It seems that most people in business are starting to realize that social media, though free, really doesn’t do much unless you put a lot into it. Who has time to manage a facebook and twitter account, let alone set up a killer strategy?
Here’s an interesting article that lays out some costs for social media. Prepare yourself – it’s not cheap. And don’t worry – I’m not in the social media game so I’m being very objective with these prices.
Here’s a breakdown:
Here’s the prices:
Blog:
Get a blog built starting from zero, including design, and having someone manage all your content and customer relationships (comments and emails, etc) - $1,000-$12,000 a month, median of $4K. This will change if you want to write some yourself and handle any parts of the experience. But, be honest with yourself in terms of how much you are going to do.
Blog posts written on your behalf – $50-500
Blogging is one of the best ways to jack up your SEO efforts, so make sure you have someone who knows a ton about SEO. You’ll need to balance keywords with originality to make it successful.
Twitter:
Start from zero, have a page designed, post creation, actively finding new followers, managing messages – $1,000-$4,000 a month.
Facebook:
Start from zero, design, content, customer relationships, everything - $2,000-9,000 a month
Social Media Strategy:
Full social media strategy, full outsourcing of content, design, maintenance, setup - $3,000-20,000 a month
Social Media Consulting:
Hourly rates – $50-$500/Hr
Most Charge – $75-$200/Hr
If you are interested, I urge you to read the full article here. It’s pretty interesting. I also think these prices are pretty high for Maine and are more relevant for Boston or New York, but they’re not completely off. You get what you pay for.
The Bottom Line:
• More often than not, you get what you pay for, but make sure you don’t pay for a brand name. Pay for results and knowledge, not someone who can tell you what you want to hear.
• Absolutely grill anyone you hire for this stuff. Don’t let them hit you with buzz words and fluff. If they can’t break down the entire process into 3 sentences, they don’t really understand it.
• Negotiate and ask for proof. If they want you to spend $10K on these efforts, make them prove that it’s a good investment. If they can’t, think twice.
• Ask around. A lot of this stuff can be done by a college intern or your friend who even some of your best customers who want discounts. Get creative and you might save a ton of money.
• If you really don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, shoot me an email. I’ll give you honest, objective advice for free. I’m not going to try to sell you on anything, but I will tell you what’s really going on.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Mr.Thomas,
I just opened a new spa, and I do not have the money to hire anyone to manage the social media for me. But I really like to get into it. Would you please give me some advice what should I do for expose my business ?
Thank you!
Rose Feng
Hey Rose,
I hear ya. Your best best is to focus on the setup first, then the strategy second. If you’re in a pinch for cash, check out http://www.fiverr.com and look for Facebook type posts. You can probably find someone to get you up and running for Facebook and Twitter for under $10. Then you could hire someone to design it for another $5. Now all that’s left is to start posting on there!
Strategy wise, it’s always best to look to friends and family first. Reach out to them and ask them to Like your FB page and follow you on Twitter. There is no right or wrong in social media, just make sure you’re doing it with a good attitude and talking about positive things. You’ll get people signing on.
Good luck!
Carter
where does those rates apply!
Hi,
my question is similar: what’s the expected revenue?
what should be the company volume to efford the prices?
If I want to spend only 3000 a month for the SMStrategy, I should anyway a positive cashflow of about 5.000 a month.
What ROI should I expect?
We have received a quote from a local social media consultant that will do the following:
build a blog and write the blog
put us on the search engines
redo our webpage
manage our website and the social medias
We are in Vancouver, WA they want $15,000 for everything for one year. Then we would have to figure out if we would continue with them or maintain some of it ourselves. This is the cost of doing everything mentioned above for one year. Is this a good deal?
Hi!
I am new to the business and currently have two clients this far that I am working on building. I am looking for companies that need a consultant so I can build my portfolio. I am over qualified and will charge half these rates.
To Anne M.,
Looking at your website to learn more about your small business, I’m concerned about you making a one-year commitment for that large amount. Would feel more comfortable with you making more of a “pay as you go” deal and see what the consultant can do; see what kind of results they can achieve. Get them to focus on most important first; what will have fastest impact to start getting more customers to you. For example, initial thought is that separate blog to start could be overkill. Could get more traction with Facebook, etc. channels. If you are open to more proposals, I’d love to send one! Vancouver is my hometown and I’m just across the river from you now. ~Lynette
Lynette – thanks for your advice! That’s good stuff. Glad we’re all helping each other here
Carter