Organic vs paid social: what each one really costs

Key takeaways

Organic social costs time: planning, creating, posting and replying, often 4 to 6 hours a week in-house or £500 to £2,500 a month through an agency. Paid social costs that same content work plus ad spend, typically £300 to £500 a month minimum, and management at £300 to £1,000 a month. Organic is cheaper to start; paid costs rise with reach.

• Organic in-house: owner or staff time, plus tools and content.
• Organic via agency: £500 to £2,500 a month for most UK SMEs.
• Paid: £300 to £500 a month ad spend minimum on one platform.
• Paid management: £300 to £1,000 a month flat, separate from spend.

What does organic social really cost?

Organic social costs whoever does the work. In-house, a consistent schedule of three posts a week plus replies usually takes several hours a week, valued at that person's hourly cost. ONS earnings data (ASHE) helps put a figure on staff time. Through an agency, UK retainers commonly run from £500 to £2,500 a month.

• Staff or owner time to plan, make and post.
• Time to reply to comments and messages.
• Tools: scheduling, design, stock music.
• Occasional photography or video.

• Organic social media vs paid advertising: which to choose?
• Is social media marketing free? The real cost of 'free'
• How much time does organic social media take each week?

What does paid social really cost?

Paid social costs ad spend paid to the platform, the content for the ads, and someone to set up, monitor and report. Meta's budget tools let you cap spend, but the minimum useful test for a UK small business is about £300 to £500 a month on one platform. Flat management fees typically run £300 to £1,000 a month.

• Paid social management fees in the UK explained
• The hidden costs of paid social beyond the ad spend

How do the costs compare side by side?

These indicative monthly ranges are market figures for UK small businesses, not a GBL price list.

• Organic in-house: staff time plus about £20 to £100 in tools.
• Organic via agency: £500 to £2,500.
• Paid ad spend: £300 to £500 minimum test, often more.
• Paid management: £300 to £1,000 flat, or 10% to 20% of spend.
• Both via one agency: often £1,200 to £3,500 plus ad spend.

• Social media agency pricing in the UK

Why do paid costs rise faster?

Paid costs rise with reach: twice the audience usually needs roughly twice the spend, and returns often diminish as you reach less likely buyers. Organic costs are mostly fixed: a good post costs the same to make whether 200 or 20,000 people see it.

• Diminishing returns: when more ad spend stops working

Which is better value?

Value depends on what each produces. Organic is better value for trust and repeat customers; paid is better value when you need new customers quickly and know what a customer is worth. Compare cost per enquiry from each over three months, not monthly cost alone.

• Organic vs paid cost per lead: comparing like with like
• Organic vs paid social ROI: which returns more?

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a family law firm thought organic was free because a partner posted on LinkedIn. Valuing the partner's time showed organic cost more each month than a small agency retainer plus a focused ad budget would have. Moving the routine work out freed the partner to post only the expert pieces that brought referrals.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Cost checklist

• Value in-house time at its real hourly cost.
• List tools and content costs.
• Separate ad spend from management fees.
• Set a minimum paid test budget of three months.
• Compare cost per enquiry, not monthly cost.
• Review costs and results every quarter.

• What organic and paid social each teach you about buyers
• Organic vs paid cost per lead: comparing like with like

Next step

Add up last month's real social media cost, including everyone's time. Then divide by enquiries from social to get a cost per enquiry you can compare with a paid test.