How to split a social budget across platforms

Key takeaways

To split a social media budget across platforms, fund one primary platform properly before adding a second. As a GBL rule of thumb, give the primary platform 70–80% and the secondary 20–30%. Never split ad spend so thinly that any platform falls below the level needed to learn, about £300 a month.

• 70–80% to the platform where buyers discover you.
• 20–30% to the platform where they check you out.
• About £300 a month minimum per platform you advertise on.
• Add a third platform only when the first two run smoothly.

How do you pick the primary platform?

Choose the platform where your buyers first find suppliers like you and where enquiries already arrive. Ask recent customers, check which platform sends website visitors who enquire, and look at where competitors' ads run longest. The primary platform gets the regular content and the main ad budget.

• Social media budget for a UK small business
• Primary and secondary social channels: how to split them

What does the secondary platform need?

Usually less content and little or no ad spend. Its job is often reassurance: a LinkedIn page for a firm that wins work on Facebook, or Instagram for a service sold through Google. Repurposing the best posts from the primary platform covers most of what it needs.

• How many social channels your team size supports

What does a split look like in pounds?

On an illustrative £1,200 a month: £900 to the primary platform, covering most content and £400 of ads, and £300 to the secondary for repurposed content and occasional small tests. If you want to advertise on both, the total needs to rise so each ad budget stays above about £300.

When should you add another platform?

When the primary platform runs consistently, its cost per enquiry is known, and you have people and budget to add a new one for at least six months. Test the new platform with a defined budget and end date, and judge it on enquiries rather than followers.

• How to test a new social media platform properly
• What each extra social media channel adds to the fee

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a small business advertises on four platforms at £75 a month each and decides paid social does not work. Moving the same £300 onto the platform that already brings enquiries usually produces the first readable results within a month or two.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Platform split checklist

• Name your primary and secondary platforms.
• Give the primary 70–80% of the budget.
• Keep each advertised platform above about £300 a month.
• Repurpose content for the secondary platform.
• Test new platforms with a fixed budget and end date.

• Content vs ads: how to split a social media budget
• Social media or Google Ads: where should budget go?

Next step

List each platform you use with last month's spend and enquiries. Any platform with spend but no enquiries is the first candidate to cut or pause.