If you’re playing in the big playground of social media, it’s time to realize that this game is a pay to play one. These days, no matter the platform there is always a way to put a little (or a lot) of money behind your content to ensure the most people possible see it.

We know it takes money for brands to be noticed on social media in a big way, which means that more is required from your marketing budget. By planning and budgeting ahead, it becomes easier to prepare your social media strategies and marketing plan for the upcoming New Year. So, how much should you spend on social media ads? Before beginning with an ad spend, it’s important to determine the results you hope to gain from these ads and what the exact actions are that you want your audience to take. From there, determine which platforms will best help you reach these goals and make sure the majority of your budget is spent between the platforms that will yield the highest results. Let’s break it down by platform to see just how much you should consider spending:

Facebook:

The key to Facebook ads are that if you want extended eyes on your content you should always put a small budget behind each post. This boosts your post’s reach, as well as allows you to target the audience who sees this content. By planning ahead to how many times you want to post each week, you can budget out a small spend ($5-$20+) to put behind each post. When posting your ads, be sure to keep an eye on their relevance score to make sure you are getting the best bang for your buck.

Twitter:

When it comes to Twitter advertising, it’s important to determine the result that you want to come from hosting an ad. Is it new followers, engagements, website visits, website conversions, app installs, video views, or leads? Once you decide what it is that you want to gain, you can then determine who the audience is that you want to target. Next up, you can determine how much money you want to put behind these ads. For each campaign it is recommended to focus on 3-4 tweets, so by budgeting a spend of $50 this will be distributed between each tweet. For a general campaign we recommend a small budget ($50-$100+) to start to gain exposure. Don’t forget to supplement your advertising with these ways to organically gain web traffic through the platform.

Instagram:

Instagram ads are tied directly through Facebook which makes these ad processes very similar. Read this post on Instagram advertising before you get started. To successfully budget money for Instagram, pick a top performing post or a promotion-specific piece of content to promote for a length of time. This can range from 24 hours to a month or more. Designate a lifetime budget of your choosing ($50-$500+) depending on how long you want your ad to run. This will distribute the budget throughout the time period so you can spend your time focusing on tracking the results.

Pinterest:

We love Pinterest for the fact that content lives on with every repin (which Pinterest now calls a “save”). It’s kind of like free advertising within itself! In order to gain more saves we recommend promoting pins monthly. Set a budget that your brand can afford ($10-$100+) and designate this spend to one of your most successful pins. This will boost the reach on an already top performing pin and keep your saves growing.

For a brand that is active on all four of these social platforms, we would recommend a $500-$1,500+ spend per month. While we can’t determine the exact budget you should use, we hope this guideline gets you started in the right direction. As platforms and algorithms change, keep an eye on our blog to see how you should adjust your budget effectively. For any of your specific budget or marketing questions, we are more than happy to help. Reach out to us today to get started!