What a Social Media Manager Actually Does Each Month (and What It Costs)
If you've ever hired someone to "do your social media," you may have wondered what you're actually paying for. Posts show up, but the work behind them is mostly invisible.
Here's what a month of social media management really looks like, step by step, and how pricing usually lines up with the amount of work.
Week 1: Planning
Every good month starts with a plan, not a post. Before anything gets made, I sit down with the business and work out:
What's happening this month: launches, events, seasonal offers, slow periods
What worked last month and what didn't
Which platforms matter most for this business, and what each one needs
A content calendar that maps every post to a date and a purpose
This is the step most businesses skip when they do it themselves, and it's why their accounts feel random. A calendar turns "we should post something" into "Tuesday's video answers the question customers ask most."
Week 1–2: Creating the content
This is the part people picture: filming short videos, taking photos, designing graphics and writing captions. It usually means:
Short-form videos for Reels, TikTok and Shorts
Photo and graphic posts for the feed
Stories that keep you visible between posts
Captions written for each platform, not copied and pasted across all of them
Video takes the most time. A single 30-second video can mean planning the shot, filming several takes, editing, adding captions and choosing a cover. That's why video counts are usually the biggest difference between packages.
Every week: Publishing and scheduling
Once content is approved, it gets scheduled at the times your audience is actually online. Good scheduling also means watching what happens after a post goes live, and moving things around when something takes off or flops.
Every day: Community management
Social media isn't a billboard. People comment, ask questions and send messages, and slow or missing replies cost you customers. Depending on the package, community management can include:
Replying to comments and direct messages
Answering common questions or routing them to you
Engaging with local accounts, partners and customers who tag you
End of month: Reporting
At the end of the month you should get a short, readable report, not a wall of numbers. The useful parts are:
What grew: reach, followers, engagement and website clicks
Which posts performed best, and why
What changes for next month
If your current setup never tells you what's working, you're paying for activity, not results.
What it costs
Pricing depends mostly on three things: how many platforms, how much content (especially video), and how much strategy and support you want on top. As a reference point, here's how my own packages are set up:
Presence – $750/month: 2 platforms, 8 videos and 4 posts a month, captions and scheduling, basic engagement, a monthly report and one call a month.
Growth – $1,500/month: 3 platforms, 16 videos, 8 posts and stories, Meta Ads management (ad spend separate), analytics setup, funnel updates and two calls a month.
Full-Service – $2,500/month: 3–4 platforms, 24 videos, 12 posts and stories, Meta Ads included, email campaigns and automation, website updates and weekly meetings.
Paying yearly saves 10%. You can see everything side by side on the Packages page.
Is it worth it?
The honest answer: it depends on what your time is worth. If you're spending 10 or more hours a month planning, filming, posting and replying, and your accounts still feel inconsistent, handing it off usually pays for itself in time alone, before you count any new customers.
If you're not sure which level fits your business, book a free 20-minute call. Tell me about your business and I'll tell you which package I'd pick and why, even if the answer is "you don't need one yet."
