TL:DR: pick the marketing model that matches your goals, not the one with the most hype
If your brand’s social replies are slow or off‑brand, buyers notice. In fact, recent research shows 71% of people will buy from a competitor if a brand ignores customer questions on social.1 That is a harsh penalty for the wrong resourcing choice.
Budgets are tight too. Gartner data shows marketing budgets are flat at about 7.7% of revenue in 2025,2 so everyone from corporate leaders to small business owners are looking for new approaches to expanding their audience.
The digital marketing landscape is complicated. Marketers wear variety of hats, getting involved with brand identity development, graphic design, social media, website development, and content creation. Each of these requires a different skillset, and whether you hire a jack-of-all-trades marketer, an agency, or separate freelancers has a huge impact on how your businesses looks to customers.
Social Media Marketing is undeniably the core of many modern businesses from small vendor pop-ups to huge e-commerce giants, and it’s easy to see why: It gives brands direct access to their audience with a huge level of control over their messaging.
Today, we’re looking at how business owners and hiring managers can find a social media marketing approach that gives you the skills and tools you need to get content that embodies your brand’s values in front of your ideal audience.
2 Source: Marketing Brew
The digital marketing landscape is complicated. Marketers wear variety of hats, getting involved with brand identity development, graphic design, social media, website development, and content creation. Each of these requires a different skillset, and whether you hire a jack-of-all-trades marketer, an agency, or separate freelancers has a huge impact on how your businesses looks to customers.
Social Media Marketing is undeniably the core of many modern businesses from small vendor pop-ups to huge e-commerce giants, and it’s easy to see why: It gives brands direct access to their audience with a huge level of control over their messaging.
Today, we’re looking at how business owners and hiring managers can find a social media marketing approach that gives you the skills and tools you need to get content that embodies your brand’s values in front of your ideal audience.
What a social media manager actually handles
A strong SMM role looks like this across most companies (titles vary). These sources reflect how the work is defined in job frameworks and labor data.
Core Social Media Manager Responsibilities
Strategy & channel planning
Audience, platform mix, content pillars, posting cadence, KPI map tied to business goals.
Content pipeline
Briefs, copy, short‑form video, light design, UGC curation, approvals, calendar. Forbes
Publishing & community
Scheduling, moderating comments and DMs, brand voice consistency, escalation rules. Recruiting Resources
Social customer care triage
Tagging and routing support issues to CX; replying within agreed SLAs. Sprout Social
Social listening & brand safety
Monitoring mentions, sentiment, competitor cues; flagging risks early. Hootsuite
Paid social coordination
Basic boosting, creative variants, collaborating with a media buyer on larger spends. Recruiting Resources
Influencer/creator coordination
Sourcing, briefs, approvals, tracking deliverables. Sprout Social
Reporting & optimization
KPI dashboards, experiments, content and community insights for marketing and product. Recruiting Resources
What’s not their job
Healthy boundaries protect outcomes and people. These items often sit adjacent to social but are not core SMM duties:
- Full website development or complex web ops
- Office admin and unrelated internal tasks
- 24/7 on‑call without an agreed rotation or stipend
- Enterprise media buying and attribution modeling without a paid specialist
- Legal, HR, or IT responsibilities
Guaranteed virality or commitments outside the team’s control
These exclusions line up with mainstream job descriptions and BLS role groupings for PR and social functions.
Core responsibilities
Social Media Managetrs usual responsibilities and KPIs include:
- Response time and rate, reach
- Engagement quality + consistency
- Assisted conversion
- Traffic quality
- Retention impact for support‑heavy brands
Sprout and Hootsuite trend reports back up the shift toward two‑way service and data‑driven decisions.
Option 1: In‑house social media manager
When In-House Marketing Is Best
You need deep brand fluency, faster cross‑functional coordination, and day‑to‑day customer care.
Best for
Brands with ongoing service volume on social, regulated voice needs, or complex internal coordination.
Cost reality
- U.S. base pay typically ranges about $56k to $71k per year depending on market and seniority.
- Add employer benefits. BLS shows benefits average 29.7% of total compensation, which works out to roughly 42% on top of wages for private industry. That puts an SMM’s true annual cost near $80k to $101k, or about $6.6k to $8.4k per month, plus software. (Source: BLS)
- Hiring cost. SHRM‑cited benchmarks peg average cost per hire near $4,700 before training and ramp. (Source: Business News Daily)
Pros
- Tight alignment with brand and internal teams
- Control over priorities and tone
- Faster iteration on CX issues
Cons
- Single point of failure for vacations or turnover
- Skill gaps can appear as needs expand
- Tooling, training, and management time sit on your side of the ledger
Option 2: Freelance social media manager
When it wins
You need flexible, part‑time help, a specialist for a channel, or coverage during a hiring freeze.
