Case study
Light Night Wigan 2025
How video-first social media helped the festival reach 1.27 million views and sell out in a matter of weeks.
How much does it cost a UK arts organisation to outsource social media management?
The breakdown on how much it costs to outsource your social media management as a UK arts organisation, and what to consider along the way.
By Becca Wheble9-minute read6th November 2026
So, you’re an arts organisation, and you have a new event coming up that you’re looking to market. Back in the day, you might have put your budget into traditional marketing methods, such as billboards, brochures and flyer distribution.
While traditional marketing still works really well for arts events, the rise of social media (and the metrics you can track through the platforms) is invaluable, both for reaching people and for evidencing the success of your event in funding bids and reports.
Next, you know you want to do social media marketing for your event, but maybe you don’t have the in-house resources or expertise to do it yourself. Or maybe you just need a helping hand. But how much does it cost? In this blog, we’ll break down how much it costs to outsource your social media marketing and management, and (more importantly) what you actually get for your money.
How do social media agencies charge?
How social media agencies charge really depends on the business, but you’ll usually come across one (or a mix) of these:
- Monthly retainers: a set number of hours or deliverables each month
- Projects: a set scope for a set period, like a festival campaign
- Hourly or day rates: you pay for the time you use
- Post packages: a set price for a set number of posts
Freelancers often charge by the day. YunoJuno’s latest rates benchmark (opens in a new tab), for example, puts the average day rate for a freelance social media manager at £326. Agencies tend to package things up into projects or retainers instead, which usually bring in more than one set of skills (think planning, content creation, community management and reporting).
How we work at Silly Goose Digital
For events, we tend to quote the work as a project, running for a set number of months in the year: pre-launch, launch, the build-up and post-event. How many months you need depends on your event timeline, so that’s the first thing to think about.
We work on an hourly rate (+ VAT), and we spread those hours based on what each stage needs:
Pre-launch
Fewer hours, to set things up and start building awareness
Build-up
More hours, as posting ramps up and ticket comms kick in
The event
The bulk of the hours, with content created on site
Post-event
A few hours for final comms, round-ups and reporting
And if you need us for longer, always-on work, we can also work on a retainer basis, with fewer hours through the year for always-on posts, then ramp back up when your festival comes around again.
We’re really flexible here, and happy to build around what you need. Think of us as an extension of your team, rather than someone you hand everything over to and never hear from again!
What affects the cost?
There are five things that make the biggest difference to how many hours (and how much budget) your event needs:
1 When you start
First, think about how far in advance you want to start your marketing, based on your event date. The earlier you start, the more months you’ll need, but the more time you have to build an audience before tickets go on sale.
And people are booking earlier, too. Ticketmaster’s State of Play: Festivals 2025 report (opens in a new tab) found that 19% of festivalgoers now buy tickets before any acts are announced, up from 6% in 2019.
As a rule of thumb, we recommend getting in touch at least 4 months before your event starts. The build-up usually runs for about 8 to 12 weeks, and we need a little time before that to plan. (If you’re closer than that, get in touch anyway, and we’ll tell you honestly what’s possible!) We’ve broken down what each month might look like in our guide to planning festival social media.
2 What you want to achieve
Next, think about your goal. If it’s reach, getting your event in front of as many people as possible, your socials are going to need a good number of posts to reach that audience.
That’s because organic reach is lower than you might think. Socialinsider’s latest benchmarks (opens in a new tab) show the average brand post reaches under 2% of a page’s followers on Facebook, and under 5% on Instagram. So, more posts (and the right kind of posts) mean more chances to be seen.
If your goal is more focused, like filling a specific workshop, the content can be more targeted, which can mean fewer hours. Not sure what your goals should be? Our guide to setting SMART goals for festival social media is a good place to start.
3 Whether your event is ticketed
If your event is paid and ticketed, you may need paid activity alongside your organic posts. With organic reach as low as it is, ads let you put your best content in front of people who don’t follow you yet, target people within travelling distance and remind anyone who’s already shown interest before tickets sell out.
Bear in mind that ad spend usually sits on top of the management cost, as it’s paid straight to the platforms. With our social media advertising service, we can recommend how much to put behind your paid activity, and our festival checklist has a few ideas on using paid social to reach local audiences if you need a head start.
4 How much video content and Reels you need
Video Reels are one of the best ways to reach new people. Buffer’s analysis of more than 4 million posts (opens in a new tab) found that Reels get 36% more reach than carousels and 125% more than single image posts.
We saw this first-hand with Light Night Wigan 2025. We shifted to a video-led plan, using footage we’d captured at the festival the year before, and one of our first Reels generated more than 100,000 views on Facebook alone. Tickets sold out within a matter of weeks.
1.27M
views across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
222.7%
more views than the festival’s 2024 campaign
100K+
Facebook views on one Reel
However, video Reels take longer to plan, film and edit than static posts, so a video-heavy plan will need more hours. In our experience, it’s well worth it, especially if you can film on site and build up a bank of footage for next year.
5 How often you post
Finally, how often you post makes a big difference to the hours needed. Here’s what we’d usually recommend:
Early build-up
Fewer posts, but consistent: at least once a week
Close to the event
Daily posts, plus Stories for the last-minute stuff
After the event
1 to 2 posts a week for final comms
Consistency matters more than volume in those early months. Buffer’s study of 2.1 million Instagram posts (opens in a new tab) found that posting 3 to 5 times a week can more than double follower growth compared with 1 to 2 posts a week, and weeks with no posts at all were linked to below-baseline growth. So, even if you’re only posting once a week to begin with, keep it going!
