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social media marketing agencies
2025

Top Social Media Marketing Agencies for 2025

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In 2025, social media marketing is the cornerstone of brand-audience connections. With 4.9 billion users worldwide, these platforms are the new town squares and marketplaces. Globally, over $296 billion is spent on social media advertising, highlighting its tremendous value and effectiveness in the marketing landscape. Show more

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Agencies
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Avg. Min. Campaign Size: $4,999+
Avg. Hourly Rate: From $100 / hr
Verified
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Disruptive Advertising, a highly proficient agency, specializes in Marketing Strategy, Advertising, and Digital Strategy. Credible and diverse, they cater to medium-scale businesses with an expertise … Read More
Services
Content Creation Services
PPC Campaign Services
Digital Direct Mail Campaigns
Search Marketing Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Services
Content Creation Services
PPC Campaign Services
Digital Direct Mail Campaigns
Search Marketing Services
SoMe Marketing Services
United States
$4,999+
50 - 199
SmartSites
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SmartSites is a leading marketing agency serving squarely medium-sized clients, boasting a comprehensive range of key services including marketing strategy, advertising, and digital strategy. Based in… Read More
Services
Website Design
PPC Campaign Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Search Marketing Services
Services
Website Design
PPC Campaign Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Search Marketing Services
United States
$999+
50 - 199
Joseph Studios
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What sets us apart is our dedication to using intelligence-based organic marketing and open-source intelligence (OSINT) to provide you with dramatic business results that stem from our ability to infl… Read More
Services
Content Creation
Email Marketing
SEO
Social Media Management
Facebook and Instagram Advertising
Video Marketing
YouTube Strategy
YouTube Optimization
Youtube Marketing
Influencer Marketing
YouTube Advertising
Digital Marketing
User Acquisition
B2B
LinkedIn Advertising
Social Media Strategy
B2B Influencer Campaigns
Social Media Content Creation
Organic Social Media Marketing
Public Relations
Market Intelligence
Services
Content Creation
Email Marketing
SEO
Social Media Management
Facebook and Instagram Advertising
Video Marketing
YouTube Strategy
YouTube Optimization
Youtube Marketing
Influencer Marketing
YouTube Advertising
Digital Marketing
User Acquisition
B2B
LinkedIn Advertising
Social Media Strategy
B2B Influencer Campaigns
Social Media Content Creation
Organic Social Media Marketing
Public Relations
Market Intelligence
NYC, New York
$999+
10 - 49
Verified
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Fresh Content Society is an award winning social media management company. FCS is a full stack social media agency. We ideate, create, and manage all under one roof. Our approach is unique, unmatched,… Read More
Services
SoMe Marketing Services
User Engagement Enhancement
Content Creation Services
Online Strategy
PPC Campaign Services
Services
SoMe Marketing Services
User Engagement Enhancement
Content Creation Services
Online Strategy
PPC Campaign Services
United States
$9,999+
10 - 49
Nuanced Media
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Based in San Diego, California, Nuanced Media is a well-established agency that specializes in delivering top-tier Digital Strategy, Pay Per Click, and Search Engine Optimization services to its mediu… Read More
Services
PPC Campaign Services
Search Marketing Services
eCommerce Production Services
Services
PPC Campaign Services
Search Marketing Services
eCommerce Production Services
San Diego, California
$999+
10 - 49
Lyfe Marketing
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Lyfe Marketing, an established agency, specializes in delivering an integrated mix of services including Marketing Strategy, Advertising, and Digital Strategy. This agency accommodates medium-sized bu… Read More
Services
PPC Campaign Services
Search Marketing Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Services
PPC Campaign Services
Search Marketing Services
SoMe Marketing Services
United States
$999+
10 - 49
Iron Roots
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Based in Austin, Texas, Iron Roots is an exceptional digital agency known for its key services in Digital Strategy, Pay Per Click, and Search Engine Optimization. Catering to medium-sized businesses, … Read More
Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Talent Acquisition Services
Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Talent Acquisition Services
Austin, Texas
$4,999+
10 - 49
Sculpt
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Sculpt is a B2B social media agency serving mid-market to enterprise-scale brands around the world with organic, paid, influencer, and exec social media marketing services.… Read More
Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Iowa City, Iowa
$4,999+
10 - 49
Verified