Best for
Startups, seasonal brands, and companies testing platforms or content formats without full‑time headcount.
Average Rates
- Platforms like Upwork show typical freelancer rates around $14–$35 per hour, median near $20. Senior talent will be higher.
- Industry pricing guides show experienced freelancers often at $50–$150 per hour, or $1k–$4k+ monthly for a light retainer.
Pros
- Variable cost and quick start
- Access to niche skills when needed
- Easy to scale up or down
Cons
- Limited hours and bandwidth
- Process and documentation vary by person
- Risk if they juggle many clients
Option 3: Marketing / Social Media Agency
When it wins
You want a team that can cover strategy, creative, community, and paid social, with built‑in backups.
Best for
Brands that need consistent production across channels, professional reporting, and campaign muscle without adding full‑time staff.
Average Rates
- Credible ranges for managed social programs: ~$2,000–$10,000 per month based on scope and channels, with outliers below and above. (Sources: WebFX, HawkSEM, Expert Market)
- Some agencies quote hourly or blended retainers; surveys list $2k/month for basic multi‑platform posting as a common example.(Source: SPP)
Pros
- Breadth of skills, from creative to analytics
- Coverage during staff turnover or PTO
Cons
- You compete for attention with other clients
- Content approvals can add time
- Lowest tiers may not include social care or paid media management
Side‑by‑side: which model fits your situation
| Dimension | In‑House | Freelance | Agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost (typical) | ~$6.6k–$8.4k fully‑loaded, plus tools | ~$1k–$4k+ for part‑time retainer; senior hourly is higher | ~$2k–$10k+ retainer based on scope |
| Ramp time | 30–60 days to hire and ramp; cost per hire ≈ $4.7k | 1–2 weeks | 2–4 weeks for onboarding and playbooks |
| Brand depth | Highest | Medium | High with time and access |
| Skill breadth | Depends on the person; gaps are common | Niche depth, limited bandwidth | Full team: strategy, creative, community, paid |
| Coverage | Business hours unless you staff a rotation | Limited to agreed hours | Usually better after‑hours coverage by team |
| Speed of execution | High for day‑to‑day; bottlenecks if solo | High for scoped tasks | High for campaigns; approvals can slow |
| Control | Direct control | High over tasks, lower over availability | Program‑level control, less over staffing |
| Risk | Turnover or burnout if 1 person carries it | Single‑person dependency | Agency prioritization across clients |
| Tooling | You pay | They bring some | Often included or discounted |
| Great for | Ongoing CX, regulated voice, internal sync | Pilots, specialist needs, interim coverage | Multi‑channel scale, campaigns, reporting |
Notes: In‑house cost uses Glassdoor pay ranges and BLS benefits load. Agency and freelance ranges reference multiple pricing sources and platform data. (Sources Glassdoor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business News Daily, HawkSEM, WebFX, Expert Market, Upwork, Planable)
How to choose a marketing strategy: a simple decision path
Do you need daily social customer care or regulated messaging?
Pick in‑house or in‑house + agency for overflow. The data shows response speed matters for revenue. Marketing Beat
Do you need multi‑channel production and paid social now?
Pick an agency with clear SLAs and reporting.
Testing a new channel or content type first?
Start with a freelancer, prove the ROI, then scale.
Red‑flags to catch early
No access governance for accounts and ad managers
Vague scope with “unlimited revisions”
No content rights clause or missing work‑for‑hire language
No crisis or escalation plan for social care
Smart hybrid marketing plans that punch above their weight
In‑house lead + agency for campaigns and paid.
In‑house + freelancer for video sprints or creator management.
Agency + fractional in‑house coordinator to manage approvals and CX routes.
Gartner’s budget snapshot suggests this blended approach helps teams protect outcomes without overspending, since leaders are squeezing impact out of flat budgets. Marketing Brew
Implementation checklist
Pick clear KPIs and SLAs for social care and campaigns
Lock scope by channel and deliverables
Document brand voice, crisis rules, and approvals
Centralize assets and access in secure, shared systems
Ship 30‑60‑90 day plan with experiments and reporting cadence
Bottom line
Pick the model that matches your response needs, content volume, and complexity. If you want one throat to choke for day‑to‑day and service, go in‑house. If you want flexible experiments, go freelance. If you want multi‑channel scale with reporting and paid support, hire an agency. If you want all three, pair a lean in‑house lead with outside help. That combo wins more often than not.
