Let’s face it that social media is a lot of work. And unless you’ve got superhuman powers, you’ll need help. But how much does that cost? What is social media management pricing? How much should you charge for a social media marketing campaign, a new social channel, community building, content retention, etc?
How does the price vary for freelancers, agencies, and social media managers, and what should you consider when deciding a price range for your services?
This guide on social media management pricing in 2025 will provide a breakdown of all this and much more.
How Much Does Social Media Management Cost in 2025?
Regarding social media management costs in 2025, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Pricing will vary based on your goals, industry, and the scope of services you require.
Most businesses can expect to pay between $500 and $5,000 per month for basic social media marketing agency pricing. Here’s what’s typically included:
- Content Creation: $8,000/month (includes creators, video, graphics, copywriting)
- Ad Management: $6,000/month (per platform)
- Platform Management: $5,000/month (publishing, analytics, engagement)
This makes it critical to evaluate your needs carefully before investing. A brand looking for basic visibility won’t need the same tools or talent as one launching an aggressive brand awareness campaign across five channels.
How Much Does Launching on a New Social Channel Cost?
Technically, creating an account is free. But in 2025, launching on a new channel is about strategy and execution, not just setting up a handle.
To successfully launch and maintain a new presence, brands often spend between $500 and $10,000 monthly. That includes:
- Content calendar development
- Profile branding
- Platform-specific content
- Team collaboration or outsourcing
Some of the costs:
- Social media specialist salary: ~$4,700/month
- Freelance social media manager: $20–$150/hour
- Content creator rates: $25–$500 per post/video
Launching a TikTok channel, for example, would be more video-intensive and costlier than setting up a Twitter profile.
How Much to Charge for Social Media Marketing Campaigns?
Social media marketing campaigns involve a mix of strategy, creative production, targeting, and analytics, so it’s no surprise that social media campaign pricing varies widely.
In 2025, agencies—especially those in cities like New York—will charge between $70 and $190/hour, depending on experience and scope. That rate can increase to $320/hour for top-tier agencies or more complex campaign goals.
Freelancers can charge between $500 and $2,000 per month, depending on their services.
Here is a breakdown of social media marketing and advertising costs on different platforms.
How Much to Charge for Social Media Strategy?
Don’t lump social media strategy in with general management—it’s a separate, high-skill service that requires deep market knowledge, data analysis, competitor audits, and brand alignment.
In 2025, social media strategy pricing generally falls between $60 and $190/hour, especially when handled by senior strategists. For a complete strategy project estimated at 30 hours, you’re looking at $1,800 to $5,700+.
Strategy pricing models:
- One-off project: Great for new launches or rebrands
- Annual retainer: For businesses that need ongoing refinement
- Add-on to management package: If you’re already working with an agency
How Much Does Influencer Marketing Cost?
According to Statista, influencer marketing has gained traction over the past few years, with its value almost doubling in the past five years. However, the pricing of influencer marketing varies from one platform to another.
Here’s what influencer marketing costs on different platforms in 2025:
A generally accepted influencer rate on Instagram is $100 per 10,000 followers. Here is a breakdown of this:
- Nano-influencers (500–10k followers): $10 to $100 per post
- Micro-influencers (10k–50k followers): $100 to $500 per post
- Mid-tier influencers (50k–100k followers): $500 to $5,000 per post
- Macro-influencers (100k–500k followers): $5,000 to $10,000 per post
- Mega-influencers (500k+ followers): $10,000+ per post
TikTok
Recent surveys of TikTok influencers suggest the average price for a sponsored video is $2,700. Here is a breakdown of the estimated pricing depending on the number of followers on the platform.
- Nano-influencers (1k–10k followers): $5 to $25 per post
- Micro-influencers (10k–100k followers): $25 to $125 per post
- Mid-tier influencers (100k–500k followers): $125 to $1,200 per post
- Macro-influencers (500k–1 million followers): $1,200 to $2,500 per post
- Mega-influencers (1 million+ followers): $2,500+ per post
YouTube
YouTube creators charge much more than Instagram and TikTok. Let’s look at the average estimated pricing based on the subscriber count.
