If you want the broader picture on how B2B social media fits into your marketing mix, our complete guide to B2B social media management has that covered.
What’s actually in a social media management package
The first thing to know is that a social media management package is not just a content production service. Posting is the visible output, but what you’re really paying for is the thinking that sits behind it.
A properly structured package covers several distinct things:
1. Strategy and platform selection
We don’t decide which platforms to focus on until we understand the business. A Northampton-based manufacturer selling to procurement teams at major retailers needs a completely different approach to a B2B tech company selling SaaS to mid-market finance directors.
Platform selection follows the audience, not the other way around.
2. Social content creation
This means writing captions, designing static graphics, and in some cases producing short-form video (e.g. Reels, TikTok, LinkedIn video).
Content creation is where the quality varies most dramatically between agencies at different price points.
3. Scheduling, posting, and community management
A good package handles the operational side: content goes out consistently, comments get responded to and the account is actively managed rather than just fed content.
4. Reporting and strategy calls
Monthly reporting should tell you what’s working and what’s being adjusted, not just show you a follower count going up.
Strategy calls are where you stay close to the thinking, not just the output.
5. Senior leader personal branding
For B2B businesses, the senior leadership team’s own LinkedIn profiles are often the highest-leverage channel in the whole package.
Outsourcing social media works best when this is built into the scope from day one rather than treated as an optional extra.
6. Paid social as an integrated layer
Organic and paid work best together. Paid social is not a replacement for a content strategy; it amplifies one that’s already working.
What normally sits outside a standard package: PR; influencer fees; ad spend itself; and event coverage. If an agency is bundling these into a single monthly figure, get clarity on exactly what the split is.
B2B social media management packages: What’s different from B2C?
This distinction matters more than most agencies will tell you.
A B2C package is built around reach, engagement, and brand awareness. The buying cycle is short. Someone sees a product, likes it, and buys in the same scroll session. Success is measured in impressions, clicks, and conversions.
B2B buying cycles don’t work that way.
A procurement director at a food retailer doesn’t see one LinkedIn post and decides to change supplier. The decision takes months – sometimes longer.
What social media can do in that time is build familiarity and trust. When the conversation eventually happens, the brand is not starting from zero.
This has three practical implications for what a B2B package should look like.
First, founder and leadership personal branding sits at the centre of the strategy, not on the periphery. In B2B, people buy from people. LinkedIn content from the founder is not a nice-to-have; for most of the clients we work with, it is the most commercially valuable content we produce.
Second, the metrics that matter are lead quality and warm conversations, not reach and follower counts. Take Shoosmiths, the UK law firm whose employee advocacy programme we ran. The return on that programme wasn’t measured in likes; it was measured in senior lawyers being recognised at networking events and generating conversations that led to instructions.
Third, LinkedIn is the primary channel, with Instagram and Facebook as secondary platforms where the audience demands them. This is the inverse of most B2C packages, where Instagram leads.
If an agency pitches you a B2B package centred around Instagram Reels and hashtag strategy, ask them how that maps to your actual buyers.
How much does social media management cost in the UK
The UK market runs from roughly £99 to £45,000 a month. That range tells you very little without context.
Under £500 a month
At this level, you’re likely buying content production, not strategic social media management. Templated posts, offshore production and scheduled output can work for brand awareness if expectations are set correctly. It will not generate B2B leads or build a serious brand presence.
£1,000 to £3,000 a month
This is where the UK SME market sits – and where Social with Ryan operates for the most part. At this level, you should expect a genuine strategy layer, bespoke content creation, direct access to the person running the account, and meaningful reporting. This is the bracket where commercial outcomes start to appear rather than vanity metrics.
£3,000 to £5,000+ a month
Multi-platform strategies with video production, dedicated senior strategy resource and typically a small team rather than one person. Appropriate for businesses with a more complex content requirement or a larger addressable audience.
£25,000 to £45,000+ a month
Multi-location enterprise contracts. These are bespoke engagements, not packages in any conventional sense.
The reason the range is so wide comes down to five variables:
- Content volume
- The number of platforms being managed
- Whether video production is included
- The seniority of the person doing the actual work
- And whether a genuine strategy layer is part of the service or just content production
One comparison worth making: a good UK social media manager’s salary in the Midlands now costs upwards of £40,000. That’s before you’ve even thought about employer’s National Insurance, pension contributions, holiday cover, sick pay, tools, training, and management overhead.
Before committing to a full-time hire, it’s worth working through what a well-scoped agency package actually costs against that.
What Social with Ryan’s packages include
Packages start from £1,500 a month plus VAT. The minimum contract is three months, with a verbal six-month commitment requested. That’s not arbitrary: it takes three months to build the right content rhythm and start seeing the compounding effect of consistent social media activity. Six months is where the commercial outcomes begin to show.
Platform options typically cover LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, singly or in any combination, but we will set you up wherever it’s best to reach your customers.
All packages are organic-first, with paid social available as an option where it makes sense for the business.
Every client gets a monthly strategy call, dashboard access, and a direct WhatsApp line to the team. Social with Ryan is Northampton-based and visits clients on-site where geography allows.
