Setting fair prices for your social media services can be daunting, whether you’re just launching your social media marketing agency or you’re already established. How much should you charge for a social media post? What about a campaign? Or a social media content strategy?

If these questions resonate with you, don’t worry. We’ve put together the ultimate guide to help you price your social media services appropriately.

We’ll guide you through pricing models, strategies, and tips on how to design your prices around the services you offer.

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Table of Contents

• • Are You Charging Enough for Social Media Management?

  • What If You’re Starting Out as a Freelance Social Media Manager?

  • How to Determine Your Charges Based on the Services You Offer.

  • Pricing Models and Strategies for Social Media Management.

  • Justifying Your Prices to (Potential) Clients.

  • FAQs About Social Media Management Pricing.

  • Social Media Management Pricing Summary.

Social media management pricing can vary significantly based on your business size, the scope of your work, and your level of experience. As a general guideline, you can expect to charge between $500 to $5,000 per month for social media management services.

If you’re starting out as a freelance social media manager, you might need to settle for charging on the lower end of the spectrum. However, if you have a successful track record in social media marketing, you could justify charging based on your experience.

Figuring out how much to charge for your social media services can seem overwhelming at first, and it’s normal to feel that way. This article will guide you through the basics (and the finer details) to help you craft the best social media pricing plans.

• • • Assess your social media skills and experience

    • Consider the scope of content creation work involved

    • Think about a price range you deem fair

    • Take into account the size of the business (each company has a different marketing budget)

The rates you set should reflect your skill, experience, and the difficulty of the work. Managing a few social media pages is different from planning and executing long-term social media campaigns.

Therefore, it’s essential to consider the type of social media management services you offer before deciding on a price.

How Much to Charge for Social Media Strategy?

Although social media strategy often falls under the umbrella of “social media campaigns” and “social media management,” these three aspects could not be more different from each other. The fact that they are used interchangeably might lead to confusion about pricing and client resistance, which is totally understandable from a human perspective. Would you pay for three different services if, from your standpoint, they sound the same?

This highlights the crucial importance of being clear from the beginning about what a service entails, especially one as seemingly nebulous to “outsiders in the marketing world” as social media strategies.

Identifying audiences and social media channels; setting goals; auditing social media pages; analyzing heaps of data to pinpoint the correct issues to address. All of this is quite advanced, and the pricing should reflect that.

According to our data, most social media marketing agencies in New York charge clients between $60 and $190 per hour* for social strategy.

*Under the following criteria: project mainly handled by Seniors with an estimated completion time of 30 hours.

We should also consider:

• • • Those who devise social media strategies engage in very technical and costly work.
    • Social media strategy services often come with annual or one-time payment pricing.
    • Social media strategies are excellent for new agencies needing cash and to strengthen their portfolio.
    • Social media strategy projects attract two types of new clients: emerging brands needing expert help to build a solid foundation for their social media and established brands unsatisfied with their performance.

Justifying prices to clients (detailed later) will always be part of the agency’s effort, so the clearer you are, the less you’ll have to explain or convince.

How Much to Charge for Social Media Management?

There shouldn’t be much room for interpretation in your pricing. Since social media management can encompass everything from content creation, increasing reach, and engaging with the audience to monitoring and even strategizing, you’ll need to be very specific about what your price includes.

Our data indicates that most social media agencies in New York charge between $40 and $190 per hour for ongoing social media management, with some top-tier agencies charging up to $350 per hour.

How Much to Charge for Customer Retention and Community Building?

Customer retention and community building are also parts of a social media manager’s job. Some companies hire internal teams to handle this, while others outsource it. Depending on the client, this could require full teams or just one person.

The nature of the work can also vary, from responding to direct messages, addressing customer complaints on social media, organizing events, etc. As you can see, there are many variables, so you should consider all these factors when proposing a price to your client.

After conducting research, we’ve found that agencies based in the Midwestern United States charge between $40 and $190 per hour for community management (assuming content creation is also involved), with some top-tier agencies charging up to an astonishing $320 per hour.

How Much to Charge for Social Media Content Creation?

When it comes to social media content creation, the price depends on the scope and size of the project. Some clients may have in-house content creators and hire agencies only for very specific tasks like providing captions, video recording, designing social media assets, writing copy for dozens of posts each week, or any similar work. In any case, this should be priced accordingly.

For example, our figures show that mid-sized local agencies (outside of the major metropolitan areas in the United States) charge between $40 and $160 per hour for ongoing social media content creation. Some top-tier agencies may charge up to $280 per hour.

As always, clarity about the project’s scope will help you determine how much to charge for social media management.