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Ignite Social Media, based in Alabama, United States, has been serving medium-sized clients with their expertise in Marketing Strategy, Advertising, and Digital Strategy. Though the company size and h… Read More
Services
Content Creation Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Services
Content Creation Services
SoMe Marketing Services
North Carolina
$9,999+
10 - 49
Favoured
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Favoured is a marketing agency offering a comprehensive selection of services, including Marketing Strategy, Advertising, and Digital Strategy. Established by a dedicated team of more than ten profess… Read More
Services
Customer Relationship Management Advisory
Content Creation Services
PPC Campaign Services
Digital Direct Mail Campaigns
SoMe Marketing Services
Services
Customer Relationship Management Advisory
Content Creation Services
PPC Campaign Services
Digital Direct Mail Campaigns
SoMe Marketing Services
United States
$999+
10 - 49
Verified
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NinjaPromo, headquartered in New York City, has been a leader in the field of digital marketing for medium-sized enterprises. With over 50 skilled professionals, they specialize in Digital Strategy, P… Read More
Services
Content Creation Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Online Strategy
Services
Content Creation Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Online Strategy
New York City, New York
$4,999+
50 - 199
Online Optimism
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Located in the vibrant city of Los Angeles, California, Online Optimism is a dedicated agency offering inventive solutions in marketing strategy, advertising, and digital strategy. Established as a co… Read More
Services
Website Design
Brand Development Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Search Marketing Services
PPC Campaign Services
Industry Expertise
Automotive
Business Services
Financial Services
Hospitality
Medical
Services
Website Design
Brand Development Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Search Marketing Services
PPC Campaign Services
Industry Expertise
Automotive
Business Services
Financial Services
Hospitality
Medical
Los Angeles, California
$999+
10 - 49
Vireo Video
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Vireo Video, a marketing agency with a team size of over 10 people, is known for its prowess in deploying apt marketing strategies and digital campaigns for medium-sized businesses. With a starting pr… Read More
Services
Motion Media Creation
Content Creation Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Services
Motion Media Creation
Content Creation Services
SoMe Marketing Services
United States
$4,999+
10 - 49
HireInfluence
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HireInfluence, based in The Woodlands, Texas, is an agency known for delivering impactful results through its key services: Marketing Strategy, Advertising, and Digital Strategy. While the agency does… Read More
Industry Expertise
Advertising & Marketing
Arts, Entertainment & Music
Automotive
Consumer Products & Services
eCommerce
Education
Gaming
Hospitality
Media
Industry Expertise
Advertising & Marketing
Arts, Entertainment & Music
Automotive
Consumer Products & Services
eCommerce
Education
Gaming
Hospitality
Media
Houston, Texas
$74,999+
10 - 49
Moburst
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Moburst is a notable agency renowned for its expertise in Marketing Strategy, Advertising, and Digital Strategy. Since its inception, the company has been tirelessly serving medium-sized businesses, h… Read More
Services
Content Creation Services
PPC Campaign Services
Digital Direct Mail Campaigns
Search Marketing Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Visual Content Creation
App Promotion Strategies
eCommerce Production Services
Enterprise Advisory Services
Brand Development Services
Services
Content Creation Services
PPC Campaign Services
Digital Direct Mail Campaigns
Search Marketing Services
SoMe Marketing Services
Visual Content Creation
App Promotion Strategies
eCommerce Production Services
Enterprise Advisory Services
Brand Development Services
United States
$4,999+
50 - 199
Viral Nation
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Since 2014, Viral Nation has guided brands through a transformation from traditional media-led strategies towards social-first marketing, at scale. They help brands conquer social with end-to-end mark… Read More
Services
Social-First Transformation
Influencer Marketing
Social Experiential Marketing
Social Content Studio
Community management
Performance Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Digital Marketing
Content Marketing
Growth Marketing
Strategic Paid Media
Data-driven Optimization
Creator Representation
Measurement and Data Analytics
AI Powered Brand Safety Analysis
Services
Social-First Transformation
Influencer Marketing
Social Experiential Marketing
Social Content Studio
Community management
Performance Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Digital Marketing
Content Marketing
Growth Marketing
Strategic Paid Media
Data-driven Optimization
Creator Representation
Measurement and Data Analytics
AI Powered Brand Safety Analysis
United States
$49,999+
50 - 199