- Nano-influencers (10k–50k followers): $20 to $200
- Micro-influencers (50k–100k followers): $200 to $5,000
- Mid-tier influencers (100k–500k followers): $5,000 to $10,000
- Macro-influencers (500k–1 million followers): $10,000 to $20,000
- Mega-influencers (1M+ followers): $20,000+
Facebook might not be the first choice for most Gen Z users, it is still a great platform to reach a wider audience in 2025. A typical cost breakdown of marketing on Facebook is as follows:
- Nano-influencers: $25 – $250
- Micro-influencers: $250 – $500
- Mid-tier influencers: $500 – $1,250
- Macro-influencers: $25,000
- Mega-influencers: $25,000+
How Much to Charge for Customer Retention and Community-Building?
Community management will become a huge differentiator in 2025, especially regarding brand loyalty and retention. Agencies now charge between $40 and $190/hour, with premium agencies asking up to $320/hour.
This includes:
- Responding to comments and DMs
- Addressing feedback or complaints
- Hosting community events (digital or IRL)
- Creating interactive content like polls, Q&As, and giveaways
- Moderating online forums or groups
Whether you offer it as an add-on or standalone service, align expectations with clients. Some expect one person to handle it all, while others understand that retention takes a whole strategy and system.
How Much to Charge for Social Media Content Creation?
Social media content creation rates are wildly variable, depending on the type and frequency of deliverables.
In the US & UK, blog writing costs between $250 and $750 for a blog with around 1000 words; web page content creation in the USA costs $1500 to $5000 for 5 to 10 pages, including all edits.
The monthly cost of social media content creation services in the USA and UK is between $800 and $4000. Moreover, the cost of a case study or presentation in the USA & UK lies between $1000 and $3000.
Similarly, video content creation costs in the US & UK range between $2000 and $10,000.
As far as agencies are concerned, in 2025, they charge between $40 and $160 per hour for general content creation, while high-end specialists charge up to $280 per hour.
Cost of Hiring an In-house Social Media Manager vs. Social Media Agency
Regarding the cost of social media management services, one of the most significant decisions you’ll face is whether to go in-house or hire a social media marketing agency. Both have their advantages—and their price tags.
Let’s start with the agency route. As discussed, most businesses pay between $500 and $5,000 per month when working with a social media marketing agency, depending on how much support they need (strategy, content, ads, analytics, engagement, etc.).
Larger enterprises or those with complex needs may even spend $10,000+ monthly, especially for multi-platform campaigns with influencer collaborations or crisis management.
Pros | Cons |
More affordable for small businesses | May not get the brand right |
Full team of experts | Needs onboarding |
No HR or hiring hassle | Can feel generic |
Easy to scale services | Quality may vary |
Polished, pro content | Slower feedback loops |
Now let’s compare that to the cost of hiring an in-house social media manager.
According to current salary trends in 2025, the average social media manager salary in the U.S. ranges from $40,000 to $100,000 annually, which breaks down to around $4,166 to $5,833 per month. In other words, you’re looking at roughly the same price range as hiring an agency, especially on the higher end.
Pros | Cons |
Knows your brand inside-out | Higher cost |
Talks to internal teams easily | Time-consuming to hire |
Fully aligned with strategy | Limited skill set |
Knows your audience deeply | Risk of burnout |
Close to marketing & product | Needs training and support |
Social Media Management Software Pricing – SocialBu
When it comes to social media management, hiring outside support every time is not essential. Guess what? You can even manage your social media handles on your own. But for this, you might need to seek help from an online social media management software like SocialBu.
With SocialBu, you can schedule posts, automate replies, monitor engagement, and manage all your accounts from one place—without needing an agency.
Here’s an overview of SocialBu’s social media management software pricing plans.
Standard – Best Choice for Beginners
$19/month
Billed monthly
Perfect for solo marketers or small businesses starting out, this plan covers all the essential features to help you stay consistent on social media.
Includes:
- Manage up to 12 social accounts
- Collaborate across 2 teams
- Schedule and publish content
- Access to automation workflows
- Advanced scheduling tools
- Unified social media inbox
- Basic analytics and performance tracking
- No phone support
Super
$59/month
Billed monthly
Ideal for growing businesses or marketing teams that need more collaboration power and support.
Includes:
- Manage up to 30 social accounts
- Collaborate across 6 teams
- Priority phone support
- Enhanced scheduling and automation tools
- Advanced analytics and reporting dashboards
- Media library access
- Hashtag and keyword tracking
This plan is perfect for teams managing multiple clients or platforms seeking more detailed insights and assistance.
