Run social media for local businesses with Metricool: about $5 a brand in software, what managers charge, and the approval loop

Metricool's Starter plan is $25 a month for up to five brands, read on its pricing page on 16 October 2026. Give each client their own brand and the scheduler costs you about $5 a client. HeyOrca surveyed more than 100 social media managers in 2024, and the average retainer they reported was $2,107 a month.

So the software is the cheap part. What a local business pays for is somebody who turns up every week with the posts done and gets them approved without chasing anyone. Then at the end of the month that person shows what happened.

I run my own weekly calendar on Metricool, across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn and X, so this is the setup I know. This guide is the cost sheet from Metricool's pricing page, what the 2024 survey says managers charge, the client setup, the weekly batch, the approval loop and the report. Results vary a lot. None of this is a forecast of what you or anyone will earn.

What you'll have when you're done

• A cost sheet for Metricool per client, on Starter and on Advanced
• One client brand set up with their accounts connected
• A weekly batch routine that plans a week of posts in one sitting
• An approval step so nothing posts without the owner's yes
• A one-page monthly report and an offer with a fixed scope
• [SCREENSHOT: the Metricool planner with one week of a client's posts, two marked pending approval]

Before you start

• A Metricool account. The free plan covers 1 brand and 20 scheduled posts a month, with no LinkedIn or X, which is enough to practise. Starter at $25 a month is the first paid step.
• One local business that will give you access to its accounts. A café, a gym, a salon, a friend's shop.
• Canva, or whatever you already make graphics in. The free plan is fine to start.
• An afternoon for the first setup, then two to three hours a week per client for the batch. That's my planning number, not a measured one, so time your first month.

Metricool: metricool.com Canva: canva.com

There's no download pack for this one. The cost sheet, the batch checklist, the report and the offer are all on the page.

Step 1: Do the cost sheet before you quote

Here's what Metricool listed on 16 October 2026, in US dollars before any tax.

Each client is one brand. So five clients on Starter is $25, about $5 a client. Fifteen on Advanced is $67, about $4.50 a client. Even one client on Starter is $25, which is the most you'll pay per client on any paid plan.

The software isn't where your cost is. Your hours are.

Cost sheet (one row per client)
metricool cost per client:   plan price / clients on the plan
canva:                       0 (free) or your plan / clients
your hours a week:           ______  (start at 2.5)
your hours a month:          hours a week x 4.3
price for the month:         ______

Step 2: Set up one brand per client

In Metricool, add a new brand for the client and connect only the accounts you'll actually post to. Two platforms is plenty for a start. Pick the two where their customers already are, which for most local businesses means Instagram and Facebook, or Instagram and TikTok.

Keep every client in its own brand. Nothing mixes, the reports come out per client, and when a client leaves you disconnect one brand.

Step 3: Plan the whole week in one sitting

This is the system. You don't post every day. You sit down once a week, make the week's posts, and schedule all of them. Three posts a week on two platforms is my default offer for a local business.

Weekly batch (one sitting, per client)
1. Look at last week in Metricool analytics: best post, worst post
2. Pick 3 posts for the week:
   - 1 offer or service post (what they sell, with the price)
   - 1 proof post (a customer, a before/after, a review)
   - 1 behind-the-scenes post (the people, the place)
3. Make the graphics or edit the clips in Canva
4. Write the captions, with the town name in each one
5. Schedule them in the Metricool planner at the best times it suggests

Metricool shows a best-time-to-post view for each network, based on when your followers are active. Use it for the first month, then check it against what actually worked.

Step 4: Get approval before anything goes out

The fastest way to lose a client is a post they didn't see. So nothing posts without the owner's yes.

On Advanced, Metricool has a post approval system, so the owner can approve or reject each post before it publishes. On Starter, there's no built-in approval, so send a preview yourself.

Approval message (Starter version)
Hi [name], next week's three posts are below.
Reply "ok" by Friday and they go out as planned,
or tell me what to change.
1. [day] [platform]: [caption first line] [preview link]
2. ...
3. ...

Set one rule with the owner on day one. If they haven't replied by a deadline, you either post or you hold, and you both agree which. I'd hold for the first month and talk about it after.

Step 5: Send a one-page report every month

The report is what makes month two easy. Starter includes PDF and PPT reports, and Advanced lets you build your own report template. Keep the report itself to one page.

Monthly report: [business], [month]
posts published:            ______
followers start / end:      ______ / ______
best post (and why):        ______
messages or calls from social: ______  (ask the owner)
what changes next month:    ______

That fourth line is the one owners care about. Followers are nice. Messages and calls are why they pay you, so ask the owner to tell you when someone mentions Instagram.

Step 6: Price it, and know what the survey says

HeyOrca, a social media scheduling company, surveyed more than 100 agency and freelance social media managers and published the results on 28 May 2024. Here's what they reported, in US dollars.

Across everyone, the averages were $2,107.14 a month per retainer and $66.96 an hour. Those are what managers said they charge, from a survey of about a hundred people, and it isn't earnings data. A café with one location probably isn't paying $2,000 a month, and I'd expect a first local client to start below that.

So I'd build the price from the cost sheet, not from the survey. Take your hours a month, pick an hourly rate you'd be happy with, and add the software. Then put the scope in writing.

Hi [name], here's what I'd do each month:
- 3 posts a week on [platform] and [platform]
- every post sent to you for a yes before it goes out
- a one-page report at the end of the month

That's [price] a month, with a 3-month start so there's
enough data to see what works. More platforms or more posts
can be added later.

Jordan

The honest part about this market

Anyone can sign up for Metricool for $25, so the tool isn't your edge. A lot of people offer this service, and plenty of owners have a nephew who does it for free.

What I think owners actually pay for is not having to think about it. The posts show up done, they get approved without chasing, and they never go out wrong. Then the report tells them it's working. That's a real job. It also means you're on the hook every single week, so don't take on more clients than your batch day can hold.

What I'd do differently

Sell two platforms, not five. It's easier to do two well and add a third later.

Batch on the same day every week. The service is the routine.

Hold without a yes. A post the owner didn't approve costs more than a missed post.

Ask about messages and calls. Followers don't renew a client. Calls do.