So how much will a social media strategy cost?

Very interesting breakdown on prices Mack, and hat tip to you for the revelation.

“While it’s almost impossible to give any company an accurate quote without talking to them about the above and so much more, I’ll share some ranges with you to give you an idea of what to expect.”

While I agree with the figures you mention in theory and I know the difficulty in making these types of sweeping statements and guesstimates, especially with annoying buggers like me floating about, the thing I would ask is how much time and resource this actually involves or what type of commitment it entails from you and consequently the company using your services.

This cost may be factored into the prices you mention in terms of their required commitment to social media as a route to market or as a form of engagement but I find very few companies, small or large, have that type of financial liberty or willingness to commit hours and resources to the medium at this stage and especially with the bean counters staring over their shoulders and demanding to know what the ROI is on every key stroke made. (Bear in mind I am in Europe and social media is relatively new here compared to the USA).

The reason I ask is that if I took your guide prices at face value then added up the top line figures, your basically saying that to implement a year long (more or less) social media effort would cost:

Top level pricing
blog – 6000 per month
twitter – 5000 per month
facebook – 6000 per month
strategy – 12000 per month
Total – 29000 per month

and at the short term, 3- 6 months, minimum price:
lowest level pricing
blog – 1500 per month
twitter – 1500 per month
facebook – 2000 per month
strategy – 2500 per month
Total – 7500 per month

I’m not trying to pick holes in your guide prices (as I mentioned I understand they are rough guidelines), but am just trying to understand the extent of the service provision you are describing Mack as the prices seem rather high for each individual aspect! (Not that I wouldn’t want to be charging that, and getting it myself, believe me!)

But I wonder if you could clarify a little if I’m accurate here or completely off on a tangent? (I also know I am fudging the numbers a little here as they include things like customer management and content creation in the longer term stuff and that costs for quality but I have to ask!)

in reference to:

"So how much will a social media strategy cost?"
- So how much will a social media strategy cost? | MackCollier.com (view on Google Sidewiki)