Find a Social Media Marketing Expert near you
The average rating for Bark Social Media Marketing Experts is 4.9, based on 114,467 reviews
5/5
based on 114,467 reviews
How much will you pay for a social media marketing expert? Read our handy guide to find out how much a social media marketing agency or freelancer will charge for their expertise.
Social media is almost unavoidable in the modern day. Studies show that around 63.8% of the global population has used social media at some point. It’s a huge part of society – with people of all ages relying on it for information and entertainment. It also holds enormous value when trying to build a personal brand, or make your company visible to the masses. You can use social media to:
Grow a community
Increase brand awareness
Boost sales
Communicate important messages
Keep stakeholders up-to-date
Position yourself as a thought-leader
Truthfully, the bullet points above don’t even scratch the surface of everything that social media can do. It’s thus only natural to wonder: should you be on there, too? An experienced expert can guide you on this subject. And they’ll also be able to execute the strategy themselves! But this all comes at a price. You can’t bring in a social media freelancer, without paying for their services.
You’re in the perfect place to find out how much social media marketing costs. Just remember that these numbers are guidelines, based on our data and research. To get a personalised quote, speak to a social media expert near you.
TheIf you’re a startup, your business might not have any social media channels set up yet. Or, you might be unsure which platforms would suit your business, and allow you to reach your target audience the best.
Social media marketing can help you get started or pick up from where you’re currently at. Price-wise, the more content that needs to be generated in terms of platform types and frequency, the more expensive it will be. However, given the idea of marketing is to generate a return, if done correctly your social media marketing will produce a healthy ROI.
Facebook has roughly 3 billion users, making it an excellent place to implement a social media marketing strategy. The expert you choose should be well versed in Facebook as a whole, but more specifically Facebook Ads, as managing digital advertising budgets is very important.
X is all about succinct messaging and clever use of imagery. People can either like or retweet anything you post, though the reach of your tweets can be greatly increased with the right use of hashtags. You’ll need to consider the content of your messaging and the time at which it goes out to achieve success.
Social media marketing on Instagram is about capturing the right image and video content. Plus, each post requires an engaging piece of copy underneath, that also makes use of hashtags and tagging. It’s also possible to sell products through Instagram and build brand pages. Paying a social media marketer who knows all the ins-and-outs of Instagram can be very useful for a business which has physical products, particularly fashion or beauty products.
Psst - here's a guide to choosing between Instagram and Facebook.
Users are increasingly consuming more and more video content. As a business, it’s one of the best ways to promote your services. For example, a handyman could upload a ‘how-to’ guide on changing a lightbulb. The video itself can be monetised, meaning you’ll earn money for each view. However, you can also leave your contact details in the description box so that customers can find you.
The first step is to look at average prices so you can find a ballpark figure for your social media budget. Social media marketing fees are highly variable, but as an average in the UK, small to medium-sized business owners are looking at a monthly commitment ranging from £300 to £800. This includes the services of a dedicated professional or agency, each offering a level of service tailored to your business objectives and budget.
| Average monthly price | £450 |
| Lower end | £300 |
| Higher end | £800 |
You should research all the extra social media services that an expert can offer. These may be essential, or completely needless, depending on your circumstances. We’ve given the most common examples below.
The main portion of social media marketing relates to the generating and scheduling of content. Depending on your business, you may want a post to go out across all feeds every day. Though some businesses increase this to every hour throughout the day. Your agency or freelancer will help you work this out, by checking your analytics to see when your followers are most active. You may pay more for social media marketing depending on how often per day, week and month you want to post.
If you own an online business or eCommerce store, then you may want to pay for customer support as part of your social media marketing package. This includes replying to customers who message you, and those who leave comments on your page. It can be very time consuming to provide this service yourself, which is why many businesses pay a social media marketing expert instead.
Most social media platforms have paid advertising options such as Facebook Ads. Understanding how to create campaigns successfully takes a fair bit of technical knowledge, not to mention mathematical ability. Otherwise, you could throw large sums of money on advertising that doesn’t work or even gets rejected by the platform.
Thus, understanding paid advertising is an important aspect of social media marketing. Your expert will work with you to devise an audience and a budget. The costs for paid advertising are agreed in advance, and you can tailor the reach by your budget.
