Social media spend for a business under £100k turnover

Key takeaways

A social media budget under £100k turnover is mostly time, not money. Planning ranges put total marketing at £5,000–£10,000 a year at most, so social media usually gets £100–£400 a month in cash plus three to five hours a week. Paid ads work best as occasional focused tests, not a constant trickle.

• £100–£400 a month in cash is typical below £100k turnover.
• 3–5 hours a week of owner or staff time does most of the work.
• Run paid tests at £300–£500 for a month, twice a year.
• One platform done well beats three done badly.

What can a business this size afford?

Using the common 5–10% of revenue for marketing, an £80,000 business has £4,000–£8,000 a year. If social media takes 30%, that is £1,200–£2,400, or £100–£200 a month. The figures are illustrative, but they show why time, not cash, carries the load at this size.

• Social media budget for a UK small business
• Social media spend as a percentage of revenue

Where should the cash go first?

Put the first pounds into things that make your own hours count: a scheduling tool if you post on two platforms, a phone tripod and light for better photos, and a well-built profile. Ads come after you have a post or offer that already earns enquiries organically, because then a test is worth running.

• A tool only if it saves you an hour a week.
• Basic kit for clearer photos and video.
• A complete, convincing profile on one platform.
• Ads only behind a post that already works.

• Social media photography on a budget for small businesses

Why run paid tests in bursts?

£50 a month of ads rarely produces enough results to tell good from bad. Saving that money and spending £300–£500 in one focused month, with one offer and one audience, gives a readable answer. Two tests a year, timed before your busiest season, teach far more than twelve tiny boosts.

• The minimum budget to test an advertising channel properly

When should a small business not spend on social at all?

When buyers do not use it to choose suppliers in your trade, or when your diary is full from referrals and a Google Business Profile. Then a tidy profile and an occasional post are enough, and spare money is better spent on your website or reviews.

• Google Business Profile vs social media: what comes first?

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a sole trader pays for three tools and boosts a post most weeks, spending £150 a month with nothing to show. Dropping to one free scheduler and saving the boost money for a single planned campaign usually costs the same and produces the first results they can measure.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Small turnover checklist

• Set a monthly cash figure you can hold for a year.
• Protect three to five hours a week in the diary.
• Choose one platform where your buyers already are.
• Save ad money for two focused tests a year.
• Track enquiries from social media every month.

• Split social spend between new and existing customers
• Social media spend for a £100k to £500k business

Next step

Write down the cash and the hours you can commit every month for the next year. Plan your first focused ad test for the six weeks before your busiest period.