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As the business has become more digital, social media has become an essential marketing platform for B2B companies. However, not all social media platforms are created equal – and this is especially true for B2B social media channels.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the cost of social media marketing services for B2B companies and discuss how much a B2B brand should budget for such services. We’ll also look at factors that affect a B2B company’s budget when it comes to social media management and presents a recommended cost range for B2B social media services.
There are no fixed one-size fits all budgets or costs for B2B companies that need B2B social media services; however, the amount of money that a business should pay for social media marketing services varies, but typically it ranges from $1,000 to $10,000 per month, and may even be more.
So, if you’re looking for tips on how to optimize your budget for B2B social media services, keep reading!
What Is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is the process of using social networks, such as Facebook, Reddit, TikTok, Twitter, and LinkedIn, to build or improve relationships with customers and employees and increase sales.
Through social media initiatives, businesses can build awareness, and brand recognition, generate leads, acquire new customers, increase revenue, and achieve their marketing goals.
When it comes to determining the cost of B2B social media marketing services, it’s important to first understand what B2B social media marketing is.
Social media marketing is critical for any B2B firm. It can assist B2B corporations in establishing good connections with CEOs, founders, and senior executives of a firm as well as boost sales.
When it comes to digital marketing, making provision for social media marketing services is an essential part of any successful business plan. A solid B2B social media strategy can help companies stay up-to-date on customer trends and better serve their needs on channels they use often. And of course, you’ll need a social media budget before you can develop a solid social media presence for your B2B company.
B2B companies are constantly looking for ways to increase brand awareness and drive more conversions. Social media marketing is a streamlined way to achieve this goal.
How Much Should We Budget For B2B Social Media Marketing?
When it comes to B2B social media, budgeting is key; however, the amount you should budget varies depending on the needs of your brand and the company’s budget and size.
According to Hootsuite, a B2B company should allocate 2-5% of its revenue to marketing. However, depending on your brand and specific needs, this budget may be higher or lower. Wearesculpt recommends putting 10-25% of your marketing budget into social media marketing. Wordstream on the other hand suggests new businesses should budget 12–20% of their net income for marketing over the first five years. Put 6% to 12% of your gross revenue toward your marketing efforts if you’ve been in business for more than five years.
B2B social media marketing budgets differ, as you can see. In the end, it’s important to get a feel for what is required so that you can budget in a way that best suits your company.
B2B Social Media Recommended Estimates Using Industry Figures
For B2B social media marketing, below is a suggested budget you can use:
We are going to use figures from Hootsuite and Wearesculpt for this calculation.
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Hootsuite: Budget 2-5% of your revenue should go into marketing.
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Wearesculpt: Then put 10-25% of your marketing budget into social.
Suppose, your company’s gross estimated revenue is $1,000,000. Then 2-5% of your revenue should be $20,000-$50,000 which is your marketing budget for your B2B company.
Out of your marketing budget ($20,000-$50,000), you should spend about “$2,000-$5,000” on the low range and “$5,000-$12,500” on the high range for B2B social media marketing.
Average Cost of B2B Social Media Budget
What is the average cost of social media marketing for B2B companies?
From the calculations above, the average cost for a company earning $1,000,000 on gross yearly revenue is $3,500-$8,750 or $6,125.
This number isn’t appropriate for every company. The budget you should set aside for B2B social media marketing is impacted by whether or not a business wishes to devote more of its marketing spend on social media or less.
What we recommend is putting 10% of your revenue into marketing; and 15% of your marketing budget into social media marketing for your B2B company.
It’s important to consult with an experienced social media manager or marketing agency to get a solid estimate for your specific needs. Now, let’s explore some of the cost factors of social media marketing for B2B companies.
B2B Social Media Management Cost Factors
There are many cost factors involved in B2B social media services. The type and complexity of your company’s marketing strategy, the number of social media platforms and tools you plan to use, utilizing in-house or outsourcing, and the size of the company all play a role in the cost of social media management services.
Social media marketing budgets for B2B firms are influenced by the following factors:
Your Marketing Goals and Target Audience
Before you decide on the cost of B2B social media services, it is important to identify your business goals and target audience. Costs will vary depending on who you’re trying to reach, what types of content you plan on using, which social platforms you plan to use, and how you structure your marketing plan. For example, it may be easier to write content for Facebook Ads, but there’s a high tendency of paying more money per CPM/CPC when the competition is fierce in your industry like in the gambling industry.
