How much does social media marketing
cost?
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| Social Media Marketing - The Future |
Progressing ahead with a constant growth is not simple but if you
have a strong social media marketing (SMM), entering new horizons won't remain a dream for a
longer time. One can easily fathom the consequences of not having a proper SMM
or social media application in this era as it's the most promising platform that gives
justice to your promotional and expansion ideas. Moreover, it has become a real business on its own and people are willing to pay any number of bucks to
make their idea or product successful. Somehow, keeping this in mind, the
agencies hold their charges high and not everyone is able to afford them.
Therefore, the only question that dwells in your head is: How much does social
media marketing cost?
Before going into the in-depth information about social media
marketing cost, it is more important to know the areas of your expenditure.
Hence, allocating a budget for the marketing purposes is much needed that will
help you understand which service provider can help you the most. Basic
services that you require to turn social media marketing into a pool of emerging traffic and customers are
listed below:
1. Content Generation
In order to achieve your goals you need to put 100% of your
efforts and the same rule applies with social networks. When a firm constantly
posts and monitors the engagements and appropriate feedbacks are received, they
grow along with their products and services. This is the most common KRA (Key
Result Areas) of any SMM service provider.
2. Increase in the number of Audience
Content creation is a primary task that aids in increasing
followers or likes on your account or page, respectively. However, you must
have a service by the provider that emphasizes on the growth of followers.
Before opting for a company, try to know how well they understand your target
audience and how will they engage your customers.
3. Advertising on Social Media
Gripping more people in a lesser amount of time can only be done
via advertisements and what's a better way if not doing it through social
media. It helps you deliver your message to the target audience and in turn,
cut down your expense. Furthermore, this section will help you find the more
appropriate package. This is the most inconsistent area when we talk about
service cost related to social media marketing.
4. Social
Media Marketing Strategy Planning
To make the business more successful with the help of these
platforms, a brand must have a strategy before diving into the vast networking
business. This is the biggest reason why hiring a SMM service provider seems to
be a necessity. Make sure that they are setting the right goals for the
marketing of your business.
5. Assigned Employees
The price of the services accommodated is directly proportional to
the number of employees working for the betterment of your business/brand. For
example, if you hire a corporate marketing company who already has a team of
content writers, designers, website developers, strategists, analytics, etc.
will be asking for a huge amount to fulfill your requirements.
Now that you have a basic knowledge about the services, you must
know that you can employ interns/students, freshers, freelancers, full-time employees
or marketing agencies. Partnering with any of these individuals or companies
will result into a different consequence as all of them have some merits and
demerits that may make you want to add or remove them from your list.
So. here's the information that you are seeking:
1. Students seeking for internships
These amateurs are usually studying about digital marketing and finding a good internship program that helps them increase
their knowledge in this field. Therefore, they will be willing to work for you
for free or for a very less amount.
Merits
Demerits
- They may cost you time as they ask a lot of
questions.
- These interns have no practical know-how or
experience to expand business via social media.
- As they are still learning, students need
supervision and a timely check on their work.
- Such interns may leave your job as soon as
he/she learns enough for a better pay and exposure.
2. Freelancers
If you want to offer a delightful service to your brand without
straining the economic balance of your company, hiring a few freelancers will
do the job. As freelancers charge on an hourly basis, they are mostly hired as
a consultant. Freelancers charge in respect to their experience:
The ones with less than 2 years of experience will cost $20-30/hr
while the highly experienced ones will cost up to $80/hr. That makes an average
monthly wages of a freelancer will be around $1000/mo.
Merits
- Economic
- Most often, freelancers are dynamic and
flexible. They might be helpful in the strategy development and can easily
adjust in various projects.
Demerits
- These freelancers may be inconsistent. It is
not sure if he/she will be available all the time or the task assigned
will be delivered on time.
- They cannot be supervised.
- There will be no transparency in the work.