There are no guarantees of specific lead numbers or follower counts. That is a deliberate honesty position, not a disclaimer. Anyone guaranteeing specific outcomes from organic social media is not being straight with you.
Two examples of how this works in practice.
Houghton Hams, the Northampton food producer, has been a Social with Ryan client for two and a half years. The relationship started with LinkedIn strategy and now encompasses brand social, founder content, and B2B-specific comms targeting buyers at major retailers. A single social lead generated a half-million pound enquiry for the business. Over two million pounds of fresh meat moves a year with social as a meaningful part of the commercial mix.
Houghton Hams
“Social with Ryan turned our social media into a major talking point. In every meeting with new or existing clients, someone always mentions how engaging and interesting our content is.”
Original Hardaways built a Mid-Wales retreat brand from nothing to inbound enquiries through social alone. No existing audience or previous presence.
The growth was organic, built on a content strategy that spoke directly to the right people.
What happens after month three
Most package pages describe what you get in month one and leave the question of what happens next unanswered.
The honest answer is that a good social media partnership does not feel like a subscription after the first six months. It feels more like having a social media department that is deeply embedded in your business.
At the three-month mark, there is a content rhythm established and data on what is resonating. This is the point where we typically restrategise: what’s working well and should be scaled; what’s not moving the needle and should be changed; and where the next phase of growth is coming from.
Houghton Hams is the clearest example of how this works. Two and a half years in, the relationship is evolving again – the business is growing and the brief is shifting with it.
Rather than just treating Houghton Hams as a client on a subscription, we’ve established ourselves as their own social media department that has grown alongside the business.
That’s a statement about the value of Social with Ryan’s work and how we approach the relationship – as a partnership with a commercial interest in the outcome, not as a supplier ticking off deliverables.
So what happens after month three? We become your social media department. You won’t get that with most other agencies.
How to pick the right UK social media management package for your business
Regardless of which agency you speak to, these are the questions worth asking before you sign anything.
- Who actually produces your content? Ask for a name, not a job title. Agencies often pitch senior people and deliver junior production. Know who is doing the work.
- Is the strategy bespoke to your business? A good onboarding process includes a genuine discovery session. If you are handed a questionnaire and a content calendar within the first week, the strategy is templated.
- How often will you speak to the person running the account? Monthly should be the minimum. If the answer is “as needed”, ask what that means in practice.
- What does success look like at month one, three, and six? If the answer is reach and impressions for a B2B business, that is the wrong conversation.
- Will they visit your office? It’s not a necessity for all businesses, but an agency that can visit your site, meet your team, and see how the business operates will produce content that sounds like it comes from inside the business.
- Is the pricing transparent or quote-only? If you cannot see a starting price on the website, that’s a deliberate choice. Decide how you feel about that.
FAQs
How much does social media management cost per month in the UK?
The market runs from £99 a month for templated content production to £45,000+ for multi-location enterprise contracts. For UK SMEs running B2B businesses, the realistic bracket is £1,000 to £3,000 a month for a package with a genuine strategy layer and bespoke content creation. Our packages start from £1,500 a month plus VAT.
If a full management retainer isn’t the right fit right now, we also run personal brand and employee advocacy workshops for teams that want to build their own social media capability, and offer social media consultancy and support for businesses that can commit time to posting themselves but want strategic input and a sounding board. Both come in at a lower price point than a full retainer and are worth considering if budget is the main constraint.
What’s the minimum contract length for Social with Ryan?
Three months, with a verbal six-month commitment requested. The three-month minimum gives enough time to establish a content rhythm and start seeing the compounding effect of consistent activity. Six months is where commercial outcomes start to become measurable.
Do your packages include paid social and ad spend?
Packages are organic-first. Paid social is available as an integrated layer where it makes sense for the business. Ad spend itself sits outside the monthly retainer and we agree on that separately.
Which social platforms do you manage?
Mainly LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, but not exclusively. Platform selection follows the audience and the commercial objective – we help businesses work out where their buyers actually spend time, then figure out the best way to meet them there.
We use the platforms that make sense for your business, not a default list.
Do you manage social media for B2B and B2C businesses?
We work with both B2B and B2C businesses. The brief and the approach differ, but the fundamentals are the same: understand the audience, build a strategy around them, and create content that moves the commercial needle.
If you’re unsure whether we’re the right fit for your sector, the best starting point is a conversation.
Are you based in Northampton, and do you travel to clients?
Yes, and yes. The team is based in Northampton and covers clients across the Midlands and beyond. Where geography allows, we visit clients on-site. It makes the content better.
What happens if we want to change scope after three months?
We have a conversation. The strategy call at the three-month mark is the natural place to do that. Scope changes are handled as part of the ongoing relationship rather than as contract renegotiations.
Do you guarantee a specific number of leads or followers?
No. Anyone guaranteeing specific outcomes from organic social media is not being straight with you. What we can tell you is what we have achieved for clients in comparable situations, and build a strategy around a realistic commercial ambition.