Decoding the Modern Social-Media-Agency Archetypes

The social-media agency landscape has splintered into distinct species, each designed to solve a very specific growth puzzle. If you lump them all into a single “social agency” bucket you’ll overpay for strengths you don’t need and, more dangerously, under-resource the capabilities that actually move your brand’s P&L. Below is a field guide to the five archetypes dominating 2025 briefing decks and RFP rooms, with the real-world cues that separate leaders from pretenders. Spend the next ten minutes mapping these profiles to your own objectives and you’ll slash weeks of vendor ping-pong later.

Creator-First Matchmaking Networks

Core DNA. These agencies with proprietary platforms—think Ubiquitous—treat the creator as the primary client. The brand slots in as the demand side of a two-sided marketplace. That inversion rewires incentives: briefs must be friction-free, payouts must land fast, and deliverables must respect the creator’s native format.

How they make money. A blend of flat campaign fees (15–20 %) and rev-share on generated sales. Some, tier pricing by the number of creators engaged; others, such as 456 Talent, layer on SaaS dashboards for a higher MRR.

When they win.

  • Tight budgets (< US $50 k/quarter) where sourcing, vetting, and contract plumbing would otherwise swallow half the spend.

  • Campaigns requiring 20–200 micro-influencers to flood a single launch window or seed dozens of content variations for paid-media testing.

  • Brands that want purchase-ready usage rights baked in up front, so Spark Ads and Meta Advantage+ placements can spin the minute a post goes live.

Hidden watch-outs.

  • CPMs look cheap until you account for platform fees plus UGC editing for ads.

  • Briefs that dictate rigid brand lines get throttled by the algorithm because creators default to reading scripts—engagement collapses. The fix: issue guardrails, not copy.

  • Creator-first portals default to 30-day or 90-day content licenses. If you need evergreen creative, negotiate extensions at contract signing; retro-active extensions cost double.


Performance UGC & Ad-Creative Labs

Core DNA. Tube Science, Raindrop, PXP Studios, and their cohort sit at the intersection of production studio and growth-hacker bunker. They film hundreds of hook-variants, deploy them across dark ad accounts, and kill under-performers in hours. Their asset libraries become the creative backbone for your paid social, YouTube Shorts, and top-of-funnel display.

Business model. Two dominant approaches:

  1. Pay-for-performance (e.g., Tube Science) where you’re billed only for ads that beat a control CPA or watch-through benchmark, but must commit to a media-spend floor.

  2. Fixed “creative sprints.” You pre-buy a 20-, 40-, or 60-asset package. Results aren’t guaranteed, but asset ownership and usage rights are perpetual.

When they win.

  • Blended CPA is creeping north of target and in-house teams can’t mine new creative fast enough.

  • You’ve nailed the product-offer-landing page equation but creative fatigue is spiking CPMs.

  • You need scientific split testing—every hook, B-roll angle, and CTA swap labeled and databased for future algorithmic learning.

Hidden watch-outs.

  • Some labs require media-buy permissions; ensure brand safety and bid-cap parameters are codified in the SOW.

  • “Creative rollover” clauses can quietly gate your ability to port a winner into long-term evergreen campaigns—negotiate outright asset transfers after X impressions or Y days.

  • Studios with no in-house motion-graphics or sound-design bench will stall once static hooks plateau; ask who owns the After Effects project files.


Identity-Driven & Culture-Native Boutiques

Core DNA. Culture fluency is their moat. Chemistry Cultura embeds Hispanic humor and linguistic nuance; Audios Media builds women-of-color narratives; Campus Trendsetters and College Fashionista own the dorm-room aesthetic. Their strategists aren’t translating your concept—they’re living the reference points your target scrolls past daily.

Operational model. Small, senior teams (often founder-led) paired with freelance creator pods representative of the audience. Expect high creative agility but limited paid-media scale; many partner with outside buying agencies once budgets exceed US $100 k/month.

