You are the marketing department. So: two platforms, two or three posts a week on each, a calendar already filled in, and real prices for every kind of help.
Two hours on Elm Street this morning. Pipe split behind the washer because the outside faucet was never drained for winter. Five minutes to drain yours. Do it this week, and while you're down there, find your main shutoff.
The short version
A note from us: Kodanote makes a scheduling and drafting tool. You’ll find it in the cost comparison alongside the other ways to get help.
Three hours a week is the tier to start with. On r/smallbusiness (September 2026) a couple running a shop were stressing daily over what to post and seeing little come back. Top replies: stop posting daily, and ask customers how they found you first. One owner called daily posting an unpaid entertainment channel. Two or three posts a week was the common advice. Pick the tier that matches the hours you have, not the hours you wish you had.
These are planning scenarios, not promised results. At week eight, use your own inquiries to decide what earns its time.
YouTube tops the reach chart below, and that tells you nothing about where someone hires a plumber. Reach is the wrong question. Ask where your customers decide, which depends on what you sell. Pick two and keep your Google Business Profile current.
Pew Research, Americans' Social Media Use, November 2025, 5,022 US adults.
Constant Contact Small Business Now, June 2026. Discovery, not decision: when people look for a local business, only 1% start on social and 14% in a maps app (GatherUp, 2025).
Skip for now: X, LinkedIn
Word of mouth wins at 38%, and Facebook is the top platform at 27%; Instagram 15%, TikTok 14%. Among Gen Z diners TikTok leads at 38%, so swap it in if under-30s fill your tables (Toast guest survey, October 2025).
Skip for now: LinkedIn, X
Clients check your feed before they book. 55% of Gen Z and 47% of Millennials say a salon's Instagram or TikTok activity is very or extremely important when choosing where to book (Boulevard Self-Care Client Report, November 2025).
Skip for now: Instagram, TikTok
Put your effort into reviews and photos on your Google profile, then show up where neighbors ask. For hiring maintenance help they rank Nextdoor at 45%, Google 41%, Facebook and Instagram 37% (Nextdoor and Groundworks, August 2026, self-published by Nextdoor).
Skip for now: X, LinkedIn
Post the new arrival or this week's class times on Facebook and put the photos on Instagram. Owners rank Facebook first for revenue at 62% and Instagram second at 43%; TikTok trails at 26% (SBE Council, March 2026).
Skip for now: TikTok, Instagram
Write for whoever signs the check. 85% of B2B marketers call LinkedIn their most valuable organic platform (Content Marketing Institute, 2025). Save YouTube for the longer explainer a prospect watches before a call.
Skip for now: LinkedIn
Show the product in use, not on a white background. 76% of consumers had a purchase influenced by social content in the past six months, 90% of Gen Z (Sprout Social, May 2025). Add Pinterest for home, fashion and weddings.
Skip for now: TikTok
Portfolio work gets found by the picture, not the caption. 31% of US consumers use Instagram to find local business reviews (BrightLocal, 2025), and nothing else in the research covers this group, so test for eight weeks before you commit.
2 to 3 a week
Hootsuite's 1 to 2 a day is for brands. Same days every week beats a daily sprint.
Hootsuite, April 2025
2 to 3 a week
Start at two. The third post is where the +12% begins. Past five, extra posts buy less.
Buffer, August 2025
2 to 3 a week
Hootsuite's 3 to 5 is for brands. Only if section 2 picked it. Phone clips, no editing.
Hootsuite, April 2025
2 a week
The extra impressions start at two a week. One post Monday, one Thursday, done.
Buffer, August 2025
1 a week
Weekly is Google's own number. Fold it into the Monday routine so it never slips.
Whitespark, May 2026
Skip for now
Hootsuite's brand number is 2 to 3 a day on each. A job, not a side task.
Hootsuite, April 2025
Best time to post? Three studies, three answers. Sprout Social says Tuesday and Wednesday, 11am to 6pm across platforms, with Sunday the worst day (March 2026). Buffer says Facebook does best Thursday at 9am (March 2026). Hootsuite says the same hour, but on Tuesday (November 2025). They agree on one thing: midweek beats the weekend. So pick a midweek slot you can actually keep and set it once in whatever schedules your posts. Then stop reading best-time articles.
Two platforms, two posts a week on each, plus one Google Business Profile update. The weekend before week one, shoot 20 photos and two short clips in one afternoon. That batch feeds all four weeks.
