How Much Does Social Media Marketing Actually Cost?
The Ins and Outs Of Social Media Marketing Costs
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If you have ever typed “social media marketing pricing” into Google and somehow ended up more confused than when you started, you are not alone. Most articles on this topic are written by agencies trying to sell you a package. This one is not.
I have been in digital marketing for over 20 years and I have seen what things actually cost, what is worth paying for, and where people waste money. So here is a straight answer to a question I get all the time.
Why the Prices Are So Different From One Agency to the Next
There is no industry-wide standard for social media marketing pricing. Two agencies can quote you completely different numbers for the same work, and both quotes can be legitimate. The price depends on:
- How experienced the person or agency is
- How many platforms you want managed
- Whether strategy is included or just posting
- How active your community is and how much management that requires
- Whether paid advertising is part of the package
- What tools and software are used
- Is AI part of their strategy
Once you understand these main points it can help you understand the numbers better. So let’s go through each platform.
Pinterest Marketing Costs
Pinterest is not only a social platform, it’s become a visual search engine, and that does influence costs for these kinds of services and how it all works if you want to perform well on the platform.
Pinterest is known for long term traffic, a bit like SEO. As content you publish today can keep riving traffic over the future months or even years, which means.
This means that the work put in really compounds over time in a way that Instagram content usually does not. If you are just getting started with marketing, Pinterest might be the right place to begin.
One-Time Setup Costs
Getting a Pinterest business account set up the right way, which includes a board strategy, keyword research from an SEO perspective, and any starter branded templates, usually costs between $500 and $1,500 as a one-time fee.
Ongoing Monthly Management
- Basic posting only (no real strategy) – $300 to $700 per month. Pins are scheduled in without too much of a keyword optimisation strategy or a content plan behind them, growth tends to be slow.
- Managed with strategy included – $800 to $2,000 per month. This includes proper Pinterest keyword research, board optimisation, branded content, and monthly analytics.
- Full service with AI-assisted content creation – You are looking at $1,200 to $3,000 per month. This is because there will be more work done, more pins and engagement in general so you will be able to see faster results.
Worth knowing: A lot of beginners start out on Pinterest and make the obvious mistakes which can impact their results. Before you hand over your budget to someone, it is worth reading about the most common Pinterest mistakes so you know what to look out for.
Instagram Marketing Costs
Instagram costs more in general to manage than Pinterest because there is way more involved. And what we mean by that are the kinds of posts, you’ve got Stories, Reels, carousels, captions, hashtags, DMs, comments.
Instagram rewards people who show up consistently and engage genuinely, and that takes real time and effort.
If you are looking at running an Instagram business, it might be worth getting an understanding of where your budget goes before you spend it. Take a look at how much it costs to run an Instagram business.
One-Time Setup Costs
Getting your Instagram business account setup correctly, including Insta bio optimisation, highlight covers, a content strategy document, understanding your audience and initial planning, can cost between $400 and $1,200.
Ongoing Monthly Management
- Basic feed posting only – $500 to $1,000 per month. Posts go up but without a strategy behind them, engagement tends to stay flat.
- Feed posts plus Stories – $1,000 to $2,500 per month. More touchpoints with your audience each week and better overall visibility.
- Full management including Reels, Stories, engagement and strategy – $2,000 to $5,000 per month. This is where growth actually starts to happen.
- Influencer outreach and coordination added on – This is additional, so an extra $500 to $2,000 depending on how many creators are involved.
Worth knowing: Before you worry about how frequent you post, make sure your profile is actually worth following. If someone clicks through and the bio is vague, the grid looks messy, and the last post is three weeks old, they most likely won’t stick around. I wrote about how I personally grew my Instagram following and the foundation work is always step one.
Threads Marketing Costs
Threads is one of the newer social platforms, and the organic reach right now is quite good.
The platform is less crowded, which means you can build an audience faster and there is opportunity to make sales comparted to platforms that have been around for a decade.
Threads suits brands that have something to say rather than just something to show.
One-Time Setup Costs
Threads setup is simpler than Instagram or Pinterest because it is more text focused. Expect to pay between $200 and $600 for bio setup, content pillars, and a posting plan.
Ongoing Monthly Management
- Basic posting only – $200 to $500 per month. Good for staying visible without a big investment while the platform keeps growing.
- Managed with engagement and strategy – $500 to $1,500 per month. Includes daily posting, community replies, and a content plan tied to your goals.
- Full management with cross-platform strategy – $1,000 to $2,500 per month. Your Threads content is planned alongside other channels so you have consistent themes and topics across channels.
Worth knowing: Threads rewards authenticity. Sometimes it’s the short, honest posts that share an opinion. Or a quick tip, or a behind-the-scenes moment that outperform detailed posts or promotional content. You do not need fancy graphics or a big production here. Just show up and be real. That also makes it one of the easier platforms to manage yourself if budget is tight right now.
