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How much does social media advertising cost in the US?
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Price per completed task
$300 - $10,000
low
$300
median
$660
high
$10,000
Last Updated on
Written by Ana K.
Contributor
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Key Takeaways
Social media advertising in the US costs $300 to over $10,000 on average.
If you want to keep expenses low, you can reuse existing content, focus on the platforms your target audience mostly uses, and compare rates across service providers.
If you’re looking for a social media advertising expert or team, always consider their experience, reputation, and pricing before hiring them.
In the digital world, there are countless ways to connect with one’s target audience and attract new customers. And with the help of social media platforms where millions of people spend their time, doing so has never been easier.
But what are the average social media advertising rates, and is paying for an expert’s service worth it? In this social media advertising cost guide, you can learn the usual fees that professionals charge and why your social media marketing strategy and other factors can affect pricing.
What are the average costs for social media ads in the US?
You can find the average advertising costs on social media across the country’s major cities in the table below:
City |
Average Cost for Advertising on Social Media* |
|---|---|
New York City (NY) |
$650–$850 |
Los Angeles (CA) |
$625–$825 |
Chicago (IL) |
$550–$725 |
Houston (TX) |
$500–$650 |
Phoenix (AZ) |
$475–$625 |
Philadelphia (PA) |
$525–$675 |
Atlanta (GA) |
$500–$650 |
Denver (CO) |
$525–$700 |
Boston (MA) |
$600–$800 |
Seattle (WA) |
$600–$800 |
Miami (FL) |
$525–$700 |
Dallas (TX) |
$500–$650 |
*Prices shown are typical total costs per social media task based on recent Airtasker data. Actual costs may vary.
What factors affect social media advertising prices?
To give you an idea of pricing and help you budget accordingly, this section outlines the factors that influence how much social media advertising professionals charge.
Advertising platform
User interacting with digital video content on a tablet (Source: iStock)A successful social media advertising strategy involves knowing where to have ad placements. However, you should know that ad costs won’t be the same for all sites. Even across the Meta platforms, you’ll find that there are variations in pricing. For instance, the cost for Instagram ads is typically higher than the average ad cost on Facebook.
Social Media Platform |
Typical Paid Ad Cost |
|---|---|
£0.26–£1.50 per click; £8–£16 per 1,000 impressions |
|
£0.30–£2.00 per click |
|
TikTok |
£0.30–£1.20 per click; £4–£8 per 1,000 impressions |
£2.00–£6.25 per click; £20–£35 per 1,000 impressions |
|
£0.08–£0.55 per click; £2–£6 per 1,000 impressions |
|
X |
£0.50–£2.00 per click; £6–£12 per 1,000 impressions |
YouTube |
£0.04–£0.25 per view; £3–£12 per 1,000 impressions |
Campaign objective
Your social media plan’s objectives can affect the cost of social media ads. Generating more leads and increasing social media ad conversions are generally pricey due to the actions and user commitment involved, especially compared to producing brand awareness campaigns or improving engagement.
Campaign Objective |
Typical Media Cost Benchmark |
|---|---|
Brand awareness and reach |
Approximately $4–$23 per 1,000 impressions |
Engagement |
Approximately $0.20–$2 per engagement |
Website traffic |
Approximately $0.70–$2.69 per click |
Video views |
Approximately $0.05–$0.30 per view |
App installs |
Approximately $1.50–$5 per install |
Lead generation |
Approximately $25–$40 per 1,000 impressions on Meta; final cost per lead varies |
Sales and conversions |
Approximately $20–$100+ per acquisition |
Target audience
Group of young adults using phones and studying outdoors (Source: iStock)It can be more expensive to pay for social media ads if you have a niche target market in terms of interest, behavior, location, and other factors.
For example, if you want to promote a YA romance novel, it’s likely that a significant chunk of your audience belongs in a specific demographic—readers aged 12 to 18 active on #BookTok. In this case, expect the cost of TikTok ads to be higher than if your target group includes individuals from different generations on the same platform.