How Much to Charge for Social Media Marketing Campaigns?

Social media campaigns require a lot of work and specific skills ranging from analytical to creative. Moreover, the skills and knowledge needed to plan and implement social media campaigns often overlap, which can complicate pricing. Does your client need an individual social media strategy? Content creation and management? What about the budget? Can they provide figures or at least an approximation? Goals, objectives? Preferred social media platforms? Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?

Our research revealed that social media agencies based in New York charge between $70 and $190 per hour for social media marketing campaigns. This range assumes a one-month project involving strategy, content creation, community management, design, reporting, and analysis. Top-tier agencies may even charge up to $320/hour for the same service.

There are two ways to set this price:

• • • As part of a package
    • Pricing each service individually

Opting for the package comes with the benefit of transparency and clarity. The downside is that sometimes “things happen,” and your packages might not be as comprehensive as you thought. Pricing services individually can give you some wiggle room, but with the added caveats of flexibility: price confusion and potential tensions with the client.

Social Media Marketing Services: Pricing Strategies.

1. Cost-Based Pricing:

Cost-based pricing is one of the simplest pricing strategies. To make a profit, you must sell for more than you spend.

In simple terms, an agency owner calculates the costs of the services and then adds a percentage (which will be the profit) to that price. This results in the selling price.

Advantage: It’s not very heavy on research, as it simply involves adding your desired profit margin to your costs.

Disadvantage: It excludes demand or competition from the equation.

This method is often used by agencies with limited knowledge of the client’s willingness to pay for the service provided. Most agencies that use a pricing structure based on cost plus a markup typically apply a 20% to 50% surcharge on their costs, while more distinguished agencies apply an even higher margin.

As an agency owner, the biggest risk you face with cost-based pricing includes losing clients from the start. Why? Because clients might find the price too high.

2. Competition-Based Pricing:

Competition-based pricing is the most natural approach for a social media management agency because it uses the competitors’ prices as a benchmark. There are three ways to do it:

• • • Set prices higher than the competition.
    • Set prices lower than the competition.
    • Stay within market ranges.

Advantage: Although this strategy is quite research-intensive (even assuming that competitors’ prices are publicly available), it is still easy to implement, with the caveat that prices are dynamic, so you will need to constantly adjust your prices.

Disadvantage: Its lack of flexibility. When you are constantly trying to keep up with market prices, you have little to no room to experiment with them.

Moreover, while you can play with a very competitive price if you are a low-cost agency, competition-based pricing could severely hinder the growth and scaling potential of your agency.

However, matching the social media management costs of competitors brings differentiation dilemmas. As in: “What makes my agency different from the rest?” And a higher price must always be accompanied by additional benefits and higher quality services.

3. Value-Based Pricing:

Value-based pricing involves the value your agency brings to clients with its products and services. Your clients’ perception of your agency’s value is crucial for this pricing strategy, as it dictates how much to charge for social media management.

Advantage: You can leverage your agency’s reputation when setting prices.

Disadvantage: Your prices can be influenced by factors outside of your control: bad publicity, dissatisfied customers.

With value-based pricing, negotiation is key to getting the best price for your services. The advantage is that, unlike competition-based pricing, value-based pricing is more flexible.

Moreover, the perceived value of your agency can be increased through various initiatives: marketing campaigns and awards, for example.

It seems easy, but there’s more to it. There are some things most social media managers should consider before adopting this pricing strategy.

For one, analyze the market and how your competitors influence the perceived value of services. This will help you determine the highest price a client would be willing to pay. You must keep in mind that each client is unique, and any feedback will help you achieve the best possible outcome.

Social Media Management Services: Pricing Models.

1. Hourly Rate Pricing:

Sometimes, businesses task agencies with simple, specific assignments, and this pricing model is perfect for such situations. However, when considering pricing, you should look at the required time, estimated delivery time, the number of people involved, and their seniority.

Advantage: You can preempt what would otherwise become missed opportunities and forge long-term opportunities.

Disadvantage: It’s not very scalable, as some projects may grow in scope and size.

2. Pricing per Project or Task:

Hourly rate pricing is one of the most popular models among agencies due to its simplicity. You simply determine an hourly rate, and the client pays for each hour of work invested in that project. A major caveat is that not all hours are billable, so the rate should account for time spent on administrative work.

Advantage: Very easy to implement and transparent.

Disadvantage: Some clients may question the agency’s efficiency.

Since it’s in the agency’s best economic interest to have as many billable hours as possible, efficient time tracking and smooth management of client communication are essential to avoid conflicts with the client.