When they win.

  • Your product relies on unspoken cultural cues—hair-care routines in Latinx households, Gen-Z dorm hacks, first-gen immigrant humor.

  • You’ve seen generic UGC flop because it missed dialect, soundtrack, or meme context.

  • Brand safety is critical but authenticity trumps pixel-perfect polish.

Hidden watch-outs.

  • Bench depth can be shallow; verify back-up talent for sick days and surge periods.

  • Some boutiques outsource analytics—insist on seeing the native GA4 or TikTok Campaign Manager dashboards, not screenshot PDFs.

  • Vet “insider credibility” the same way you would fact-check medical advice: request sample hooks that reference slang, micro-holidays, or creator collabs relevant to the audience. If the team Googles during the call, walk away.


AI-Augmented Social-Ops Shops

Core DNA. Agencies such as Sway Social or Symbol Agency graft generative-AI copilots onto human strategists. Tools like Riona schedule 17 topic-cluster tweets per day; Beam scrapes hot comment threads and suggests responses; Sintra drafts campaign calendars in minutes. Humans still approve tone, legal, and brand voice, but grunt scheduling and first-line moderation disappear.

Best-fit scenarios.

  • Always-on social channels with heavy customer-service load (FMCG, airline, telco).

  • Brands that publish high-velocity thought-leadership (SaaS, fintech) where missing a trend window forfeits share-of-voice.

  • Teams without the headcount to monitor DMs after hours or react to surge virality.

Due-diligence cues.

  • Ask for a Loom walk-through of their automation stack—seeing real dashboards beats buzzwords.

  • Confirm manual override rules: what happens if the AI misfires on cultural context?

  • Require raw log export so your security team can audit data passing through third-party APIs.


PR / Product-Seeding Hybrids

Core DNA. Collectively Inc., Circle PR, Autumn Communications and similar firms blur PR and influencer outreach. They leverage back-channel journalist relationships to land soft-launch features, then drip product kits to micro-creators who amplify the earned coverage.

Why they excel. The cross-pollination between newsroom quotes and TikTok unboxings sparks algorithmic proof loops—search volumes spike, press ranks, social trust snowballs, and retargeting pools swell.

Engagement triggers.

  • Re-branding or category creation moments where third-party validation is mission-critical.

  • Need for distributor or retail-buyer leverage—media coverage plus influencer buzz arms your sales team.

Key diligence questions.

  • What percentage of last quarter’s placements came from existing journalist contacts vs. cold outreach?

  • Average turnaround from embargo drop to first social post?

  • How do they structure exclusivity so you don’t burn premium creators early?

Understanding which archetype maps to your growth constraint is half the selection battle. In the next section we’ll translate those profiles into a rapid-fire decision matrix so you can short-list vendors in ten minutes flat.


5 Decision Dimensions That Shrink an Over-Crowded Agency List to a Winning Pair

Brands don’t fire social-media agencies because the creative is ugly; they fire them because the partnership was mis-matched on budget physics, testing cadence, cultural nuance, data transparency, or day-to-day governance. Work through the five dimensions below—each anchored to concrete, verifiable signals—and you can cut a twenty-page vendor spreadsheet down to two clear front-runners without a single “gut-feel” vote.


Re-balanced Budget Guidelines

Monthly budget < US $15k

  • Healthy split: 10 % strategy | 40 % content | 50 % media

  • Red flag: Strategy overhead climbs above 30 %—you’ll starve paid reach.

  • Agency cue: Disruptive Advertising sells “pre-scoped” bundles where every deliverable is tied to ad-spend efficiency. The working-media share is obvious in their proposals.


Monthly budget US $15–50k

  • Healthy split: 20 % strategy | 40 % content | 40 % media

  • Red flag: Content’s share drops below 30 %, leaving too few iterations to beat creative fatigue.

  • Agency cue: Sociallyin assigns a strategist and a community manager to each account, then funnels the rest of the retainer into its in-house studio—ensuring you never wait on fresh assets.


Monthly budget > US $50k

  • Healthy split: 25 % strategy | 35 % content | 40 % media

  • Red flag: Strategy + project management consume more than 40 %, signaling you’re funding internal meetings instead of market exposure.

