How To Determine a Social Media Marketing Budget

Determining a social media marketing budget isn’t just about choosing a dollar amount. You need to research your goals, analyze past performance, and identify the right platforms before setting your budget. Then, you’ll need to track results and adjust spending to maximize ROI.

This guide provides a practical framework for building an effective social media marketing budget in 2026. Whether you’re planning your first campaign or refining your strategy, you’ll learn how to allocate resources wisely and measure results.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What is a social media marketing budget?
• How to determine a budget for social media?
• What expenses does a budget for social media include?
• How much should you spend on social media marketing in 2026?

What is a social media marketing budget?

A social media marketing budget is a predetermined amount that your company chooses to spend on social media. This figure could be for the whole year, or you could break it down by quarter, month, or campaign.

How to determine a budget for social media?

Now that you know what goes into a social media marketing budget, you can start planning your own. To learn how to budget for social media, follow the steps below.

Outline your marketing goals

The first step to determining a social media marketing budget is outlining your goals. Your goals will help you guide your spending to determine the best way to use your budget.

Think about the above social media budget example with the retail company. Their goal is to build their brand and make more people aware of their presence. They might shift their marketing approach to focus on organic strategies, for example, instead of social ads, until they get a bigger following.

Create some SMART goals for your social media approach before deciding how much you want to spend.

Review your company’s current social media strategy

If you already have a social media strategy, you can evaluate your approach to see what’s working and what’s missing. Looking at your past successes with social media can show you where you should invest your budget.

For example, if you know that TikTok has generated more traffic to your website, but you don’t post regularly, you might want to pivot your budget to invest in TikTok content more than you were.

Also, look at:

• Your social media platform usage
• Past performance
• Paid and organic campaign results

Based on what you discover about your social strategy, you can create a list of platforms and campaigns that you want to invest in with your new budget.

Determine how much you’ll spend

Once you have your goals and ideas for what you want to invest in, you should determine the amount you will spend on social media marketing. This cost will be a percentage of your overall digital marketing budget.

Outline the time to review and revise your budget

Set aside time to review and revise your budget throughout the year to ensure you’re meeting your spending goals and seeing success from your investment. Measuring your return on investment can help you determine whether your campaigns are working.

Depending on your budget, you might evaluate monthly, quarterly, or annually. We recommend the monthly approach for a basic evaluation and then going more in-depth each quarter. This way, you can prevent large oversights without spending a lot of time each month looking into your budget.

What expenses does a budget for social media include?

Your 2026 social media budget will include different, specific factors. You should know what you’ll be paying for, so you can compare costs for different expenses and find the best plan for your company.

Here are different expenses to consider for a social media marketing budget:

• Marketing provider: You can do social media marketing in-house, but many companies decide to work with a social media marketing agency if they don’t have the resources to do it themselves. You might also consider freelancing to social media marketers.
• Content: Social media demands content, whether that’s images, videos, or text. You’ll need to either create content yourself or pay someone else to do it.
• Ad campaigns: If you’re running advertising campaigns, you’ll have to plan for those in your budget as well. Your budget will include every ad campaign you run on each platform.
• Tools and software: Your budget won’t serve you well if you can’t calculate important marketing metrics. That’s where your social media marketing tools and software come in. These tools could include everything from content creation to reporting and analytics.

These expenses give you an idea of what you’re really paying for when you invest in social media marketing. Some of these might roll into one, like if your social media agency has its own software or content team. That’s why having your list of expenses outlined first can help you when shopping for services later.

Read: How To Allocate Your Marketing Budget

How much should you spend on social media marketing in 2026?

On average, the cost of social media management is $100–$5,000 per month or $20–$50 per hour on average if you’re outsourcing. Around 11% of marketing spend is dedicated to social media across the board, meaning 11% of your total marketing budget should go to social media.

How much you should spend depends on factors such as:

• Your social media marketing provider (in-house, freelance, agency, etc.)
• Your industry
• Your total marketing budget

Consider this social media budget example. Say that you’re a new retail company with limited revenue, and you’re working on getting your name out there. You won’t spend as much as a well-established business in the same industry, but you might set aside the same percentage of your revenue (or more!) since you’re building a brand.

Get the most out of your social media budget with WebFX

If you want to ensure your 2026 social media budget drives leads and revenue, an experienced agency like WebFX can help.

Our social media services include a custom-fit approach that targets your goals and needs. We create, manage, and report on your social media endeavors, so you know exactly what your ROI is and how your social media is benefiting you.

Contact us online to get your free, no-obligation quote, and start bringing in more revenue from your investment!