The three pricing tiers that actually exist
Content only. You create and schedule; the client approves. This is the entry tier and the most price pressured, because it is the easiest to compare. Price it as a floor, not a home.
Full management. Strategy, creation, scheduling, community replies and monthly reporting. This is where the £800 to £1,500 range lives, and where most sustainable freelance businesses sit.
Growth partner. Everything above plus paid campaigns, funnels and commercial reporting tied to bookings or sales. Priced well above the middle tier because it is bought from a marketing budget, not a nice to have budget.
Price the client, not the calendar
A salon making £8,000 a month and a clinic making £80,000 a month should not pay the same, even for identical deliverables, because the value of a new customer differs tenfold. Anchor your price to what a filled diary is worth to that specific business. It is also the honest framing: you are not selling posts, you are selling the visibility that fills the diary.
The mistakes that cap your income
Charging hourly, so getting faster makes you poorer. Unlimited revisions, so one client consumes three clients' time. No annual increase, so inflation quietly cuts your rate every year. And carrying tool costs as if they were your problem: your software stack belongs in your pricing the same way a plumber's van belongs in theirs.
Where your tools fit in the number
At these rates, tooling is a rounding error, which is exactly why cheap unreliable tooling is a false economy. One silently failed post costs more client trust than a year of proper software. Budget for tools that protect the relationship: reliable publishing, clean approvals, reporting the client can read. Then charge for the professionalism they create.