This social media marketing pricing model is more suitable for prolonged and research-intensive projects involving identifying target audiences and building social media strategies.

3. Retainer-Based Pricing:

A retainer-based pricing model is one that many agencies aspire to for one simple reason. Essentially, clients pay upfront for work carried out on a continuous basis. It’s a very common pricing model, as clients often prefer to delegate the daily operations of their social media accounts to specialists, ideally over the long term.

Advantage: It provides a predictable revenue stream.

Disadvantage: Unused monthly hours must be accounted for carefully.

Some examples of tasks that clients might request include:

• • • Social media postings.
    • Community management.
    • Monthly social media reports.
    • Maintenance of social media calendars.

Since client retention is one of the most important factors influencing the long-term success of an agency, they often prioritize securing multiple clients looking for this type of collaboration.

As some services are not clearly defined from the start and may evolve, clients often pay upfront a fee with a specific number of hours worked. In this situation, be clear about what happens with unused monthly hours. Do they expire or roll over to the next month? As always, communication is key.

4. Performance-Based Pricing:

Last but not least is performance-based pricing. As the name suggests, the social media marketing agency is paid based on performance for services. It is prevalent in the advertising industry, as agencies are paid based on whether they meet set marketing goals.

Advantage: Its biggest advantage is predictability: the agency knows it’s a great opportunity to scale, while clients know they will only pay if objectives are met.

Disadvantage: It’s incredibly risky. Despite all efforts, some factors will be outside the agency’s control. Lack of clarity regarding resource and time allocation can further complicate costs.

What About Social Media Management Packages?

Pricing packages are highly popular in the agency world for one vital reason: they simplify and clarify client-agency relationships and the overall costs of social media management.

Agencies typically price their packages based on the amount of data they’ve collected over the years. Of course, you don’t need to be an international agency to bundle your services; quite the opposite. Social media agencies of all sizes can find great value in this approach.

First, a customized package appeals to a wide variety of clients because they can choose what’s relevant to them.

Secondly, social media packages standardize your offering, making it easier to predict time and money investments.

Bonus: social media packages allow you to secure contracts and request payment upfront.

That sounds great and all, but how should one go about creating these packages? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

How to Create a Social Media Package:

To simplify, we’ll focus on a tiered pricing model package.

There’s a reason why this pricing model is so popular: it’s excellent for attracting new clients and for client retention. That’s actually two reasons, but you get the idea.

Let’s say you opt for three tiers. In that case, it should look something like this:

• • • “Good” — can attract new clients.
    • “Better” — ideal for client retention.
    • “Best” — can encourage current clients to spend more.

It might seem very basic, but tiered pricing is actually effective for several reasons:

• • 1. Provides clarity and prevents analysis paralysis. Ever browsed through dozens of ”cat harnesses” pages not knowing which to choose? Now imagine that scenario, but with clients, social media management services, and possibly thousands of euros at stake.
    2. Makes it easier for clients to scale as their business grows and their needs become more complex.
    3. Stimulates more efficient workflows and encourages the creation of transparent processes.
    4. Shifts the focus from cost to value. Detailed pricing models can be fertile ground for haggling. Not so much with tiered pricing models, where prices are immediately visible.
    5. Accommodates clients with different economic means.

It’s important to remind clients with little knowledge about social media that everything is quantifiable.

For this, you’ll need to consider how to scale your offerings. Let’s take the skeletal pricing structure exemplified above and add some content:

• • • Good. 3 social media posts per week and a monthly report.
    • Better. Three profiles and 4 posts per week plus monthly reports and strategic consultations by social media experts.
    • Best. Let’s say five profiles and 5 posts per week.

Here, you can include services like strategy, monitoring, community management for each social media account, different social networks, etc.

The idea is to give a sense of progression and increased value in your social media marketing packages.

Note: When naming your packages, make sure the lighter packages don’t seem inferior compared to the others. Clients should never feel bad for not choosing the highest level.

Are There Specific Factors to Consider When Deciding on Social Media Management Pricing?

Pricing packages are highly popular in the agency world for one vital reason: they simplify and clarify client-agency relationships and the overall costs of social media management.

Agencies typically price their packages based on the amount of data they’ve collected over the years. Of course, you don’t need to be an international agency to bundle your services; quite the opposite. Social media agencies of all sizes can find great value in this approach.

First, a customized package appeals to a wide variety of clients because they can choose what’s relevant to them.

Secondly, social media packages standardize your offering, making it easier to predict time and money investments.

Bonus: social media packages allow you to secure contracts and request payment upfront.

