and a more fruitful partnership.
2. Are they committed to measuring results?
What’s a campaign without stats to back up its effectiveness? Before you sign up for the services of a social media agency, ensure that they provide detailed analytics, benchmarking and key performance indicators (KPIS) to support your SMART goals. With this information, they can track and measure your business’ progress, tailoring their approach as things develop. The data will also give you an idea of how well they are performing.
3. Can they offer expertise in my area or industry?
Finding an agency with expertise in your particular niche or industry is a bonus. If they can provide testimonials and examples of previous projects with similar brands, even better! This way you’ll know you’re in good hands.
4. Are their fees realistic?
Finally, you should do your research on their social media marketing costs. Are they industry standard? Or are they significantly lower? If an agency or freelancer offers their services at a suspiciously low price, it’s best to avoid them as it’s likely that your brand won’t receive the care and attention it deserves.
Save and get better content
Outsourcing your social media management not only saves you money, but valuable time and staff resources. While the upfront social media marketing cost may seem expensive, pinpointing the right strategy to reach prospective clients and retain loyal customers will set you up for long-term success. It’s all about the long game, not instant success.
To get more from your social channels, ask beefound.agency about our managed social media services. We’ll help you ‘bee’ found online today.
