What each in-house role costs in 2026
A campaign needs at least four skills. These are typical US base salaries, before benefits.
| Role | Typical US base salary | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Social media manager | About $41,000 to $88,000; average around $61,000 | PayScale, 2026 |
| Video editor | Median $75,420; bottom 10% under $40,280, top 10% over $148,550 | BLS, film and video editors, May 2025 |
| Graphic designer | Median $62,960; bottom 10% under $39,520, top 10% over $104,910 | BLS, graphic designers, May 2025 |
| Paid social specialist | About $58,000 to $73,000 for the middle half; average around $66,000 | Salary.com, October 2026 |
| Marketing manager to lead them | Median $166,790 | BLS, marketing managers, May 2025 |
Ranges vary by city and seniority. BLS figures are from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
The in-house marketing team cost, worked out
Take the middle of each range: $61,000 for the social media manager, $75,000 for the editor, $63,000 for the designer and $66,000 for the paid social specialist. That is $265,000 a year in salary.
Salary is not the full cost. In June 2026, wages made up 70% of total compensation for private industry workers and benefits the other 30%, according to the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release. Divide $265,000 by 0.70 and the loaded cost is about $379,000 a year, or roughly $31,500 a month. That is before software, equipment, recruiting fees, creator fees and ad spend, and before anyone to manage the team.
The lean version is one social media manager doing everything. At $61,000 in salary that is about $87,000 loaded, or $7,300 a month. It is cheaper, but one person rarely writes strategy, shoots, edits, designs, runs ads and builds landing pages at the level a launch needs.
Compare that with our pricing: a campaign launch from $5,000 one-off, or always-on campaigns from $3,500 a month, about $42,000 a year. Ad spend is separate either way. You do not get four people sitting in your Slack full time. You get the four skills, plus the landing page and funnel work, for the campaigns you actually run.
In-house vs agency, side by side
| Factor | In-house team | Turnkey agency |
|---|---|---|
| Yearly cost (four core roles) | About $379,000 loaded, before tools and ad spend | From $42,000 a year always-on, or from $5,000 per launch, plus ad spend |
| Time to first campaign | Weeks to months of hiring for each role, then onboarding | Typically live 3 to 4 weeks after the brief |
| Brand knowledge | Deep and daily | Built from your brief and feedback; never as deep |
| Skill coverage | Only the roles you hire | Strategy, video, UGC, paid social and landing pages together |
| Real-time posting and replies | Strong; someone is always there | Planned and scheduled; slower on reactive moments |
| Management load on you | Hiring, reviews, holidays, turnover | Approve the plan, review the results |
| Changing direction | Hard; you have the people you hired | Switch between a one-off launch and a monthly plan |
When an in-house team is the right call
An agency is not the right answer for every brand. Hire in-house when these are true.
Social is the product
If you post several times a day, reply to comments within minutes and your community is why people buy, you need people inside the company.
The budget supports full-time hires
If your marketing budget comfortably covers a loaded team and a lead to run it, owning the skills in-house makes sense over time.
Every post needs legal review
In heavily regulated categories, a team that sits next to compliance moves faster than an outside one.
You need people on site
Events, retail stores and in-person shoots every week favor local employees.
Your budget is below an agency fee
If $3,500 a month plus ad spend is out of reach, an agency is the wrong call. A part-time freelancer or founder-led posting is better; see freelancers vs agency.
When an agency is the better fit
- Your marketing runs in campaigns and launches, not a constant daily stream
- You need four or five skills, each only part of the time
- You want to test whether social sells before committing to headcount
- You have a launch date in the next one to two months and no team in place
- Your existing team is good at daily posting but has never run paid social or built a funnel
The hybrid setup: one in-house hire plus an agency
The setup that tends to work best for growing brands: one in-house social media manager who owns the brand voice, daily posting and community, plus an agency for launches, paid social and conversion work. The in-house person knows the brand; the agency brings the production volume and the paid social testing loop. Our always-on management plan is built to work alongside an in-house lead.
Where Lumiflo fits: we are a turnkey campaign team. One team plans, makes and launches the whole campaign, then tests and reports weekly. If you are weighing a single turnkey agency against several specialists, that page covers the trade-offs. To see how agency fees compare across the market, read how much a social media agency costs.
What Lumiflo costs
Campaign launch
from $5,000
- Strategy, big idea and hooks
- Short-form video, UGC and static ads made for each platform
- Ads set up and a campaign landing page built
- Launch, first round of fixes and a results report
Always-on campaigns
from $3,500 a month
- Fresh creative every month
- Paid social managed and tested every week
- Organic posting on your main platforms
- Weekly numbers, in plain English
Revenue share
% of salesplus a lower fee
- Organic growth, funnel and sales built as one system
- A lower upfront fee
- A share of the revenue we help create, tracked at checkout
- For creators and brands we believe in
Ad spend is paid by you, straight to the platforms. Creator and influencer fees are billed at cost.