That sounds great and all, but how should one go about creating these packages? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Know Your Client:

Different industries require different skill sets, tactics, strategies, and approaches to content creation. While you might have some room for experimentation with clients in media and entertainment, pharmaceuticals, government, and NGOs have different requirements (including legal ones). As a social media agency, you should consider whether your team has the knowledge to navigate more restrictive industries with the content they produce on social media.

Know Your Costs:

Most businesses take one of two paths: they either fail to include all costs and under-price, or they include all their expenses and over-price. Therefore, you’ll need to find the middle ground. To do this, you should realistically assess your costs and build your pricing around them.

Here are some factors to consider when evaluating expenses:

• • • Employees/freelancers.
    • Labor, marketing, and sales costs.
    • Operational expenses without which the business could not exist.
    • Tools/software.
    • Financial reserves for future expansion.

Don’t Forget About the Competition:

The first impulse of a client will be to scan the competition, so why shouldn’t yours be as well?

The best approach here is to use your competition’s pricing model as a benchmark and add your personal touch. Consider drawing inspiration from the pricing models of industry leaders like Hootsuite. Break it down and ask yourself: “What could I do better?” or “What gaps could I fill?”

Word to the wise: don’t try to outdo the competition if you lack the foundation to sustain those prices. You should always keep your expenses in mind, then decipher the finer details — services offered and pricing structure.

Bonus: Some things to keep in mind:

• • • The type of clients and their potential to become long-term clients.
    • Resources/workload (e.g., number of social media pages, types of content, special requirements, number of people involved, etc.)
    • Level of care and number of social media managers required for individual social networks.
    • Types of activities: strategic, operational, repetitive, etc.
    • The client’s marketing budget.
    • Your personal experience and that of the team.
    • Original content vs. curated content.
    • One-time activities vs. ongoing.
    • Are regular meetings (in-person or not) with clients required?
    • Time needed for research and analysis.
    • Whether there’s a community-building aspect to the social media page management.

Despite all your efforts to make your pricing as clear and transparent as possible, there will come a time when you will need to justify your prices to clients. Again, don’t worry. It’s part of the game, and we have just what you need to level the playing field.

Here’s what you should prepare for if (or rather when) that time comes:

Estimated Project Completion Time and Effort.

Some projects take longer than others. Fortunately, this can tip the scale in your favor, especially if you charge by the hour. To use this as a justification, prepare data that shows how much work can be accomplished in a certain amount of time.

Entering, your clients should know there’s more to a Christmas social media campaign than flooding the feeds with memes about defrosting shrimp in December (as fun as they may be). Time is of the essence, and if you’re dealing with the type of client who requests many edits and revisions, it’s better to present realistic project timelines.

The Experience You Bring and Proven Track Record.

Your experience will obviously carry a lot of weight for clients, as managerial and working experience on social media can make or break their exposure, conversion rates, and goals. Agencies with proven track records of building communities around brands will always gain a competitive edge.

In these cases, portfolios and data are (co-rulers) key. Portfolios to give summaries and provide historical context about the results of your experience and data. To gain more credibility, reach out to current and former clients, start building case studies on their experiences.

The Micro and Macro Skills You Offer.

Creativity, writing ability, content curation, project management, design, strategic thinking, community management, and analytical skills are just some of the elements that can influence your price. Ensure your clients understand the value that your agency’s employees and collaborators bring to their business. Explain the role of each skill in the bigger picture.

While clients are fully aware they need your services, they might need help understanding the value of meeting that need.

That’s why you’ll need to justify your prices. And in most cases, it’s not a complicated scheme to make you lower your numbers. All it takes is explaining the price with facts, logic, and numbers. In the long run, this helps build trust and will show that transparency and constructive communication are the pillars of your agency.

How Much Should You Charge for Social Media Marketing in 2023/2024?

An average social media marketing package usually hovers around $700 per month.

How Much Do Beginner Social Media Managers Charge?

Monthly packages often start with prices around $500, and can even go up to more than $2500/month.

How Much Should I Charge for Writing a Social Media Post?

The standard rate for writing a social media post usually starts at $50.

How Much Should I Charge for Managing a Facebook Page?

Anywhere between $30 and $140/hour.

This price assumes the following factors:

• • • Ongoing collaboration.
    • Someone from the client’s side approves the writing.
    • An estimated time of 50—120 hours/month.
    • The client doesn’t have the option to do it internally.
    • Other competitors (generalist agencies) apply for these types of projects.
    • The average level of client involvement in the project.
    • Your team are experts in the client’s industry.

This range is based on the assumption that you manage content across multiple social media platforms. To manage a single Facebook page, you could divide this range by half.