- Freelancers are not fully reliable as if
they get sick or have a reason not to work, your program will suffer.
- As they freelance their work, freelancers
will not be loyal to your organization. They will tend to sell their
services to the highest bidder.
Note: Make sure that you hire an experienced freelancer as an amateur
one will work like an intern.
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| Social Media - The Service Provider |
3. Full-time employees
Simply adding a new member without having a proper team for
him/her is not an easy task. It takes a whole lot of planning and area of
specialization to develop a new team. Although, the best part of having an
in-house Social Media Manager is that you can supervise him/her, consult
him/her and make the most of it. Slowly and gradually, you can lead to the
creation of a good social media marketing team.
Talking about the salary of the employee, which will include all
the taxes and benefits, will be around $40,000 per annum.
Merits
- There are no loose ends. They work according
to the policies.
- Your employees are under 100% supervision.
- They have an assured commitment.
- Employees share knowledge and experience.
- They are dynamic and always available.
Demerits
- Full-time employees can cause increase in
cost as salary goes along with employment taxes & other benefits.
- You cannot rely on him/her alone as if they
don't show up at work even just for one day, the work hinders.
- Another person will be needed who can help
him/her grow or can be their leader.
4. Social
Media Marketing Companies
There are plenty of organizations or companies that are ready to
handle your social media but there's also a catch. You have to either choose a
small marketing company or a corporate marketing company.
A. Small Marketing Agency
They work with small business runners and offer a package that
suits to the needs of the businessman and his pocket. They work hard in order
to become a corporate marketing company. Therefore, they will not be able to
grow unless you flourish. social media
marketing pricing for small business range from $5000 per year to
$20,000 per year.
Merits
- There are flexible budgets where package can
be customized according to your needs.
- If chosen smartly, these packages can cost
less than hiring freelancers.
- They have motivation and intention to grow.
- Your work won't halt due to a single
individual as there is a whole dedicated team working for you and your
brand.
- As they are also connected to other small
businesses, you can have some important information about the market that
can help you grow accordingly.
- You don't need to supervise them a lot.
- No extra payment related to taxes or other
benefits.
Demerits
- On the whole, there is no transparency.
- You can never know whether the company is
outsourcing the work or have a in-house team.
- They might ask you to have a contract/bond
of at least 6 months.
B. Corporate Marketing Company
For the other corporate companies, that already have enough load
on their shoulders, these giant agencies are always ready to do the impossible
for them. Being a corporate giant means that these marketing firms will have
all the required sources to plan and implement any kind of strategy to help the
client grow immensely and quickly. Hence, they will have a long list of
employees working for you and the cost of the package might be kissing the
roof.
However, the social media
marketing price packages for corporate marketing companies generally
cost around $14000-$18000 per month. Hence, a small business owner or a
start-up will not consider hiring corporate market agency.
Merits
- There is a dedicated team to serve the
purpose.
- It is time effective to work with them as
multiple people are engaged in the process.
- They know “how to do?” and “what to do?” as
they have worked with other business entities too.
- They have a long-term commitment to your
business.
- You get all the services needed for
marketing your business through social media.
- You need to pay no extra money for employment
taxes or benefits.
Demerits
- They offer packages on a contract
basis of 1-2 years.
- The lead of the team will not be in
your hands, which will also make it difficult to divert them from project
to project swiftly.
- You can not supervise their work.
Points to consider before choosing
your marketing partner:
1) As we all know that Time is money, handing over your social
media for business purposes to an intern is an investment of time. Although,
the cost of the intern will be lesser than any other options.
2) An experienced freelancer is expensive but the level of his/her
expertise can help you achieve and learn about the SMM a lot.
3) In-house employee can be a permanent hole in your pocket but
their activities and work will be totally transparent.
4) Small Marketing Agencies offer you a dedicated team with a
package that is flexible unlike your budget.
5) Corporate Marketing Agencies are highly expensive although
their resources are very beneficial.