Supreme
$199/month
Billed monthly
For agencies and enterprise-level users looking for complete control and scalability in their social media management platform.
Includes:
- Manage up to 150 social accounts
- Collaborate across 25 teams
- Dedicated phone support
- Full access to SocialBu’s automation suite
- Bulk scheduling and publishing
- White-label reporting
- In-depth engagement analytics
- Advanced team and role management
This is it if you’re looking for a robust social media scheduling tool with deep automation, analytics, and team functionality.
How to Decide a Price Range for Your Social Media Management Services?
Figuring out how much social media management should cost in 2025 can feel like a puzzle. But with the right approach, setting a budget that works for your goals and your wallet is easier.
Understand Your Business Stage and Goals
Start by assessing where you are. Your stage determines your needs and affects the professional social media management cost you’ll be looking at. A startup might need basic content and post scheduling, while an enterprise might need full-blown campaign management, community engagement, and paid strategy.
Set a Percentage of Your Marketing Budget
A smart move is to set aside 10–15% of your digital marketing budget for social media. Our marketing team does this and breaks it down by platform. For example, you’ll likely allocate a larger slice if Instagram is your top performer.
Plan for Tool Costs in Advance
You can’t do it all manually—at least not efficiently. Tools are essential for content calendar planning, post scheduling, or analytics. Therefore, if you don’t want to struggle later on, it’s best to set aside a budget for social media management tools, such as SocialBu.
Budgeting Tips to Maximize ROI
If you are tight on your budget and are conscious about your spending, these budget tips might be what you are looking for. And guess what? You can still maximize your ROI while keeping your budget low.
- Focus on high-performing platforms instead of trying to be everywhere.
- Repurpose content across channels to save time and money.
- Track results using built-in analytics or reporting tools to see what’s worth spending.
These small steps can make affordable social media management for startups a reality.
How to Do Social Media Management on a Small Budget?
If you’re working with limited funds and want to do social media management on a small budget, here is what you can do:
- Stick to 1–2 platforms max.
- Use free or budget-friendly tools like SocialBu.
- Prioritize quality content over quantity.
- Skip paid ads (for now) and focus on organic growth and community management.
This keeps the social media management cost low while building presence and engagement.
How Does SocialBu Help You Deliver More (and Charge More)?
If you’re still juggling spreadsheets, manually posting content, or switching between five different tools to manage your social media presence, you’re doing too much for too little. SocialBu is your all-in-one social media management software that doesn’t just save you time—it helps you scale your services and justify higher pricing as a social media manager or agency.
Automation That Works While You Sleep
With SocialBu’s powerful social media automation tools, you can automate replies, set recurring posts, create rule-based triggers, and more. That means less time babysitting your content and more time focusing on strategy, creativity, and client relationships.
Content Scheduling & Calendar That Feels Like Magic
Plan, schedule, and publish content across multiple platforms with a visual, drag-and-drop content calendar. This makes your workflow smoother and impresses clients who love seeing their campaigns laid out clearly and professionally.
Analytics That Help You Grow
SocialBu’s built-in analytics and reporting tools give you performance insights across all your connected social accounts. Show clients exactly what’s working, what needs tweaking, and how your strategies move the needle.
Unified Inbox = Zero Missed Messages
Engage with your audience faster and smarter with SocialBu’s unified social inbox. Respond to DMs, comments, and mentions from all your platforms in one place. This feature saves you time and boosts engagement, a key metric that clients are willing to pay more for.
Smarter Collaboration with Teams
Whether you’re working with one assistant or running a full-blown agency, SocialBu’s team collaboration tools make it easy to assign roles, approve posts, and manage workflows. The result? A professional operation that looks and feels like a premium service (because it is).
Bottom Line
That’s all about social media management pricing!
By now, you must understand all that comes under social media management pricing and how the pricing varies based on your needs, the service providers, and the platforms.
And if you want to achieve more in less time, don’t forget to sign up for SocialBu – an all-in-one social media management tool and save yourself some bucks and a lot of time.
If you’re not using SocialBu yet, you’re leaving money and efficiency on the table. In a competitive space like social media management, staying behind is not an option.
Your future clients expect better. Give them better. Give them SocialBu.
