Social media costs twice: ad budget and management. How to calculate both, which models exist and what to look for in a quote.
The two cost blocks: ad budget and management
Social media marketing consists of two separate items. You pay the ad budget directly to Meta, LinkedIn or TikTok, billed by auction. You pay management to the agency or to your own team. Whoever looks at only one of the two calculates wrongly.
Three management models compared
| Model | What is included | Fits when |
|---|---|---|
| Ongoing management | Campaigns, tests, budget control, on request content and community management, reporting | you use social media as a permanent sales channel |
| Ads management only | Campaigns and analysis, you deliver content | you have your own images and videos |
| One-off setup with training | Account structure, tracking, first campaigns, onboarding of your team | your team continues on its own afterwards |
Our services start at 900 EUR. The final price depends on the project: number of platforms, volume of creatives, shop and feed connection and how much content you need. Details on our offer are on the social media agency Vienna page.
How much ad budget makes sense?
There is no fixed minimum. What matters is what a won customer is worth to you. Calculate like this, with fictitious numbers for illustration:
- A new customer brings you 120 EUR profit on average after cost of goods.
- You may not spend more than these 120 EUR to win them, otherwise you lose money. That is your ceiling per customer.
- If a lead costs 12 EUR via social ads and 1 in 10 leads becomes a customer, a customer costs 120 EUR. Then you earn nothing on new customers, and your profit only comes from repeat purchases.
This calculation shows whether and with which budget social ads can work for you. The real numbers only come from a test with a limited budget. With a very small budget we advise running only one channel instead of several at once.
What to look for in a quote
- Fixed price or pool of hours: you should know what you pay per month.
- Who owns the ad account: it should be yours, so you lose nothing when you switch.
- What the agency is measured on: enquiries and sales, not reach or likes.
- How reporting works: with numbers you can check yourself, not only slides.
- Whether the agency also advises against: social media is not the right channel for every business.
