A restaurant owner asks how much you charge to run their Instagram and Facebook. You throw out a quick number so you don't lose them. Two months later you're doing three times the work you priced, and you don't know how to raise the price without losing the client.
We've seen that mistake many times. And it almost always starts the same way: setting a price without knowing what it costs to produce.
What the market charges for social media management
There's no single price, but there are ranges that keep showing up with small and midsize Hispanic businesses in the U.S. and Latin America. Use them as a guide, not a rule:
| Type of service | Typical monthly range | What it usually includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $150 to $300 | A few posts a month, simple designs, no message replies |
| Mid-level | $300 to $600 | Monthly calendar, custom designs, posting several days a week |
| Full service | $600 to $1,200 or more | Unlimited designs, community manager, stories, reports, strategy |
As a real reference: at Blides, the Professional Brand plan has a public price of $350 a month (new clients pay $250 the first month) and includes unlimited designs, a community manager, a monthly calendar, and posting Monday through Sunday. That's the price a business pays when it hires us directly.
Three questions to answer before you quote
Before you say a number, answer these:
- How many hours or pieces will it take each month? Designs, captions, stories, replies, meetings.
- Who produces it? If you do it yourself, your hour has a value. If a team produces it, you have a fixed cost per client.
- What is it worth to that client? A clinic that charges $200 per visit values it differently than a food stand.
Your price comes from combining all three. If you only look at the first, you charge too little. If you only look at the third, you charge too much and don't close.
How to calculate your margin
The formula is simple:
Margin = what you charge your client minus what it costs you to produce.
If you produce it yourself, your cost is your time. If you spend 20 hours a month on a client and charge $400, you make $20 an hour. That sounds fine until you add up the hours for all your clients and realize you have no time left to sell.
If you produce with a team behind you, like a white label agency, your cost is what that team charges you. That changes the math: your time goes into selling, delivering, and collecting, not designing. We explain it in detail in agency pricing and your margin.
An illustrative example, without agency figures: if the market in your area pays around $350 to $500 for a full service and your production cost is below that, the difference is yours every month, for every client. With ten clients, that difference is already a business.
Common pricing mistakes
- Charging per post. The client starts counting posts and stops looking at results. It's better to charge for a plan with a clear scope.
- Including "everything" with no written limit. Unlimited designs is fine if your production can handle it; unlimited replies at 11 p.m. is not.
- Lowering your price to close. If you go low at the start, raising it later costs you twice as much.
- Not separating ad spend. Managing social media and paying for ads are different things. The client pays Meta for ad spend separately.
- Copying another agency's price. You don't know what it costs them to produce.
Build plans, not one-off prices
What helps most to close is having two or three clear plans, each with a name and a scope. The client compares, chooses, and doesn't haggle piece by piece. If you want to see how to structure them, check out how to build service packages for your agency.
A good plan spells out what's included, how many revisions there are, how content gets approved, which days you post, and what is not included. That last part is what keeps you from working for free.
When to raise your price
Raise your price when:
- You have more demand than you can handle.
- You add something of real value (reports, ads, message handling).
- Your client is already seeing results and renews without a second thought.
Give one month's notice, explain what's changing, and honor the current price for anyone with an active agreement if that's what you agreed to.
Do you have an agency or work on your own? We are your production team.
You sell and bill under your brand; we handle social media, ads, websites, AI and support at agency pricing. Your client never knows we are behind it.
Your next step
Figure out how much it costs you today to produce one month of social media for a client. If the answer is "all my time," the problem isn't your price, it's your production. Message us on WhatsApp and we'll send you the agency price list so you can run your numbers with a team behind you.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a community manager charge per month?
It depends on the scope. A basic service usually runs between $150 and $300, and a full service with designs, posting, and message handling can go over $600. For reference, the public price of Professional Brand at Blides is $350 a month.
Should I charge per post or per month?
Per month, with a plan that has a clear scope. Charging per post makes the client count pieces instead of looking at results.
Does the price of social media management include ads?
It shouldn't. The client pays Meta directly for ad spend; you charge separately for the strategy, the designs, and the management.