  • Agency cue: Viral Nation can justify a richer strategy layer because the budget also covers influencer sourcing, paid media, and its AI brand-safety engine—but that model only delivers ROI when your working media already lives in the high five figures.


Use these percentage benchmarks as a quick audit of any proposal: if the cost mix is skewed toward planning hours or project management, push back—those dollars should be fueling thumb-stop creative and real reach, not overhead.

Verification step. Request a line-item budget model that shows labour hours, production out-of-pocket, and media in separate rows. If the sheet bundles “content & strategy” together, margin masking is in play.


Testing Cadence—Can the Shop Generate Stat-Sig Learnings Before Creative Fatigues?

Benchmark to shoot for. Good agencies hit statistical confidence on a new hook or caption test inside 7–10 days of launch; elite teams do it inside 72 hours for performance creative.

What to ask.

  1. “Show your last three testing sprints.” Look for a grid that tracks hook, angle, spend to significance, winner logic, and next hypothesis.

  2. “Define ‘learning velocity’ in hours.” Agencies that can’t quantify usually run creative on monthly—or slower—cycles.

Agency examples you can call-check.

  • Disruptive Advertising uses platform-level bid adjusters tied to ROAS thresholds; if a variation lags 20 % by hour six it’s paused, saving budget for faster learners.

  • Iron Roots runs weekly “creative panels” where zero-party data (audience surveys asking why content resonated) feeds next week’s shoot—essential when narrative depth beats meme speed.

Pitfall to dodge. Studios that promise “unlimited revisions” often queue projects; the backlog kills learning velocity. Measure hours-to-publish, not revision count.


Cultural-Fluency Checkpoints

In today’s content economy, fluency isn’t just about grammar or brand tone. It’s cultural. If you're trying to connect with a community, especially across niche platforms like TikTok or Reddit, you need to know the customs—not just the language. That’s where cultural-fluency checkpoints come in. Think of them as your passport control. You’re either moving like a local or getting flagged at the gate.

Here’s how to tell if your creative strategy is fluent—or just playing tourist.


1. The Copy Deck Test: Does Your Caption Speak Fluent Human?

A fluent copywriter doesn’t just write to a demographic—they write from within it. The tone feels native, natural, and yes, a little nuanced. You’ll spot micro-holiday mentions and insider nods to cultural rhythms—things like “First-Gen College Day” or “Zero-Waste Wednesday.” These aren’t just hashtags; they’re signals. They tell your audience, “We see you. We’re one of you.”

Fluent copy also nails the dialect. It doesn’t sound like it came from a brand playbook—it sounds like it was texted from a friend. When you hear it read aloud, it just… fits.

On the other hand, tourist copy? That’s the equivalent of someone walking through Chinatown yelling “Ni hao!” at every passerby. It starts with a one-size-fits-all “Hey fam!” or “What’s up, guys?” regardless of the brand’s actual voice, tone, or intent. Add in a heavy-handed sprinkle of emoji spam (because apparently 🙌 = authenticity now?) and you’ve got a recipe for secondhand cringe.


2. Hook Concepts: Are You Playing the Algorithm, or Playing Yourself?

A fluent hook doesn’t need to introduce itself—it just gets right to the point, like a friend sharing a hot take you have to hear. On TikTok, that might be a stitched reaction to a trending topic. On Reels, maybe it’s a “Dupe Alert” or a soft-spoken “Whisper Confession” designed to hook scrollers in the first 1.3 seconds (because yes, that’s the window).

The best hooks tap into platform-native formats and ride the wave of current pacing trends—fast cuts, tight captions, optimized for how people actually consume content in 2025 (which is to say: fast, distracted, and with one thumb on the exit button).

Now contrast that with the classic tourist move: dragging and dropping a YouTube-style 60-second intro into a Reel. Or worse, dusting off an old-school TV ad format, complete with fade-in logos and a voiceover that sounds like it’s selling insurance. If it looks like a commercial and smells like a commercial… swipe. Gone.


