Most agencies hide their pricing. We publish ours, so this guide uses our own packages as the reference point and then compares against the wider market. If you are weighing up what social media management should cost your business, this is the honest version.
The short answer
For a UK small business in 2026, proper social media management costs between £400 and £2,000 per month. Below £400 you are buying posts, not management. Above £2,000 you should be getting video production and strategy, not just more of the same.
What each price level actually buys
These are real tiers, using our own published packages as the example because we can vouch for what is inside them.
- ▪Around £450/mo: consistent posting done properly. Three posts per week across your platforms, a monthly content calendar, branded graphics, copywriting, and a performance report. This is the floor for looking alive and professional online.
- ▪Around £700/mo: social plus search. Everything above, plus an SEO audit, on-page optimisation, Google Business Profile management and two SEO blog posts a month. This is the level where social stops being vanity and starts feeding enquiries.
- ▪Around £1,200/mo: the authority build. Adds Google Ads management, four blog posts a month and founder-level LinkedIn content. For businesses in sectors where being the known name wins the work.
- ▪Around £2,000/mo: content studio territory. Monthly video shoot, a podcast episode produced, short-form clips cut from the footage, and AI workflow support. This replaces a hire, not a tool.
Where the catches hide
Ad spend is almost never included. If a quote includes ads, check whether the budget going to the platform is separate. Our rule: management fee covers the work, your ad spend goes directly to the platform, minimum £500/mo for Google Ads to mean anything.
Cheap packages usually mean junior hands or overseas content farms writing generic posts about National Sandwich Day. Ask who actually writes and designs your content, and ask to see three months of it for a current client before you sign.
Watch the contract length. Monthly rolling is the fair structure for both sides. Twelve-month lock-ins exist to protect agencies from their own churn.
DIY, freelancer, or agency?
DIY costs nothing but your evenings, and it shows within six weeks. A good freelancer at £200 to £400/mo can keep one platform tidy but rarely brings strategy, design and reporting together. An agency costs more and, if it is any good, pays for itself in enquiries you can actually trace.
The right question is not what it costs. It is what a new customer is worth to you, and whether your social presence is winning or losing them before they ever call.