A practical guide for service-based businesses who know they need to be online but don’t have time to figure it all out
If you’re a dentist, roofer, real estate agent, or run any service-based business, you already know the drill: everyone says you need to be on social media. Your competitors are posting daily. Younger customers check your Instagram before calling. An inactive Facebook page makes your business look closed.
But here’s what no one talks about: the actual time and money it takes to maintain that presence.
We’ve broken down every option available to service businesses in 2025 – from hiring agencies to DIY tools to newer AI solutions. No fluff, no sales pitch, just the real numbers and honest pros/cons of each approach.
Option 1: Hiring a Marketing Agency
What it costs: $1,000 – $5,000+ per month
Time investment: 2-4 hours/month for meetings and approvals
What you actually get:
Most agencies targeting small businesses offer:
- 12-20 posts per month
- Basic graphics (often templates)
- Generic captions that could work for any business
- Monthly reports full of vanity metrics
- Account management (responding to comments)
The reality check:
Sarah Chen runs a dental practice in Austin. She hired a “affordable” agency for $1,500/month. After six months, she noticed:
- The posts looked professional but said nothing specific about her practice
- Engagement was mostly from other local businesses (not patients)
- She was paying $18,000/year for someone to post stock photos of smiling people with perfect teeth
“They kept showing me our ‘reach’ was growing, but my appointment book wasn’t any fuller,” Sarah told us.
Best for: Businesses with $3,000+/month marketing budgets who want completely hands-off management
Skip if: You’re looking for ROI under $2,000/month or want content that actually sounds like your business
Option 2: DIY Social Media Management Tools
Hootsuite
Cost: $99 – $249/month Time investment: 4-6 hours/week
Hootsuite gives you a dashboard to manage multiple platforms. You can schedule posts, see basic analytics, and respond to messages in one place. But here’s the catch – you still need to:
- Create all your content
- Write every caption
- Find or create images
- Research hashtags
- Plan your content calendar
Real user experience: Mike Reynolds (roofing contractor, Dallas) tried Hootsuite for 3 months: “I spent Sunday nights trying to batch content for the week. By Wednesday, I’d run out of ideas. The tool worked fine, but I’m not a content creator – I fix roofs.”
Buffer
Cost: $65 – $165/month Time investment: 3-5 hours/week
Buffer is simpler than Hootsuite but has the same fundamental problem: it’s a publishing tool, not a content solution. Their AI assistant can help rewrite captions, but you still need the original ideas and images.
Later
Cost: $40 – $80/month Time investment: 3-5 hours/week
Later focuses on visual planning, great for Instagram. But again – you need content to plan. Their “content inspiration” feature is just a collection of trending hashtags.
The DIY tool reality: These platforms solve the wrong problem. Scheduling isn’t hard – knowing what to post is hard.
Option 3: AI Content Creators
Jasper.ai
Cost: $49 – $125/month Time investment: 2-3 hours/week
Jasper can write social media captions once you tell it what to write about. You still need to:
- Come up with topics
- Provide context about your business
- Edit everything (AI-generated content often sounds… well, like AI)
- Find images
- Actually post everything
Copy.ai
Cost: $36 – $119/month Time investment: 2-3 hours/week
Similar to Jasper but with more templates. The problem remains: you’re still the content strategist, just with a faster typist.
AI tool verdict: These tools are great for marketers who need to scale content creation. For a busy chiropractor who just wants to look active online? It’s still too much work.
Option 4: Virtual Assistants
Cost: $500 – $2,000/month Time investment: 2-3 hours/week for training and oversight
Many business owners try hiring VAs from Upwork or Fiverr. Results vary wildly:
- Great VAs cost as much as agencies
- Affordable VAs need constant direction
- You’re still the content strategist
- Quality control becomes another job
Dr. Vanessa Carter (chiropractor, San Diego) shared: “I hired a VA for $15/hour to handle our social media. I spent more time explaining our services and reviewing posts than I saved. Plus, medical content needs to be accurate – I couldn’t just let them run with it.”
Option 5: Freelance Content Creators
Cost: $1,000 – $3,000/month Time investment: 2-4 hours/month
Good freelancers can create quality content, but:
- The good ones are booked solid
- They typically work with multiple clients (your content isn’t their priority)
- You still need to educate them about your industry
- Consistency varies when they get busy
Option 6: Glow Social (Strategic Done-For-You)
Cost: $49/month Time investment: 2 minutes/month
Here’s what makes this different:
Before creating any content:
- Complete analysis of your actual services/offers
- Deep competitor research (what’s working in your market)
- Gap identification (where you can stand out)
Then you get:
- 12 custom posts/month written in your voice
- Industry-specific content that positions you as an expert
- Images, hashtags, and calls-to-action included
- Automatic scheduling to your accounts
- You review once monthly (seriously, 2 minutes)
The strategic difference:
Unlike agencies posting generic content or DIY tools that leave you hanging, Glow Social starts with strategy. We analyze what your successful competitors are doing, identify where you can differentiate, and create content that actually serves your business goals.
The Hidden Costs Nobody Mentions
Time is Money
When you DIY social media for 4 hours/week, that’s 208 hours/year. If your hourly value is $100 (conservative for most service professionals), you’re spending $20,800 worth of time on social media.
Inconsistency Hurts
Starting and stopping social media is worse than not being there at all. Every tool or solution needs to be sustainable for YOUR life.
Generic Content Wastes Money
Paying anyone to post generic content that could work for any business in your industry is literally worthless. If it doesn’t differentiate you, it doesn’t help you.
Making the Right Choice
Here’s the honest breakdown:
Choose an agency if:
- You have $3,000+/month to spend
- You want comprehensive marketing beyond social media
- You don’t care if content sounds generic
Choose DIY tools if:
- You genuinely enjoy creating content
- You have 5+ hours/week to dedicate
- You’re naturally creative and strategic
Choose Glow Social if:
- You want strategic content for less than dinner for two
- You have 2 minutes/month (not hours/week)
- You want to compete without becoming a marketer
- You value your time at more than $12.25/hour
The Bottom Line
Most service businesses need to show up online consistently. The question isn’t whether you should be on social media – it’s how to do it without it taking over your life or breaking your budget.
Whatever you choose, make sure it’s sustainable. The worst social media strategy is the one you can’t maintain.
Ready to see how strategic social media works? Sign up for a free plan of Glow Social. No setup fees, no contracts, cancel anytime. Because showing up online shouldn’t be complicated.