Not sure what to post?
Get our free guide to 100 social media ideas for cultural events, with Reel hooks and post ideas for every stage of your campaign, plus a content planner.
What does social media management include?
This is the bit that often gets missed when people compare prices, because you’re not just paying for a few posts a week. Here’s what’s included when you outsource your social media marketing and management:
- A plan: goals, content pillars and a monthly content plan
- Content creation: graphics, Reels and filming on site
- Posting: at the right times, on the right platforms
- Community management: replying to comments and messages
- Reporting: the numbers you need for funding reports
- An extra pair of hands: an extension of your team
Why community management is worth it
Community management is where a lot of the value is. Your comments and messages are where people ask about ticket availability, locations, accessibility and timings, and a quick, friendly reply can be the difference between someone coming along or making other plans. Sprout Social’s 2025 Index (opens in a new tab) found that 73% of consumers would buy from a competitor if a brand doesn’t respond on social.
When Light Night Wigan 2025 sold out, our focus shifted to community management, keeping people excited as they asked whether more tickets would be released.
It counts for your funding, too. Comments, shares, saves and messages are all visible signs that people care about your event, and they’re exactly the kind of evidence funders want to see. Arts Council England’s activity report form (opens in a new tab) advises that you may need to collect evidence throughout your project, not just at the end, so having someone tracking it as you go makes your final report (and your next funding bid) much easier. We’ve written more about using social media analytics in funding reports too.
You’re not paying for a few posts a week. You’re paying for an audience, and the evidence to prove it.
So, how much should you budget?
So, back to the big question! At Silly Goose Digital, social media management for arts organisations starts from approximately £500 per month (+ VAT). The cost of your particular event depends on everything above: how many months you need, how much video, whether you need paid ads and how much community management is involved.
Because we work on an hourly rate, we can also tailor the work to your budget. So, rather than squeezing into a package that doesn’t quite fit, tell us what your marketing budget is and we’ll recommend how to get the most out of it.
Top tip
Lead with your budget, not a wish list
Why? Because it means we can plan around what you actually have. We’ll tell you where the hours will make the biggest difference (usually content on site during the event) and where you can save on budget, such as fewer posts in the early months.
It also saves everyone a lot of back and forth, and gets your plan moving much sooner.
Got a budget in mind? Tell us a little about your event and we’ll recommend a plan that works for your team, timeline and funders.
Is outsourcing your social media worth it?
If you have the time, skills and headspace to do it in-house, brilliant. But if social media is one of a hundred jobs on your list in the run-up to your event, outsourcing it means it gets the attention it deserves, from people who do it every day.
And with an agency that specialises in arts and culture, you get a team that already understands festivals, funders and the audiences you’re trying to reach. So, drop us a message with an overview of your next event and let’s have a chat to see how we can help!
FAQs: outsourcing social media management.
How much does it cost a UK arts organisation to outsource social media management?
At Silly Goose Digital, social media management for arts organisations starts from approximately £500 per month (+ VAT). The final cost depends on how many months your campaign runs, how much video you need, whether you need paid ads and how much community management is involved.
We can also tailor the work to your budget, so it’s worth sharing yours when you get in touch.
What should an arts organisation look for when hiring a social media agency in London?
Look for an agency with real experience of arts and cultural events, results it can share and a clear plan for content, community management and reporting. It’s also worth checking that the agency can film at your events, understands what funders need to see and is flexible enough to work around your budget and timeline.
We’re a social media agency for arts and culture, based in London and working with organisations across the UK.
How do cultural festivals choose a social media agency to boost ticket sales and attendance?
The best place to start is the agency’s track record with events like yours, such as the views, ticket sales or sell-outs it has helped deliver. From there, festivals tend to compare how each agency would handle the build-up, live coverage and paid ads, how it manages comments and messages around ticket releases, and what reporting it provides.
What’s the difference between a generalist marketing agency and one that specialises in arts and culture social media?
A generalist agency covers lots of industries and channels, while a specialist arts and culture agency focuses on the audiences, funders and timelines that come with cultural events. That usually means a quicker start, content that suits the sector and reporting that works for funding reports.
How far in advance should an arts organisation start its social media marketing?
We recommend getting in touch at least 4 months before your event starts. The build-up usually runs for about 8 to 12 weeks, and you’ll need a little time before that to plan your goals, channels and content.
Do arts events need paid social media advertising?
Paid advertising is worth considering for ticketed events, because organic reach for brand pages is low and ads let you reach people within travelling distance who don’t follow you yet. Free events can often do well with organic content alone, especially with strong video and collab posts.
What does social media management include?
Social media management usually includes planning, content creation, posting, community management and reporting. For events, it can also include filming on site and live coverage while your festival is on.
Can we outsource our social media just for our festival?
You can bring in an agency as a project for just the months around your festival, covering pre-launch, the build-up, the event itself and post-event comms. If you’d like support all year round, a retainer with fewer hours between festivals is another option.
Becca is the founder of Silly Goose Digital. She’s worked in social media marketing since 2018, across B2C and B2B brands, and now specialises in arts festivals and cultural events. More about Becca
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