3. Bench Diversity: Who’s Actually Telling the Story?

A fluent team doesn’t just represent the audience—they are the audience. The creators and strategists shaping the message are insiders. They already hang out in the Discords, subreddits, or niche TikTok communities you’re trying to reach. They speak the language and know the subtext. That’s not just diversity—it’s depth.

A fluent bench might include a first-gen gamer who’s been running an anime meme account for five years, or a sustainability nerd who doubles as a thrift haul queen on TikTok. The point is: these people are fluent in the digital dialects that matter.

Compare that to the tourist roster: the same six polished creators repped by every agency pitch deck. They’ve got ring lights and brand deals, sure—but ask them about the latest meme format in AltTok or what’s popping in BookTok, and you’ll get crickets. These are influencers who consume content for money, not passion—and your audience can smell that from a mile away.


Quick usage tip: ask an agency to pitch you three hook angles on a 15-minute call. If their first ideas land in the “tourist” column above, keep shopping.

Sociallyin illustrates fluency by assigning channel managers who grew up in the same sub-culture they moderate; watch their community replies for dialect accuracy. Conversely, if an agency needs a two-page brand primer to avoid tone errors, you’re paying for cultural translation, not creation.


Data Transparency & Tooling—Who Owns the Truth?

Minimum viable stack.

  1. Native API pulls from Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and Google Ads into a cloud warehouse.

  2. BI layer (Looker or Tableau) where you can drill to creative-level hold-rate without emailing an account exec.

  3. Alerting rules (e.g., Slack webhooks) that flag when CPC spikes 20 % or comment-sentiment flips negative.

Viral Nation showcases its stack in sales calls by screen-sharing a live dashboard—every metric drillable, every creator flagged for brand-safety score. Insist on a five-minute real-data demo from any contender; blurred numbers are fine, static slides are not.

Contract must-have. Add a clause granting you raw-log export rights upon termination. Without it, you’ll lose historic benchmarks the moment you churn.


Governance & Communication—How Safe and Fast Is the Human Layer?

Non-negotiables gleaned from high-stakes brand teams:

  • Shadow Access Architecture. All postings via platform roles, never shared passwords; admin kill-switch retained by brand.

  • Escalation Matrix. Response time commitments for P0 incidents (policy violations, PR crises).

  • Revision Empathy. Ask how they handle “tiny client edits”—veteran community managers stay cheerful on the fifth tweak; rookies get passive-aggressive and ghost Slack.

Compare Disruptive Advertising’s twice-weekly check-ins to Sociallyin’s daily Slack stand-ups: pick the cadence that matches your internal sprint rhythm. If your team approves creative once a week, paying for a daily meeting culture wastes fee.


Four-Gate Short-List Sprint

  1. Fee Test. Strip contenders whose minimum retainer devours >40 % of your social budget.

  2. Learning Test. Eliminate agencies that take >14 days to declare a creative winner.

  3. Fluency Test. Reject partners who can’t name three culturally specific hook angles off-the-cuff.

  4. Transparency Test. Disqualify any shop unable to demo live dashboards or provide raw-data export terms.

If two or more agencies pass all four gates, run a paid diagnostic sprint: USD 2–3 k, two weeks, agency produces five creative variants and a teardown. Assess speed, insight density, and collaboration temperament before signing a long-form SOW.

Apply these dimensions rigorously and your final choice will feel obvious—because it’s engineered for your real bottleneck, not someone else’s case-study headline.


What are the Average Costs of Hiring a Social Media Agency?

There are a number of factors that influence the actual cost of working with a social media marketing agency. While your project size and scope are a key factor, you’ll also have to consider other factors such as the agency’s reputation and expertise as well as where they’re located. Typical rates for social media marketing agencies vary from city to city due to differences in market demand and operational costs.

To get a better understanding of these differences, let’s take a closer look at the average minimum campaign sizes and hourly rates for social media marketing agencies in different countries in the U.S.

  • In Boston, agencies charge an average of $95 per hour with a minimum campaign size of $1,439.
  • Social media marketing agencies in California charge $97 per hour and a minimum of $1,3221 per campaign on average.
  • New York has a higher average hourly rate of $108 per hour and a lower average minimum campaign size of $7,749.
  • In New Jersey, the average minimum campaign size is $2,849 while the average hourly rate is $79 per hour.
  • Florida sees a minimum campaign size of $2,825 on average while the average hourly rate is $80 per hour.

