It is one of the most common questions small business owners ask, and one of the hardest to answer in a straight line. The honest answer is: it depends. But that is not very useful, so let us break it down properly.
The right amount to spend on social media depends on what you are trying to achieve, how competitive your market is, whether you are doing it yourself or paying someone else, and whether you are talking about organic management or paid advertising. These are different things, and mixing them up leads to budgets that do not make sense.
The two types of social media spend
Before you set a budget, it helps to understand that social media spend typically falls into two separate categories.
Management and content covers the time and skill involved in running your accounts: writing posts, creating graphics or video, scheduling content, responding to comments and messages, and reporting on performance. Whether you do this yourself or pay someone else to do it, it has a cost.
Paid advertising is the money you put directly into the platforms themselves: Facebook and Instagram ads, LinkedIn campaigns, and so on. This money goes to Meta or LinkedIn, not to whoever manages your account. It is a separate budget line entirely.
Many business owners conflate the two and end up with a budget that is either too thin to produce decent content or not enough to run effective ads. Keep them separate in your planning from the start.
What does social media management actually cost?
There are three realistic options for managing your social media, each with a different price point and a different set of trade-offs.
Doing it yourself
The obvious appeal of managing social media yourself is that it appears to cost nothing. In cash terms, that is largely true. In time terms, it is a different story.
Running a social media presence properly takes between four and ten hours a week for most small businesses, once you factor in content planning, writing, designing graphics, scheduling, responding to comments and reviewing what is working. At an average small business owner's effective hourly rate of £40 to £60, that is £640 to £2,400 of your time every month.
That time also tends to be some of your most valuable: the focused creative thinking that keeps getting pushed back in favour of running the business. The hidden cost of DIY social media is not nothing. It is often substantial.
Using a freelancer
A freelance social media manager typically charges between £300 and £800 per month for a basic package, depending on their experience, location and the number of platforms and posts included. At the lower end of that range you will usually get a fixed number of posts per week on one platform with minimal reporting. At the higher end you should expect more posts, better quality content, active community management and regular performance reviews.
Freelancers can be a cost-effective option for businesses with straightforward needs and a small presence. The main risks are capacity and consistency: a single person managing multiple clients can become stretched, and if they are ill or leave, your accounts go dark.
Using an agency
A social media agency brings a team rather than an individual: dedicated account managers, content writers, designers and strategists who work on your account alongside others. This depth of resource means more consistent output, broader skills and usually a more strategic approach to growth.
Agency pricing for small business social media management in the UK typically starts from around £500 per month at the entry level, rising to £1,500 or more for comprehensive multi-platform management with paid social included. The mid-range, between £500 and £1,000 per month, covers most small businesses well: one or two platforms managed properly, original content created every week, and clear reporting on what is actually happening.
At SocialSpur, our management plans start from £500 per month on a rolling monthly contract. You can see exactly what is included at each level on our pricing page.
How much should you budget for paid social ads?
This is entirely separate from management costs, and the right answer varies considerably by industry and goal. A few honest benchmarks based on what we see working for small businesses:
- Under £200 per month is very limited. You can run a low-level awareness campaign but the data you collect will be thin, targeting optimisation will be slow, and results will be modest. This is a test budget, not a growth budget.
- £300 to £600 per month is a workable starting point for most local service businesses. It is enough to run consistent campaigns, gather meaningful data within two or three months, and start making informed decisions about what to optimise.
- £600 to £1,500 per month is where you start to see paid social become a genuine, predictable acquisition channel for the right businesses. At this level you can run multiple campaign types simultaneously, test audiences properly and build retargeting campaigns that convert warm audiences.
One important point: your ad spend budget should be treated as separate from your management fee. Whoever manages your campaigns takes a fee for their time; the ad spend goes directly to the platform. Make sure you understand this distinction before agreeing any contract.
What should you realistically expect at each level?
One of the most damaging expectations in small business social media is the idea that spending a little will produce a lot quickly. It rarely does. Here is a more realistic picture:
- £500 to £800 per month (management only, no paid ads) should produce a consistent, professional organic presence on one or two platforms. Growth will be gradual. Engagement will build over months, not weeks. The primary value at this level is brand credibility, customer retention and a consistent pipeline of content that reflects well on your business.
- £500 to £800 management plus £300 to £600 ad spend adds a paid layer that can accelerate reach and generate direct enquiries. You should start to see measurable lead generation within 60 to 90 days of a well-structured campaign.
- £1,000 or more per month all-in is where social media starts to function as a serious growth channel with clear attribution. At this level it should be possible to measure cost per enquiry and demonstrate a return on investment within a quarter.
The hidden cost most business owners forget
Whatever you spend on social media management, you will still need to contribute time. Your agency or freelancer will need access to your business: photos, information about promotions, news about the team, insights into your customers. The businesses that get the most out of social media are the ones that treat it as a genuine partnership rather than a complete hand-off.
Budget an hour a week for this, even if someone else is doing the heavy lifting. Review your content before it goes out. Share ideas when they occur to you. Respond to comments and messages, even if your manager drafts replies. The difference between clients who engage with the process and those who do not shows clearly in results after six months.
So what is the right number for your business?
A sensible starting point for most small businesses that are serious about growing through social media is a combined monthly spend of between £800 and £1,200: a management fee of around £500 to £700 and an ad budget of £300 to £500. That is enough to run a professional presence, produce decent content consistently, and run paid campaigns that generate real data and real enquiries.
If that feels like more than you were expecting, it is worth weighing it against what a new customer is worth to your business. If a single new client is worth £2,000 in annual revenue and social media brings in two or three new clients per month, the maths makes sense quickly. If a new client is worth £50, a different acquisition strategy might serve you better.
If you are unsure what is right for your business specifically, that is exactly the conversation we have during a free consultation. We look at your goals, your margins, your market and your current presence, and give you an honest view of what is realistic at different investment levels.