Managing All Social Platforms Together Or A Bundle – i.e. Pinterest, Threads, Instagram
Bundling all three platforms with one manager or agency almost always works out cheaper than paying for each separately. Here is a general guide to what bundled management looks like at different levels:
| Service Level | Monthly Cost Range | What Is Included |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $1,000 to $2,000 | Basic posting across multiple channels, minimal strategy |
| Growth | $2,000 to $4,500 | Strategy, content creation, analytics, community replies |
| Professional | $4,500 to $7,500 | Full management of multiple social channels, ads, cross-platform planning, reporting |
| Agency Premium | $7,500 to $18,000+ | Large teams, campaign management, paid media, custom reporting |
Paid Advertising Costs
Organic content builds your foundation. Paid ads can speed things up once your profile is already looking solid. Threads does not yet have paid advertising in the traditional sense, so this covers Pinterest and Instagram.
Pinterest Ads
- Minimum spend to see results: around $50/day – $20/day for testing
- Agency management fee on top of ad spend: usually 10% to 20% of your total ad budget
- A realistic starting budget for a small business: $300 to $500 per month in ad spend
Instagram Ads
- Minimum daily budget: around $20 – $50 per day
- Management fee: 10% to 20% of monthly ad spend, often with a minimum of $200 to $300
- A realistic starting budget to see meaningful results: $500 to $1,000 per month
Worth knowing: If you haven’t got a little bit of traction on organic profiles, perhaps don’t go with paid ads yet. Although we have seen success with profiles that have little following and they still get decent leads and traffic from social ads.
How AI Has Changed What You Get for Your Money
This is something I talk about a lot because it genuinely matters for anyone trying to decide whether to outsource or go it alone.
AI tools have made good marketers faster and more efficient. Tasks that used to take hours now take minutes. That should translate into more output for your budget, not just the same work done slightly faster.
Here is what AI can realistically help with across all three platforms:
- Writing captions, pin descriptions, and Threads posts much faster
- Generating content ideas based on your niche and audience
- Creating graphic templates using tools like Canva AI
- Scheduling and analytics through tools like Tailwind or Later
- Keyword research for Pinterest without spending hours doing it manually
- Repurposing one piece of content into a pin, a Reel, and a Threads post without starting from scratch
You can check out some of the best free digital marketing tools that make this kind of workflow possible, even on a tight budget.
Worth knowing: If you are interviewing social media managers, ask them what AI tools they use and how those tools show up in what they deliver for you. A manager with a smart AI-assisted workflow should be delivering more than one who does everything by hand at the same price point.
When It Makes Sense to Do It Yourself
Not everyone needs to outsource social media marketing right away. Here are some signs that the DIY route is the smarter call for now:
- You are still in the early stages and testing your offer or product
- Your monthly revenue does not yet support a $1,000-plus monthly spend
- You enjoy creating content and have time to show up consistently
- You want to really understand the platforms before handing them to someone else
If any of those sound like you, the Free Digital Marketing Starter Kit is a great place to begin. It gives you clear steps without the overwhelm. You might also find the 30-day Instagram content planner useful for getting into a consistent rhythm without hiring help.
When to Hire Help
There are also pretty clear signs that you are ready to bring someone in:
- You are posting sporadically because time keeps running out
- Your content looks inconsistent and does not reflect your brand properly
- You know social media matters but it keeps falling to the bottom of your list
- You are seeing some traction and want to scale it up faster
- You are spending more time on content than on the work that actually brings in revenue
Quick Summary of Costs
| Platform | Monthly Cost Range | What Is Typically Included |
|---|---|---|
| Pinterest only | $800 to $2,000 | Strategy, keyword research, branded content, analytics |
| Instagram only | $1,000 to $3,500 | Feed, Stories, Reels, engagement, growth strategy |
| Threads only | $500 to $1,500 | Daily posting, community engagement, content planning |
| All three platforms | $2,000 to $7,500 | Bundled management with strategy and reporting |
The most important thing to remember is that price and value are not the same thing. The cheapest option rarely moves the needle. But expensive does not automatically mean better either. Ask what is included, ask to see real results from past clients, and trust your instincts.
Let us know what you think in the comments, what have you been quoted and what do you think is fair? Maybe you are a social media freelancer yourself. We’d love to hear!
Before You Go
If you are still figuring out where to start, these posts might help:
- Pinterest SEO traffic secrets for getting organic reach without paid ads
- How to get followers on Pinterest if you are starting from zero
- How to go viral on Instagram without spending money on ads
- Digital marketing for beginners if you are newer to all of this
- The social media content planner to keep your content organised across platforms
