The complete guide to social media advertising pricing
Last update: 18 June 2024 at 03:10 pm
5.00/5Be honest—you’ve seen ads on your social feeds that have made you stop scrolling. And that have made you wonder, “Could I do the same?”
There’s no question social ads are a powerful tool for businesses looking to reach new customers and grow their brand.
But if you don’t have the talent or a clear idea of how much you should budget for it, this marketing strategy can easily go haywire.
On one hand, talent is at the center of properly managing social ads. Ads on social media can be an infinite money machine when done right; if you invest $1 and get $1.50 in return, you want to put that formula on repeat as often as possible, and for that you need the best talent available. Talent is crucial regardless of whether you decide to manage these ads in-house or outsource them to an agency.
On the other, you can’t set realistic social media budgets without understanding the pricing structure for social ads. Each platform has its own cost model, influenced by factors such as audience size, targeting options, and bidding strategy. By examining these costs, you can better plan your campaigns and allocate resources to achieve the best possible return on investment.
Key takeaways
- The goal of your advertising campaign (visibility, clicks, views, or specific actions) directly impacts how much you should budget for social media ads.
- Seasonality, audience size and specificity, ad location, and content relevance are key factors that influence social ad costs.
- Common bidding strategies include cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM), cost-per-click (CPC), and cost-per-view (CPV).
- Advertising costs vary across platforms, e.g., Facebook ads range from $0.26 to $0.50 per click, while LinkedIn ads average $5.26 per click.
- Social ads agency fees can range from €1,000 to €5,000 depending on the scope, reach, and level of service, from basic targeting to comprehensive analytics and A/B testing.
- Outsourcing provides access to specialized skills and advanced tools.
- In-house management allows for minute control of details.
TL;DR: How much do social media ads cost?
A benefit of social media advertising is that you don’t need to consider your follower count—any business can make their name known through ads on social media.
So exactly how much does it cost?
Around 46% of companies outsource their social media strategy. So we looked at Sortlist data to find the different pricing tiers that social ads agencies include in their services, depending on the capabilities and skills required.
If you plan on doing ads by yourself, you’ll have to consider your goal for advertising: is it visibility, clicks to a page, views (if it’s a video), or another specific action such as a download?
This goal determines how much you should budget for social media ads, since the prices for each of these goals are different.
| Platform | Price |
| $0.26 – $0.50 per click $1.01 – $3 per 1000 impressions $0 – $5 per download | |
| $0 – $0.25 per click $0 – $4 per 1000 impressions | |
| $5.26 per click $6.59 per thousand impressions $0.80 per message | |
| $0.26 – $0.50 per first action for promoted posts $1.01 – $2 per follow for promoted accounts | |
| $0 – $0.10 per click $0 – $2 per conversion $0 – $1.50 per 1000 impressions | |
| TikTok | $1.00 per click $10.00 per thousand impressions |
We’ll dig deeper into these rates per social media platform later, but for now, let’s use the example of a business that wants to advertise on Facebook.
If it’s looking for 1,000 clicks to their website, then we can take the average cost-per-click on Facebook, which is $0.50, and multiply that by the number of desired clicks.
That’s how much the business should spend on social ads on Facebook to get 1,000 clicks to their website.
But there’s more than meets the eye—even if the equation is simple, getting the right 1,000 clicks for your business is more difficult than it seems. And so in order to properly calculate your budget for social media ads, you must know the different factors that have an influence on cost and the rates for each social platform.
How much does it cost to get an expert to manage your social ads?
The costs of social media advertising can vary greatly, and it’s no one-size-fits-all solution. But the best way to gauge your spend on social ads comes down to return on investment.
Let’s say you have $10,000 to spend on social media ads. It’s not “light” money; you don’t want to invest it without thought or strategy.
Add to that the fact that bidding strategies can become technical the more you segment or the more granular you want to go. And adjusting for performance can become tricky if you don’t know what you’re doing.
All in all, your 10k can easily fritter away without the proper expertise.
This is why 8,000 businesses every year use Sortlist to find expert agencies that efficiently turn that budget into profit. They also avoid the hassle of dealing with the different platform rates such as costs-per-click (CPC), costs-per-view (CPV), etc.
Sortlist data confirms there are several pricing tiers that social ads agencies include in their services, depending on the capabilities and skills required.
Services like these are an investment in securing a positive ROI; they encompass the agency’s efforts in strategizing, executing, and managing social ads campaigns tailored to your company’s specific needs.
Agencies bring extensive experience, ensuring that you advertise on the right social media and pay a fair price for visibility, engagement, or conversions. This is particularly beneficial for those new to the social media landscape, who may lack the expertise to set up professional ad accounts or adjust bidding along the way.
“Paid ads require a lot of learning and failing, often, to really find which ones are the winners and losers.”
Jack Lineker, Co-founder and Managing Director at Socialed
How much does it cost to do social ads in-house?
The world of social media is never a dual-color palette. There are factors that can have a direct impact on your budget, whether it’s for organic social media management or on paid social ads.
