Hopefully you’re not one of those small business owners who thinks social media is “free” because the channels themselves are free. If you are, you need this article more than anyone, though if you understand there’s some investment needed, you’re still going to learn something.
Advertising – Most of the channels now offer pay to play, regardless of how big or small your audience is. This is because your audience is now overrun with pages, tweets and status updates and only looks at what’s posted “right now.” So expect to invest about $50-$250 a month on advertising on the platform your customers use most. The price variance depends on how competitive your space is and how socially savvy your competition is.
Imagery – Unless you have a great photographer on staff, you’ll need to buy images from someone or hire a photographer to take pictures of your business and the products and services your business sells and performs. Expect to spend $50-$250 a month on this, or more if you hire a photographer for multiple days.
Content creation – The best way to stay in front of your competition is by creating content your customers want to consume and share. You can find writers who will write basic articles for $15 or less, but writers who understand your niche and can help your business be seen as an expert can cost upwards of $150 per article, with a six-page e-book running $500 or more if you want it well-designed with graphics.
Social media management – If your company doesn’t have the staff to run all your social media accounts, you’ll need to hire someone to do it. Full-time employees require a $36,000 annual investment, with consultants starting at $1,000 a month and going up from there, depending on how much content you want created, how many channels you want managed, how much additional engagement you want and what you want done outside of the usual 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
All in all, you can do social media for free, but by investing some money in its effective use, your small business can see big returns after you use it consistently for 90 days or more.
Phil Gerbyshak is co-founder and vice president of sales and marketing at Milwaukee-based Advisology.
