27 May 2026 · by Strapture
How Much Does Restaurant Social Media Management Cost in the UK?
A no-nonsense breakdown of UK restaurant social media management pricing in 2026 — virtual assistants, junior freelancers, agencies and hospitality studios — and what each actually delivers.
Restaurant social media management pricing in the UK ranges from £150/month to over £5,000/month, and most owners cannot tell you why. This is a working-rate breakdown of what each price tier actually buys you in 2026.
£150 – £400 / month — VA tier
A virtual assistant or junior freelancer schedules posts you supply and answers DMs in business hours.
What this is good for: a venue with a strong-content owner who shoots their own reels and just needs a hand getting them posted on time.
What this is not good for: any venue that needs the content created. Schedulers don't shoot.
£400 – £900 / month — Freelance content creator
A freelancer who shoots a few reels a month at your venue, writes the captions and handles scheduling. Quality varies hugely. The good ones are a steal. The cheap ones recycle the same three reels for six months.
What to ask: how many original reels per month, who owns the files, can they show me three other restaurant clients running for over a year.
£600 – £1,500 / month — Hospitality studio (Starter / Growth)
This is the bracket we sit in. A studio that only works with restaurants, with a photographer, a writer and a scheduler on the team.
Our Starter plan is £600/month — one half-day shoot, 12 posts, 4 reels, captions, scheduling and a monthly report.
Our Growth plan is £1,200/month — two full-day shoots, 20 posts, 10 reels, Meta ads management, a monthly strategy call and a full report.
What you get at this tier: real photography, written content calendar, ad management, and one team handling the whole stack.
£1,500 – £3,000 / month — Multi-site / Full Service
A studio or agency taking on multiple venues or full content + brand + website work. Our Full Service plan sits here at £2,400/month — priority scheduling with an agreed monthly production capacity, daily content, ads, brand and design, and a dedicated account lead.
£3,000 – £5,000+ / month — Traditional agency
A traditional London hospitality agency with a strategist, content team, ads team and account manager. Common for hotel groups and listed restaurant groups. For a single venue this is overspend.
What changes the price
Three things, in order:
- How much original content per month. Shoots are the expensive line. More shoots, more cost.
- Ads management. Running £500/month of Meta spend takes time whether the spend is £500 or £50,000.
- Reporting and reviews. A monthly strategy call and a written report cost more than "we just posted nine times".
What the price should always include
- A written content calendar before the month starts
- Real photography or video — not stock, not phone shots
- Inbox and comment care in business hours
- A monthly report — what worked, what didn't, what's next
- Month-to-month after the initial commitment
If a retainer doesn't include those five things, the price isn't fair regardless of the number on it.
Talk to us
If you want a real quote for your venue, get a monthly content plan — we send a sample calendar built around your menu and audience before you decide.
For the full service detail, see Restaurant Social Media Management London.
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