Something you finished today: one photo, one line on what it took.
Clip one from the batch: 15 seconds at work, no voiceover.
The question customers ask most, answered in three lines.
Screenshot your newest Google review and say thanks by name.
One batch photo and this week's offer. Check the hours listed.
Before and after, side by side. One line on what changed.
You or a team member, from the batch: name, job, years here.
One tip a customer can use today without buying anything.
One offer, price in the first line, ends Sunday.
Where to park and which door to use, one photo, two lines.
A mistake you see customers make, and what to do instead.
Clip two from the batch, captioned "Guess what this turns into."
A customer's thank-you text, screenshot, first name only, with their okay.
One thing that's new this month, and why you added it.
Holiday hours or an event you're part of, with the date.
One customer, arrival to result, in four lines. Ask them first.
Whichever post got the most replies, reposted with a new first line.
One question, two choices. Example: longer Saturday hours or Sunday opening?
Next month's offer in one line, with an unused batch photo.
Post the quietest time to visit, like "Tuesdays after 2pm."
Sixteen posts, four profile updates. Platforms A and B: the two you picked in section 2.
A printable one-page version is coming. Until then, screenshot this section or copy the rows into your own calendar.
Video walkthrough coming soon. The complete plan is right here, no video needed.
Post whatever shows a stranger what your business is for. Google's first result for "social media management for small business" in October 2026 was a tiny local shop on Reddit asking how to stay consistent without hours a week (r/SocialMediaManagers, May 2026). One social media manager put it plainly: "most small businesses don't have a planning problem. they have a clarity problem." No calendar fixes a page that has not decided what it is for. Decide that first.
Pick two or three themes you can repeat weekly without running dry. For most owners that is the work and the people doing it, plus whatever customers keep asking anyway. One rule for the mix: about one post in four sells something. The other three are why anyone still follows.
Deciding what to say is not the slow part. Saying it five times, in five shapes, is. Here's one plumber's call and the five posts that came out of it. You'd post two or three of these, not all five.
Okay so, first freeze last night and I'm already on Elm Street, frozen pipe. Split behind the washer. Hose bib out back never got drained, that's what did it. Two hours, little over. Told 'em drain the outside faucets every fall, don't let the thermostat go under fifty-five at night. Put that one up.
Two hours on Elm Street this morning. Pipe split behind the washer because the outside faucet was never drained for winter. Five minutes to drain yours. Do it this week, and while you're down there, find your main shutoff.
On screen: Nobody drained this faucet. Caption: Five minutes every fall, or a morning like this one. Drain it.
Frozen pipe repair, same day, east side to the county line. Drain your outside faucets before the next freeze. We answer the phone ourselves.
If you manage rental units: the first frozen pipe call of the season came in this morning, an outside faucet nobody drained. A walk-through this month beats a Saturday emergency in January. Say the word and I'll send the checklist.
Under a neighbor asking for a plumber: Whoever you pick, drain your outside faucets this week. Spent two hours this morning on an Elm Street pipe that split because of one. I'm around if you want a hand.
The first lines don't match, and neither do the lengths. A drafting tool handles the channel posts: say it once and it drafts each one, then fix a word or two and approve. The Google update you post yourself. The Nextdoor reply you type when someone asks. By hand, I'd budget an hour. From a voice note, ten minutes.
An illustrative example. Choose the channels that fit your business; this is not a list of Kodanote integrations.
Monday, 20 minutes, same time every week.
Read the week's drafts once, yours or a tool's. Fix what reads wrong, then approve. If one needs a full rewrite, skip it. Four posts that sound like you beat five that don't.
Answer every comment and message. About 73% of consumers expect a reply within 24 hours, and 73% will buy from a competitor if you don't answer (Sprout Social Index, 2025).
Write down the three numbers from section 8: reach, replies, inquiries. Once a week, not every morning. Daily checking is how a 20-minute routine turns into an hour.
Have staff? Split it. Whoever is on the floor captures: a photo of today's work, a voice note on the drive home. Whoever sits at a desk approves. Never the same person doing both at eleven at night.
Compare month to month, not day to day. Follower count is off the list on purpose: a giveaway inflates it overnight and says nothing about who becomes a customer.
