Social media budget allocator
Enter a total monthly budget, then drag the sliders to split it across content production, paid media, and management/strategy. The tool shows dollars per bucket instantly — a planning aid for structuring proposals and internal budgets, not a prescription; the right split depends on your goals and stage.
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Allocated: $0.00 across 100% — sliders always stay locked to the total.
example inputs — replace with your own numbers
How goals shift the split
There is no correct division of a social budget, only a division that matches what you're trying to achieve. When the goal is awareness, the weight usually shifts toward reach and the creative that earns it: more original production, more media behind the pieces that perform, and less elaborate measurement infrastructure. When the goal is direct response, the pressure moves the other way — paid media and the landing experience carry the outcome, and content exists mainly to feed testing.
Stage matters as much as goal. Early on, before the offer and audience are settled, money spent on strategy tends to protect everything spent afterward; buying media against an unproven message is the most common way budgets disappear without a lesson. Once the message is working, the same dollars do more good in production and distribution, and the strategy line can shrink to maintenance and reporting.
Consider these as directions to lean, not percentages to copy. Use the sliders to model two or three versions of the same budget, then compare them against the deliverables a provider has quoted — if a proposal's shape doesn't resemble any version you'd choose, that's a scope conversation worth having before you sign.