What are the Most Popular Social Media Agency Pricing Models?

Most social media agencies charge clients per project with customized pricing based on the specific services needed. Before you start working with the agency, you’ll receive a custom proposal tailored according to the unique sets of services you’ll be using to achieve your goals.

This type of customized per-project pricing is inclusive of agency pricing and allows you to effectively cover all your social media marketing needs with a predictable budget. However, you can also find agencies that charge an hourly rate on top of your other social media marketing costs such as advertising costs.

So, for example, if you’re spending $1,500 on social media ads and the agency charges $25/hour to manage those ads for a total of 40 hours, then you’ll be spending a total of $3,500. This is typical for social media projects that include paid advertising. It’s a bit more unpredictable since there’s no saying how much time the agency will spend on your project.

If you’re running on a limited budget, this type of unpredictability may not work best for you. Fortunately, some agencies also offer tiered pricing packages where you buy a plan to cover a specific set of services.

For example, WebFX offers three pricing tiers for social media management. The Bronze tier covers up to 10 posts and eight custom images a month for one social network. Upgrading to any of the other two plans entitles you to more posts, custom images, and networks.

webfx Social media management pricing

Source: webfx.com

For social media advertising plans, however, the pricing is a little less straightforward as agencies will normally charge you a variable fee to manage your ads based on your ad spend. According to the WebFX rate charge, for example, a Pro plan requires an initial investment of $1,975 for an ad spend range of $1,000 - $30,000. On top of this, you’ll need to pay $975 or 15% of your ad spend, whichever is higher, for ongoing monthly maintenance.

So pricing models are typically a mixture of custom project-based pricing and hourly rates as well as variable percentage-based maintenance fees for social media advertising.


How Should You Measure the Success of Your Social Media Agency Campaigns?

One key question before choosing a social media marketing company is why you should be working with an agency in the first place. What kind of benefit can an agency deliver to your social media marketing efforts? And how do you quantify those benefits?

The answer lies in your numbers. Social media agencies have the tools and expertise necessary to significantly improve your performance metrics. Here are some of the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will help you assess the effectiveness of a social media marketing agency. Keep in mind that the specific KPIs may vary depending on the goals you wish to achieve through social.

  • Impressions – A measure of the number of times your content is displayed to social media users. This is a relevant metric for measuring the effectiveness of a social media company at distributing and promoting your content to the right audience.
  • Reach – A measure of the number of people who see your social media content. This is another relevant metric to see just how effective the agency is at targeting the right audience on social media.
  • Engagements – The total number of engagements received for a particular campaign or social media content. This helps you understand how well the campaign or content resonates with the audience. It’s a great way to assess an agency’s ability to craft messaging, content, and/or creative that aligns with your goals and target audience.
  • ROAS/ROI – The profit earned in comparison to how much you spent on the ad or marketing campaign. This is one of the most important KPIs for measuring agency effectiveness as it helps you understand whether they’re making the most of your investment.
  • Clicks/CTR – If your campaign involves links, this metric will help you measure the number of clicks or click-throughs generated. This gives you an idea of whether the offer or messaging crafted by the agency was effective enough to drive action.
  • Conversion Rate – A measure of the number of social media users who took a conversion action as compared to the total number of people who saw or interacted with your ad or content. Similar to the above metric, conversion rate is another way to measure the effectiveness of an offer or messaging to drive a relevant conversion action. 
  • Referral Traffic – The total number of traffic coming to your website or landing page from social media. If your campaign involves driving traffic to your site, an increase in this performance metric proves that the agency is effectively helping you achieve your goal.
  • Leads – The total number of leads gained through your ad or social media campaign. If your campaign involves lead generation, the right social media agency should help you generate a significant number of leads. 
  • Follower Growth – The number of new followers gained after your social media campaign. With the right social media marketing company, you should be able to see an increase in these numbers even if you didn’t specifically aim to grow your following.

