The £600 reality check - most companies can't afford a social media manager

Running a digital agency taught me something interesting about the social media problem. Time and again, clients would ask if I knew someone who could handle their social media – perfectly reasonable request, and I always had someone to recommend.

The conversation would start well enough. I'd make the introduction, they'd have a promising chat about strategy and content plans, and then it would all fall apart at the same hurdle: the quote.

Even the most basic social media management package started at £600 per month, and that was for pretty minimal engagement. For small businesses who were already watching every penny, finding an extra £7,200 a year simply wasn't on the cards. They'd politely thank me for the introduction and resign themselves to posting whenever they remembered, which wasn't often.

The frustrating thing was that these businesses completely understood the value of social media. They could see their competitors building engaged communities online whilst they struggled to post once a fortnight. But when you're weighing up a social media manager against essential business expenses, there's only one winner.

That's exactly why we built Aunty Social – proper social media management for £29 a month, because we don't think you should have to choose between having a voice online and keeping your business running.

Every business deserves to be part of the conversation on social media, not just those with marketing departments and hefty budgets. It shouldn't be a luxury; it should be accessible.

Ready to get your business back in the social media conversation? Aunty Social is live now.