The same goes for the country you are targeting; when more advertisers are interested in reaching people in a certain nation, the cost of reaching prospects in that particular country will be greater than in other countries due to increased competition. So, your target audience plays a major role in setting a budget for your social media ad spend and organic content creation.
Also, you’ll have to spend more budget if your goal is to establish brand awareness/recognition, offer customer support, generate organic traffic, attract potential customers, or increase conversions.
Cost of Paid Social Media Advertising
When B2B social media advertising is considered, the cost of paid social media will depend on a few factors, such as targeting options (like we discussed above), the platform you are using, and the type of PPC marketing campaign you plan to run.
A company that wants to do paid social media will likely spend more than a company that wants to do strictly organic social media marketing. Paid social media advertising will also likely cost more for companies targeting a wider audience or those with more complex goals. Additionally, the budget for social media marketing should rise when a business has other plans for influencer marketing on social media.
So how much should B2B companies budget for paid social media? According to Gartner’s 2019-2020 CMO Spend Survey, the average company spends 26% of its marketing budget on paid media spending across platforms. Assuming your social media marketing budget is $6,125, you will want to budget $1,592.5 on paid social media campaigns across every platform you are using.
Cost of Content Creation
What is the cost of social media content creation? The cost of content creation for B2B companies? For B2B firms, the cost will vary depending on the kind, frequency, and level of content creation your business wants, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this problem.
However, some general points worth considering include:
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Cost for social media management services will increase when there is a need for more regular content updates – this tends to be the case with companies whose content strategy is solely focused on organic social media marketing.
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Companies that post a high volume of content tend also to spend more money on social media content creation.
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Companies that leverage many social media platforms tend to spend more money on social media marketing services.
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The software you use to create social media content will also influence how much it will cost, whether you’ll outsource the job to freelancers, agencies, or your employees.
Social media content branding is an important aspect of social media content creation that costs additional money to B2B companies.
If you need custom social media posts and graphics elements, your budget should also increase. Suppose, you want to make sure that all content looks uniform across all channels – be it Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, or Twitter. In this case, you’ll need to budget more because you will need more helping hands from graphics designers, content writers, video editors, and a social media management team.
Cost of Social Media Tools
The tools or software your company will be using must also be taken into consideration when calculating B2B social media marketing costs. Not all social media management tools are created equal when it comes to effectiveness. To put it another way, b2b social media services might cost anything from a few dollars per month to thousands of dollars per year, depending on the demands of your company.
Higher usage levels mean that more bandwidth and software is used – both of which will incur costs. Additionally, different platforms offer different features and benefits which will affect overall social media management costs when more tools are required for a given campaign.
For example,
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BuzzSumo is an all-in-one social media research, tracking, and analysis software with search engine capabilities.
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Hootsuite specializes in managing multiple social networks simultaneously.
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Canva allows you to create social media graphic content for your business.
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AdEspresso allows you to plan your ad campaigns beyond the capabilities offered by social media and digital ad platforms.
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Khoros makes it easy for businesses to build a positive user experience with customers in one place.
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LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a tool that can help you track and manage your sales activity virtually on LinkedIn.
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Brand24 help businesses know what people say and feel for their brand across social media channels and the entire web.
Also, the social media software your company needs is another cost factor that plays a role in drafting a budget for B2B social media marketing. Of course, if you need more tools, you will want to spend more money on B2B social media marketing services.
There are many so many social media tools that B2B marketers should consider when figuring out the cost of social media services. Nonetheless, the expense of the majority of B2B companies’ social media software may be covered with a budget of $0-$4,000 per year.
In general, more expensive tools will offer greater features and capabilities while also incurring higher costs in terms of staff time, usage, software monthly fees, etc.
Number of Social Media Platforms to Leverage
Many times, the number of social media platforms your business needs to manage will affect the overall cost of the B2B social media marketing budget. For example, if you only need to use one platform (such as LinkedIn), then that platform’s associated costs are likely cheaper than if you used multiple platforms (Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook).
That being said, there are some key social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) that should definitely be included in any B2B social media content marketing strategy. Including LinkedIn is a must because 96% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn. While each platform has its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages, budgeting $3,000 to $6,000 per year will cover the majority of management needs for all the platforms above.