Leading social media agencies have the capability to significantly boost these numbers by helping you develop impactful and targeted campaigns based on your goals. On the organic front, the leading social media platforms that generate the highest ROI, based on our data, are Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Apart from organic ROI, agencies can also help you generate high ROI from social media ad campaigns.  Converse, for instance, saw an ROI of 1,554% from TikTok after partnering with Obviously.

TikTok Obviously

Beyond your overall ROI, social media marketing companies can nail down the specifics and improve other key performance metrics depending on your goals. For example, agencies like Thrive helped one of their clients reach more than 4.5 million people on Facebook, which led to an additional, 87,000+ visits from the platform. Meanwhile, the client managed to gain 20,000+ Instagram followers with the agency’s help.

While the average click-through rate for Facebook ads, for example, is around 0.9%, brands like StreamShift have been able to achieve an impressive CTR of 13.85% after working with Lyfe Marketing. With 65,029 link clicks in total, the brand spent only $0.002 for each click while the average CPC for social media ads is between $0.38 and $5.26 depending on the platform. 

Ad Lyfe Marketing

Although far from complete, these numbers paint a clear picture of the kinds of metrics and improvements you can expect from working with a social media marketing agency. However, keep in mind that the actual results may vary depending on factors such as your goals, target audience, platform, business size, and industry.


What Level of Communication Can You Expect From Your Agency?

Most social media agencies communicate with clients via email and video call. Some even use communication tools like Slack for quick questions and updates.

These communications are typically carried out on an as-needed basis in addition to your weekly or monthly reports detailing progress. However, some agencies may set limitations on the number of meetings and consultations that you can have over the course of your partnership with them. Some agencies may even assign an account manager to work directly with you whom you can reach any time.


How Often and in What Format Will You Receive Performance Reports?

Throughout the course of your campaign, your agency will provide you with a custom social media report highlighting the main KPIs relevant to your goals. For instance, if you’re running an ad campaign, the report may include metrics such as impressions, engagements, clicks, conversions, cost-per-impression, and cost-per-click.

Most social media agencies will provide you with routine presentations on a weekly or monthly basis to help you visualize progress. You may also get scheduled reports automatically delivered to your inbox on a weekly basis. If the agency uses software that’s accessible for clients, you may even be able to keep track of your performance report in real-time through a custom dashboard.

Frequently Asked Questions

What services does a social media agency offer?

A social media agency offers services related to social media marketing, which may include social media audits, strategy and planning, content production, social media management, paid social advertising, influencer marketing, and analytics and reporting.

How much do social media marketing agencies charge hourly?

The hourly rates for social media marketing agencies vary depending on factors such as experience and location. But you can expect to spend somewhere between $80 and $150 per hour with a social media agency.

How much does a social media marketing agency cost?

The cost of a social media marketing agency varies depending on several factors including service package, experience, location, etc. But costs typically range between $900 and $20,000 per month.

How do I find a social media agency?

You can find a social media agency for your business by narrowing them down based on factors such as service offerings, niche/industry, specializations, hourly rates, and more.

How can I find a social media marketing agency that fits my budget?

You can find a social media agency that fits your budget by shopping around and looking into their hourly rates and minimum project price.

Which are the best low-cost social media agencies?

Agencies like NinjaPromo, Thrive Internet Marketing Agency, and Sculpt are some of the best budget-friendly social media agencies.

What are the best social media marketing agencies for small businesses?

Joseph Studios, New Jupiter Media, BrandLyft, and Savage Global Marketing are some of the best social media marketing agencies for small businesses.

About the Author and Expert Reviewer
The Influencer Marketing Hub Team brings together a diverse group of experts with a passion for influencer marketing, digital trends, and social media strategies. Each piece of content crafted by this team is researched and written to provide valuable insights, tips, and updates for our readers. Our authors are dedicated to delivering high-quality, informative, and engaging articles that help businesses and influencers thrive in this rapidly changing digital world.
Camille Kennedy
Expert Reviewer
Camille Kennedy is a marketing strategist with a wealth of experience in B2B and B2C marketing for tech startups and established brands. Her expertise lies in crafting revenue-driven strategies that effectively bridge the gap between marketing and sales, making her a trusted voice in evaluating and optimizing digital marketing efforts.