How much does paid social management cost in the UK?

Paid social management in the UK is charged in one of three ways: a flat monthly fee, a percentage of your ad spend, or a mix of the two, sometimes with a setup fee and a minimum term attached. Whichever model you're quoted, the fee pays for someone's time and expertise, and the money for the ads themselves goes to Meta on top. With us, paid social management starts at £600 a month + VAT.

The headline number only tells you half the story, though. Two quotes for "paid social management" can describe very different amounts of work, so know exactly what you're buying before you compare prices.

What does a paid social manager actually do?

On Facebook and Instagram, the work splits into six jobs, and a good manager does all of them every month:

• Strategy: deciding what the ads are for, who they should reach and how the budget is split.
• Audiences: building and testing the groups of people your ads are shown to, including people who've already visited your website.
• Creative and copy: writing the ads and choosing or briefing the images and video they run on.
• Tracking: setting up the Meta Pixel so every enquiry is recorded against the ad that produced it.
• Daily optimisation: moving budget towards what's working and switching off what isn't.
• Reporting: showing you what you spent, what came in and what each enquiry cost.

Leave any of those out and the price drops, but so does the value. A cheap quote without tracking means nobody can tell you which ads bring in enquiries, and once that's missing, every other decision is guesswork.

How much do UK businesses spend on paid social?

£11.5bn in 2025. IAB UK's Digital Adspend study, published in March 2026, found that UK social media spend rose 21% to £11.5bn, accounting for 28% of the UK's digital ad market.

All of that money is competing for a place in the same feeds. Every pound you spend is up against it, which is why the way your account is run matters as much as the size of your budget. Loose targeting and tired creative hand those places to someone else.

How do UK agencies and freelancers charge for paid social?

A flat monthly fee is the simplest model. You pay the same management fee each month, whatever you put through Meta, so it's easy to budget for. The fee is set by the level of service, not by how much you spend on ads.

A percentage of ad spend ties the fee to your budget. As you spend more, the fee grows with it. It's a straightforward model, but ask how the manager decides when to recommend a bigger budget, because their fee rises when yours does.

A hybrid model combines the two: a base fee to cover the core work, plus a percentage once your spend passes a set level.

On top of any of these, some providers charge a one-off setup fee for building the account, installing tracking and creating the first audiences. Then there's the minimum term, the period you commit to before you can give notice. Check both before you sign, along with what happens when the term ends.

What do you get at each level?

The clearest way to compare is to look at what each level of service includes, so here's how our plans work. We're a Meta Business Partner, and our paid social runs on Facebook and Instagram through Meta Ads.

Our Starter plan is £600 a month + VAT and covers up to £2,000 a month in ad spend. It includes Facebook and Instagram setup, audience research and targeting, ad creative copywriting, up to 3 ad sets, Pixel setup and conversion tracking, and a monthly report.

Growth is £1,000 a month + VAT for up to £5,000 a month in ad spend. It adds up to 8 ad sets, retargeting and lookalike audiences, A/B testing of creative and copy, lead generation campaigns, Messenger and DM ad formats, and weekly updates.

Scale is £1,800 a month + VAT with no cap on ad spend. It adds unlimited ad sets and campaigns, full funnel strategy, video ad production guidance, catalogue and dynamic ads, dedicated landing page builds, weekly strategy calls and priority support.

Prices are per channel, and every plan has a 6-month minimum term. Your ad spend is paid directly to Meta, so our fee and your ad spend arrive as two separate bills. Every plan includes a free audit before you start, daily optimisation and a dedicated account manager, and campaigns go live in 5 days on average. Our Meta Ads page sets out each plan in full.

Should you hire an agency, a freelancer or someone in-house?

Each option buys you something different. A freelancer gives you one person to deal with directly. The trade-off is that you're relying on one person's hours and skills to cover strategy, creative, tracking and reporting, and on what happens to your account when they're on holiday or busy with another client.

An agency gives you a team, with specialists behind an account manager and cover built in. You pay for that structure, and you should expect it to show in the work and the reporting.

Hiring in-house puts someone inside your business who knows it well. You take on a salary, training and the tools they need, and you're back to one person covering every job on the list above.

Whichever route you choose, the work has to fit your market. We're remote-first and work with businesses across the UK, and our pages on paid social in Manchester and London show how we approach two very different cities.

What should you ask before you sign?

Start with what's in the fee and what costs extra. Ask whether creative is included, who writes the copy and who supplies the photos and video. Then ask how enquiries are tracked, because reach and clicks don't show whether the ads are paying for themselves. Enquiries, and what each one cost, do.

Ask how your ad spend is paid, whether straight to Meta or through the provider, and whether you can see the account yourself. Ask how frequently you'll hear from them, and in what form. And ask for the minimum term and notice period in writing.

If you also want to be found on Google, ask whether search can be managed alongside social. We run both, with Google Ads management at the same prices as paid social. If you'd like ads, SEO and a new website working together under one fee, the DLR Growth Engine brings them together for £1,499 a month + VAT on a 12-month term.

Frequently asked questions

Does paid social management cover Instagram as well as Facebook?

Yes. Both run through Meta Ads, so one set of campaigns reaches people on Facebook and Instagram.

Do you charge a percentage of ad spend?

No. Our fee is a flat monthly amount set by your plan, and each plan covers a level of ad spend. Your ad spend is paid directly to Meta.

How long is the minimum term?

Six months, on every plan. That covers setting up, testing audiences and creative, and building on what works.

Can you take over our existing ad account?

Yes. We can audit and take over an existing account, or set up your business page, ad account and Meta Pixel from scratch.

Get a free paid social audit

Want to see what paid social management would look like for your business? Call us on +44 1382 699595 or book your free audit.