We’ll delve deeper into the costs-per-click, or CPC, later in this article, but it’s important to note now that while this is the preferred bidding strategy for companies that are doing social ads, they are not static. They depend on a range of factors such as seasonality, locations, etc.
If you plan on doing social ads in-house, take a look at some of the salaries for social media ads professionals from Indeed:
| Position | Yearly salary |
| Social Media Specialist | $53,280 |
| Social Media Manager | $58,281 |
| Social Media Strategist | $73,988 |
| Paid Media Specialist | $72,278 |
| Paid Media Manager | $71,342 |
Add to these salaries the time required for in-house professionals to learn the nature of your business and what works best for it—and you can see why these prices loom large when compared to investing in an experienced agency.
Prices you need to know if you’re in-housing
If you intend to follow the in-housing route, make sure to bear in mind the following costs that are associated with paid ads on social media.
Bidding strategies
Social ads present numerous ways to pay for your ad campaigns. It depends mainly on the objective you have defined. You can choose to generate traffic to your website, to increase brand awareness or recognition, to present a video, etc.
Below we review the three most relevant bidding strategies for companies’ budgets and marketing efforts. Chances are yours will probably fit into one of these.
Cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM)
CPM comes from the term cost-per-mille (cost per thousand) and refers to the amount you pay each time your ad achieves 1,000 impressions. By impressions, we mean the number of times your piece is presented on any social media platform, search engine, or any other marketing channel.
It should be noted that these are not unique users. The same person can receive your ad 2 or 3 times and all of them would add up in the impressions counter.
This option is preferred by businesses and organizations that want to increase their brand recognition and notoriety. Platforms like Facebook Ads and LinkedIn Ads offer the possibility to create campaigns of this type.
Cost-per-click (CPC)
Cost-per-click (CPC) campaigns are those in which you are going to pay for each click your ad receives. This is the preferred bidding strategy for companies, as it is one of the most effective in relation to cost and results obtained.
It’s worth noting that CPCs are not static on social media platforms. They depend on a range of factors, such as how competitive the audience is, the location you’re targeting, etc.
CPC ads can be as varied as texts, videos, images, and tweets.
But most importantly, they redirect visitors to your website, a landing page, or a checkout page that really helps them understand why your brand is the best choice for their specific need at that specific time.
Cost-per-view (CPV)
The cost-per-view (CPV) is the amount you pay for each view of a video in social media advertisements. But it’s worth noting: not all platforms understand “view” in the same way.
Many businesses see CPV as the ideal way to maximize the reach of your investment in the development and production of a video. And it allows you to understand live if your content is resonating with your target audience.
Social media ad rates per platform
You might be wanting to focus only on specific social media, but how do you know if your budget is enough for those?
Each social media platform has its own rates for advertising, and so it makes sense to have a clear view on how they differ in order to best calculate your overall ad spend.
Clicks vs impressions per platformLet’s have a deeper look.
Facebook Ads
To this day, Facebook remains the most comprehensive social targeting platform, presenting the best cost-performance ratio. It has a database of more than 2 billion active monthly users.
You can use the following figures as a reference for Facebook ads:
- $0.26 – $0.50 per click
- $1.01 – $3 per 1000 impressions
- $0 – $5 per download
Your business and social media advertising strategy can influence the size of your budget. Therefore, it’s beneficial to use these figures as a reference point instead of a fixed standard for your Facebook advertising expenses.
Instagram Ads
That Meta is the umbrella company that owns both Facebook and Instagram does not mean that the rates for advertising on each are the same.
In fact, the behavior of each social network is independent, and so are the bidding options for each.
Advertising on Instagram, on average, can cost:
- $0 – $0.25 per click
- $0 – $4 per 1000 impressions
In the case of Instagram, any interaction your ads receive is considered a click. That is to say: likes, reactions, comments, and sharing.
Instagram offers businesses a fresh avenue to reach consumers. 80% of global companies advertise on the platform, highlighting its distinct benefits for those going into social media advertising. However, this competitive edge also leads to higher advertising costs.
LinkedIn Ads
B2B social media advertising is slightly different from the usual B2C, which means you’ll have to adapt your social media advertising strategy a little for LinkedIn.
LinkedIn will require you to have a minimum bid of $2 for your CPC and CPM campaigns. However, the average price is considerably higher.
These are the rates to advertise your brand or product on LinkedIn Ads:
- $5.26 per click.
- $6.59 per thousand impressions.
- $0.80 per message. This refers to the sponsored messages you can send through LinkedIn’s InMail network.
The key here, as in all cases, is to regularly measure the activity and results generated by each of the ads in your LinkedIn campaign.
Twitter Ads
On Twitter/X, the rates are calculated with different criteria:
- $0.26 – $0.50 per first action for promoted posts
- $1.01 – $2 per follow for promoted accounts
Compared to social media networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, X has a smaller user base. However, with over 415 million users worldwide, many businesses still choose to utilize its advertising services.