Cost of Outsourcing Versus In-House
When it comes to social media marketing cost management for B2Bs, outsourcing will be cheaper in the long run but this doesn’t mean that in-house services are pricey. They both have their own pros and cons so it’s important that you analyze your needs carefully before making a decision.
As for cost, outsourcing versus in-house social media services can vary by thousands of dollars or even more!
According to Indeed, the average cost of hiring an in-house social media manager in the US is:
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$21.33 per hour
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$4,020 per month
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$56,783 per year
Outsourcing social media marketing services to a social media agency can cost between $1,000-$10,000 per month depending on many factors.
The cost of your overall social media marketing budget may be drastically decreased by outsourcing your social media management to a professional agency or firm in a tier three-nation – assuming you are in a more developed country like the U.S.
That being said, the amount a B2B company should budget for social media marketing depends on whether the services are handled by an in-house team or outsourced to a professional agency.
Now answer some questions regarding social media service budgeting for B2B companies:
Recommended Cost for B2B Social Media Services
Since there is no one figure that fits every business, it’s essential to communicate with a professional before engaging in social media marketing services for your firm. They can help you plan a budget that meets your unique business objectives and requirements.
So, in short, the recommended budget for B2B social media services is typically dependent on company goals, revenue, prominence, and the complexity of the social media campaign in question.
Assuming your business has been operating for more than five years, putting 6%-12% of your gross revenue into marketing is a good idea, with 10% of the budget going to social media marketing.
If your company is five years old or less, we suggest allocating 12% to 20% of your total income for marketing and 20% of the marketing budget for social media marketing.
The reason for this type of estimate is that the prominence and reputation of a business play a vital role in digital marketing. When a startup company is new or does not have a good reputation, it may be more difficult to attract the right customers in an online space effortlessly.
Therefore, putting less money into marketing could mean sacrificing sales or worse yet – shutting down altogether due to competition.
In context, when a company is prominent and has a good reputation, it will aid them a lot in customer acquisition. A company that is well known and has an excellent reputation will probably spend less money acquiring new consumers via social media.
There are many factors that come into play when budgeting for social media marketing services for a B2B firm, so please consult with a professional social media manager before committing any funds!
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should a B2B company budget for B2B social media services?
When budgeting for social media marketing services for a B2B company, it’s important to consider how much your company should offer per month without affecting other business funding activities. A common approach to this is allocating 5%-25% of your marketing budget to B2B social media marketing.
What is a reasonable budget for social media marketing services for a B2B company?
A reasonable budget for social media marketing services for a B2B company can range from $500 to $10,000 per month but it ultimately depends on your company’s size, industry, and goal of your business.
Can B2B companies outsource their social media marketing efforts to an external agency?
Yes, social media marketing can be outsourced to an external agency if a company feels that they don’t have the time or resources to do it themselves.
Outsourcing social media marketing can be a great way for businesses to save money for a B2B company. There are a number of agencies that specialize in B2B social media marketing and can help your company reach its target audience more effectively. In addition, by outsourcing the tasks you can free up your time to focus on other important areas of your business.
What are some of the most common costs associated with social media marketing services?
Common costs associated with social media marketing services typically include strategy development, content creation, branding, paid campaign management, software tools, etc. Additionally, costs may also vary depending on the size and scope of your social media campaign and business goals.
Why do you need a budget for B2B social media marketing?
Without a set budget, it can be difficult to know how much money your company needs to spend or budget for your social media marketing efforts.
The cost for B2B social media marketing varies depending on the size and scope. Therefore, setting aside some money each month for your social media marketing efforts is a wise decision. By setting a social media marketing budget aside, you can ensure that your resources are focused on achieving your business goals rather than wasting money on campaigns that aren’t effectively reaching your target audience.
The Bottom Line Of Social Media For B2B Businesses
When it comes to a social media marketing budget for B2Bs, there is no actual figure that is best for every type of business. A budget that might work well for a small business with limited resources might not be the best approach for a company with more budget and resources.
We want to say a big thank you for reading our blog post on how much B2B companies should budget for social media marketing services. In this post, we have discussed the costs associated with social media marketing and the recommended budget that a B2B company should budget for social media management services.
We believe that this blog post will help B2B companies understand social media marketing costs and make informed decisions about their social media marketing strategy.