As well as generating content for your social media, your chosen freelancer or agency will need to compile stats and generate reports about the progress of your campaigns. For example, how many followers you have gained since they took over your feeds. Or, how many users your paid advertising reached and how many conversions this generated for the business.
This type of service is more comprehensive but is the best way of determining what is working for your social media feeds and what isn’t. It’s also a great opportunity for them to share ideas about what could work for upcoming posts, based on how previous content has performed.
| Extra services | Average price per month |
| None | £350 |
| Stat reports | £450 |
| Stat reports & customer service | £500 |
| Stat reports, customer service & monthly content creation | £650 |
| Stat reports, customer service, monthly content creation & paid advertising | £900 |
Your social media marketing budget will ideally be set in advance of contacting a freelancer. This ensures that you don’t spend more than you need to. The details below explain what will impact on the budget you need.
The cost of your social media marketing is going to depend on the complexity of the service you require. The frequency of posts also has an impact on cost, as the more you require, the longer it will take to generate and schedule.
Most business owners opt for an average monthly package, which ranges between £350 and £550 a month. This would include the generating of content and some feed support but wouldn’t be as in-depth as what other packages can provide.
Though, the beauty of social media marketing is it’s totally customisable to your needs. So, it’s possible to start small and build up the level of support you need, or even scale back services that aren’t needed.
For businesses that prefer a more flexible model, hourly rates could be the answer. In the UK, the hourly fee for a social media marketing professional ranges significantly, from £40 at the lower end to upwards of £100 for more seasoned experts. This flexibility allows for more precise budgeting and can be a prudent approach for businesses that have less predictable social media needs.
Many agencies offer bundled packages that include a suite of services, from setting up social media accounts and planning content to managing advertising campaigns and providing detailed analytics reports. The beauty of these personalised bundles is that they're often scalable, allowing for add-ons as your business grows. Expect to pay between £600 and £1,250 for these package deals, depending on the depth of services included.
You should pay attention to the experience of any social media expert that you work with. Although not always, it often translates into a better service – because they know the common pitfalls, as well as what definitely works. You can benefit from their expertise, as long as it’s at a suitable price. More experience usually pushes the price up. Make sure it’s worth it!
You’ve got lots of social media platforms to choose from. The best combination will depend on your business, and the target market. For example – LinkedIn is a platform ideal for B2B users. But if you’re B2C only, TikTok and Instagram will move to the forefront.
When used correctly, social media is a powerful medium which will allow you to connect with your audience. Identifying your goals will help streamline your efforts. For example, do you want to increase page followers? How about boost sales of a particular service you offer?
Most businesses have multiple goals, which may change depending on the time of year or the needs of the business itself. Each goal will require a particular strategy to be developed to be able to reach it. This is where paying a social media marketer can come in handy, because they may be able to advise on which goals are achievable through social media.
You can see a list of the main examples further above on this page. You can’t assume that your social media expert will offer you all of these – so, make sure to check! Monthly reports are crucial to track your feedback. And answering Direct Messages can save you hours of hassle. Just remember that the more services you ask for, the higher your price will rise.
| Number of hours per month | Average monthly price |
| 5 | £300 |
| 10 | £450 |
| 15 | £550 |
| 20 | £650 |
| 30 | £750 |
| 40 | £850 |
| 50 | £950 |
Savvy business owners recognize that it’s not about how much you spend, but how strategically you spend it. Here’s how to get the most bang for your buck:
Content calendar cohesion
Streamlining your posting schedules to take advantage of organic trends on specific platforms can drive top-tier engagement without additional costs.
In-house versus outsourcing
Assess whether certain social media tasks, such as content creation or community management, can be handled by your in-house team, minimizing the load on external resources.
Analytics for efficiency
Regularly reviewing analytics data can highlight which strategies are yielding the best return, allowing you to focus on what works and cut down on ineffective spending.
DIY content creation tools
Platforms and services offering templates and content-creation tools mean you might not always need a professional every step of the way.
Adopting decision-making processes that incorporate these points can lead to a smarter, more cost-effective social media marketing expenditure.
The average rating for Bark Social Media Marketing Experts is 4.9, based on 114,467 reviews
5/5
based on 114,467 reviews