Further reading and sources
- Glassdoor: Social Media Manager salary (US)
- BLS: Employer Costs for Employee Compensation
- Business News Daily: Cost per hire (SHRM)
- Sprout Social Index 2025 highlights
- Hootsuite Social Trends 2025 (overview page)
- Workable: Social Media Manager job description
- Upwork: Social Media Manager hourly rates
- HawkSEM: Social media management pricing
- WebFX: Social media pricing benchmarks
- Gartner CMO Spend Survey coverage (MarketingBrew)
Social Media Manager FAQs
What does a social media manager actually do?
A social media manager plans the strategy and calendar, creates or coordinates content, publishes on schedule, moderates comments and DMs, runs basic paid boosts or works with paid specialists, and reports results against business goals. Authoritative job guides list planning, publishing, community management, analytics, and cross team collaboration as core duties.
What should not be expected from a social media manager role?
Website development, legal or HR tasks, office administration, or 24/7 monitoring without a defined rotation sit outside a normal SMM scope. Use a clear job description to keep the remit focused on social.
How much does an in house social media manager cost in the U.S.?
Recent salary data shows an average base near $71k, with a typical range around $53k–$96k. Adding benefits pushes true employer cost toward ~$100k for an average hire, based on BLS data showing benefits are roughly 29.7% of total compensation.
What does a social media agency cost per month?
Common retainers fall around $2k–$10k+ per month, driven by channel count, content volume, community coverage, and whether paid media is included. Some calculators and guides cite lower ranges for entry packages, but full service programs land higher.
What do freelancers charge?
Marketplaces show many profiles at ~$14–$35 per hour, while seasoned specialists often price $50–$150+ per hour or monthly retainers from $500–$5,000 depending on scope.
Is one person enough to run social media?
A single manager can cover a light program. Brands running two or more active channels with video, social customer care, and paid support need a small team or an agency bench to avoid slow replies and missed opportunities. Consumer research tied to the Sprout Social Index shows slow responses push customers to competitors.
How fast should replies to comments and DMs be?
Aim for within one business hour for service issues and same day for general engagement, then set channel specific SLAs your team can consistently hit. Sprout’s research highlights rising expectations for fast, helpful care on social.
What tools are must haves for social media management?
Scheduling and approvals, social listening, analytics/reporting, and a secure asset library form the base stack. Trend reports show teams using listening make stronger, data driven decisions and prove ROI more confidently.
Do agencies include software tools in the retainer?
Often yes. Many retainers bundle scheduling, listening, and reporting platforms. Confirm tool access, seats, and data ownership in the SOW so the business avoids double paying.
Which KPIs matter most to leadership?
Track response time and resolution for social care, engagement quality, assisted conversions or pipeline influence, and channel specific reach or video watch time. Current guides emphasize tying social to real outcomes over vanity metrics.
How long does it take to hire in house and what does hiring cost?
Expect weeks to a couple of months from posting to start date. Average cost per hire sits near $4,700 before onboarding and ramp costs.
When should a business move from a freelancer to an agency?
Switch once the program needs cross channel creative, always on community management, paid orchestration, or surge capacity for campaigns and crises. Those needs exceed a single operator’s hours.
If an agency is hired, is an in house marketer still needed?
A marketing lead or coordinator in house accelerates approvals, protects brand voice, and ties social to sales and service. With 2025 budgets holding flat at ~7.7% of revenue, hybrid models help stretch dollars.
What is a fair agency scope for $3k–$5k per month?
Typical scopes cover 2–3 channels, monthly planning, content production and posting, light community management, and monthly reporting. Paid media management and heavy creative usually price on top.
How should response SLAs be set across channels?
Map SLAs by severity and channel. Example: public support posts and urgent DMs within 1–2 business hours, standard comments by same day, low priority mentions within 24 hours. Publish the SLA, staff to it, and report adherence monthly.
Where does influencer or creator management fit?
A social media manager can source creators, brief content, and track results. For larger programs, a dedicated influencer specialist or agency scales outreach, contracting, and compliance. Current job templates list influencer coordination as adjacent to core SMM duties.
How should ROI be presented to executives?
Connect social actions to assisted conversions, retention indicators, and service deflection. Fresh research tied to the Sprout Index favors authentic, human engagement over trend chasing and stresses business impact.
Who owns content produced by an agency or freelancer?
Ownership should be explicit in contracts. Standard practice grants the business full usage rights to deliverables upon payment, while creators retain rights to working files unless specified. Clarify platform access, raw files, and talent releases in writing.
What security and access practices protect the brand?
Use role based permissions in your social suite, enable MFA on all profiles, centralize credentials, and restrict ad accounts by role. Include an offboarding checklist and crisis protocol in every scope.
What does a complete SMM scope look like for most businesses?
Strategy and calendar, content production, publishing and QA, community management with SLAs, listening and sentiment, monthly reporting with insights, and coordination with paid, CRM, and support teams. Authoritative descriptions align with that scope.