Ad format and creative requirements
Social media ad cost is also dependent on the ad format that you want to post. Advertisements comprising one or more images are usually the easiest—and therefore cheapest—to produce. Meanwhile, video ads and animated social media posts, while more engaging, are priced higher since making them requires more time and effort.
Ad Format |
Typical Creative Cost |
|---|---|
Single-image ad |
$75–$350 |
Carousel ad |
$150–$750 |
Short-form video ad |
$300–$1,500 |
Long-form video ad |
$1,000–$5,000+ |
Animated or motion-graphics ad |
$750–$4,000+ |
Influencer or user-generated content ad |
$150–$2,000+ per asset |
Interactive or augmented-reality ad |
$3,000–$15,000+ |
Campaign budget and duration
Colleagues discussing data and analytics at a desk (Source: iStock)Your social media advertising campaign’s budget and duration can directly impact your ad spend. Larger budgets will give a social media advertising expert more leeway and higher spending limits. And the same holds true for longer campaign durations since they require more resources.
Industry competition and seasonality
During peak seasons, such as holidays and nationwide events, social media marketing costs can be significantly higher. Industry competition can also raise social media ad costs when many brands are bidding for the same audience.
Campaign management and optimization
How much does it cost to advertise on social media if you take campaign management and optimization into account? Opting for additional services to reach your campaign’s objectives often means paying extra fees since these take expertise and time.
Campaign Management Service |
Typical Cost |
|---|---|
Initial campaign setup |
$200–$1,000 per campaign |
$150–$750 per project |
|
Ad copy and creative coordination |
$200–$1,000 per campaign |
Ongoing campaign management |
$500–$5,000 per month |
A/B testing and optimization |
$250–$1,250 per testing cycle, or included in a retainer |
$100–$500 per report, or included in a retainer |
|
Full-service social media advertising management |
$3,000–$10,000+ per month |
What are some ways to save on social media advertising?
If you have a tight budget for social media advertising, here are some tips you can consider to keep costs low:
Know your audience and marketing goals to avoid wasting time and effort during planning and strategy execution.
Repurpose old copy, photos, and videos to avoid having a big chunk of your advertising expenses go to content creation.
Don’t post paid ads on several social media platforms; focus on those that your target consumers mostly use.
Contact different service providers and ask about their rates so you can make comparisons and prevent overspending.
What should you look for in a social media advertising expert?
Learn how to find the right social media advertising expert by taking note of these considerations:
Expertise and experience: Do their experience and skills align with your industry, target audience, business size, and advertising needs and preferences?
Pricing: Do they offer flexible rates, especially for your budget?
Reputation: Can they produce excellent paid ads based on their portfolio and their past customers’ ratings and reviews?
Communication: Is it easy to get in touch with them, and are they good communicators?
Achieve more site clicks and impressions with Airtasker
Adult man checking his smartphone while relaxing indoors (Source: iStock)If you’re looking for a way to expand your business’s digital reach and connect with the right audience, the savviest solution is hiring a social media advertiser with the right skills and experience.
And if you don’t know where to start looking for one, signing up on Airtasker is a convenient way to do so. If you’re ready to start reaching out to highly capable experts in your area, simply click the blue “Post a task” button on your screen.
Learn more about our contributors
Written by Ana K.
Contributor
Ana always puts a premium on accuracy, clarity, and style when writing—a practice that her English degree has instilled in her. She excels at covering topics related to pet care, home and interior design, and food, which count among her varied interests. She also enjoys nature and street photography, as well as travelling. Overall, Ana uses her love for research to engage Airtasker readers with fun, practical content.
FAQs
Social media marketing is the umbrella term for any marketing approach performed on social media platforms to attract a brand’s target consumers. Meanwhile, social media advertising specifically refers to running paid campaigns on social media sites.
Whether your small business has a high or low social media ad budget, running ads on different social media platforms can be worth it if you want to boost your brand’s visibility, reach your target demographic, and convert clicks to sales.
Running a social media ad usually involves using a platform’s ads manager to customize a campaign. On the other hand, boosting a post means turning an existing social media post into a paid ad.
Definitely! For instance, you can create lead forms and click-to-message ads on different social media platforms without having to build your own website.
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