Additionally, while you can now exceed the 280-character limit on X, that doesn’t change the challenge that comes with advertising on the network, where copy still remains king.
Pinterest Ads
A very visual platform à la Instagram, Pinterest helps companies meet three marketing objectives: create brand recognition, invite consideration of your products or services, and achieve conversions.
It is estimated that a business invests up to $500 on ad spend for this platform. But how much does it cost to advertise here?
- $0 – $0.10 per click
- $0 – $2 per conversion
- $0 – $1.50 per 1000 impressions
Pinterest presents a unique opportunity for B2C companies to reach and engage with their target audience.
TikTok Ads
As the sixth most used social platform worldwide, TikTok offers an excellent opportunity for your business to reach a broader audience.
The costs to advertise on TikTok are:
- $1.00 per click
- $10.00 per thousand impressions
Amid ever-changing trends and well-edited videos, TikTok advertising poses a unique challenge for many companies. If you lack the time to master another social media platform, consider using professional services such as the providers you’ll find on Sortlist.
Other factors that influence price
If you want to advertise an offer, would it be better to target an entire city with a small CPM, or CEOs in that city with a higher one?
This is where long experience and knowledge of your business, combined with the intricacies of each platform, come into play.
Among the elements that most affect the cost of your social media ads on Facebook, Instagram, or any other social platform are:
- Seasonality – It’s not the same to activate ad campaigns during the Christmas season when all brands want to advertise their products, as it is to do so in January. The higher the demand, the higher the price of social media advertising. That is why it is so important that your team manages a calendar of the most important dates for your market and for the location you are in.
- Audience – The size and specificity of your target, location, and interests directly influence the cost of reaching them. It is not the same to send a message to a small but highly sought-after group as it is to do so to millions of people throughout New York City. But be careful: you don’t want to waste money sending messages to people with zero interest in your products or brand. Therefore, it is essential that you are clear about who your ideal buyer is, what their interests are, and where they are located.
- Location of the ads – When it comes to social media campaigns, you have a range of options. You can select that they appear only for people who connect from mobile devices, computers, or both. On Instagram, you can place them in stories or in the feed. On Facebook, you have even more options. Depending on what you choose, the costs of your ad campaign can go up or down.
- Content relevance – Beyond how much you are willing to invest, social media platforms take into account how relevant is the content and the message you are transmitting to your target. To do this, they check the interactions it generates and how many people follow the call to action you have placed.
As you can see, to launch a social media advertising campaign you need to have a good definition of who your audience is, and, above all, a knowledge of what their main interests are. This is the only way to have more control over the cost.
Outsourcing vs. in-housing social ads
The difference in prices between outsourcing your social ads or hiring in-house professionals is reason enough to weigh this decision with the importance it deserves.
When should you outsource?
Key takeaways
- Outsourcing provides access to specialized skills and advanced tools.
- It removes risks in your ads investment.
- Agencies can scale campaigns quickly and handle complex projects.
- It is often more economical for small to medium-sized businesses.
- Agencies excel in optimizing ads and staying current with trends.
- An external perspective can offer strategic insights and a holistic approach.
Not every business has the skills or the time to carry out an effective social media advertising strategy.
The first obvious reason is expertise. If you lack in-house expertise in social media advertising, it can be challenging to create effective campaigns. In your business your main concern is to focus on core business activities, but if your team is spending time and effort learning something as technical as bidding on social ads, then it’s already stretched thin.
Agencies often have more experience in optimizing ad performance, including A/B testing, targeting, and retargeting strategies. So an expert social ads agency can handle the intricacies of paid advertising while you and your team focus on the important stuff.
And if you go for a verified agency you can be confident you’ll work with professional creative teams that have experience designing compelling visuals and ad copy that align with your brand’s messaging and objectives.
The second thing is cost efficiency. When compared to yearly salaries, the fees from outsourcing to an agency are more cost-effective than hiring and training an in-house team, especially for small to medium-sized businesses.
Similarly, agencies often have access to advanced tools, technologies, and analytics that can enhance the effectiveness of social ad campaigns.
And if you’re looking to integrate social ads with broader marketing strategies, an agency can offer a more holistic approach and ensure consistency across all channels.
When should you in-house?
Key takeaways
- In-house management allows for control of every minute detail of your social campaigns.
- An internal social ads team might have long experience and knowledge of the brand voice, keeping your campaigns tighter to the brand.
- Managing ads internally ensures your campaigns are integrated with your other marketing and business activities.
- In-house teams have the time to experiment with several kinds of campaigns and bidding strategies.
- In-house teams are experts in creative strategies.
While outsourcing social ads can be beneficial in many cases, there are scenarios where handling social ads in-house might be the better option.
If your company has a team with strong expertise and experience in social media advertising, then in-housing makes sense.
Additionally, with expertise, your in-house team can adapt to changes and make the necessary adjustments to campaigns.
Finally, you can try doing social ads in-house if your company wants micro control of costs of your social campaigns, including variations in CPCs per platform and new ad formats like Tiktok’s Branded Effects.
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