$0 to a $5,107 agency average (Clutch, September 2026). What moves the price is who writes the posts. Chart for the short answer, table for the full one.
| Path | Monthly cost | Your time a week | Who writes the posts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | $0 | 1 to 6 hours, by tier (section 1) | You |
| Software that drafts, you approve | $0 to $39 | About 1 hour | The software, from your voice note or photo. You approve. |
| Scheduling software | $5 to $99 | A little under DIY | You. The tool only holds the queue. |
| Posting service | $99 to $279 | About 1 hour, mostly supplying photos | Their writers, from photos you drop in a shared folder |
| Freelancer or boutique agency | $399 to $1,500 | About 1 hour | Them, after a call about your business |
Prices checked October 2026 on vendor pricing pages unless a source is named. Where there are monthly and annual rates, the annual one is used. Ad spend is separate.
| Compare | Do it yourself | Scheduling software | Posting service | Freelancer | Boutique agency | Full agency | In-house part-timer | Software that drafts, you approve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $0 | $5 to $99 on entry plans. Buffer $5 a channel, Later $18.75, Metricool $20, SocialBee $24, Planable $33 a workspace, Sprout Social $79 a seat, Hootsuite $99 a user (vendor pricing pages, October 2026) | $99 for 10 image posts, $189 for 20, $279 for 30 ($99Social via Fit Small Business, June 2025) | $750 to $1,500 for one or two platforms; $1,500 to $3,000 for a bigger package (SolidGigs, September 2026) | $399 to $1,500; the cheapest credible band is $399 to $700 (Savvy Social Solutions, April 2026). One well-known agency: from $650 for three posts a week (LYFE Marketing via Fit Small Business, June 2025) | $5,107 average; most projects under $10,000 (Clutch, September 2026) | $2,083 to $3,750, which is $25,000 to $45,000 a year (Cool Nerds Marketing, July 2026). An in-house hire, all in: $50,000 and up (Savvy Social Solutions, April 2026) | $0 for one written post a week; $39 for five. Scheduling your own posts is free, up to 5 a week on each channel (Kodanote, October 2026) |
| Posts a week | Whatever you manage. The section 1 tiers run 2 to 5 per platform | Whatever you write. Free plans cap it: Buffer 10 scheduled per channel, Metricool 20 a month | About 2 to 7 (10 to 30 a month) | Agreed per package, not a fixed number | Three a week at the $650 example (LYFE Marketing via Fit Small Business, June 2025) | Set by scope. Ads always run on a separate budget (Cool Nerds Marketing, July 2026) | Whatever you brief. That is the job | 1 written for you free, 5 on the $39 plan, plus up to 5 a week per channel you schedule yourself |
| Who writes | You | You. The tool only holds the queue | Their writers, from the photos you drop in a shared folder (98 Buck Social FAQ, 2025) | The freelancer, after a call about your business | Their team | Their team | Your hire | The software, from your voice note or photo, in your voice. You approve, or ask for changes |
| Who makes visuals | You, on your phone or in a free design app | You. The scheduler queues what you upload | Their design, over the photos you upload to the shared folder | The freelancer, if the package includes design. Ask | Their designers | Their creative team | Your hire | Cropped and polished from your own photo pool, shaped for each channel |
| Who answers comments | You | You | Nobody. No monitoring in the plan ($99Social via Fit Small Business, June 2025) | Only if the package says so | Often. Confirm it is in the fee | Usually, as part of the retainer | Yes | You, in the Monday 20 minutes (section 7) |
| Reporting | The platforms' own insights tabs | Built into paid plans | None. No analytics in the plan ($99Social via Fit Small Business, June 2025) | Varies. Ask for monthly | A monthly report is common | Regular reports with a call | Whenever you ask | Followers, reach, engagement and views per channel and per post, pulled on a schedule (Kodanote, October 2026) |
| Contract | None | Monthly or annual, and annual is cheaper: Sprout Social $79 annual against $99 monthly; Hootsuite's $99 needs annual billing | Month to month ($99Social via Fit Small Business, June 2025) | Per package | Varies. Read section 10 before signing | Retainer. Section 10 covers the contract | Employment, with payroll on top | Monthly |
| Your hours a week | 1 to 6, by tier (section 1) | A little under DIY. You still write it all | About 1, mostly supplying photos | About 1, for the briefing call and approvals | About 1 | About 1, in meetings | About 2, managing a person | About 1: send an idea, then the Monday 20 minutes (section 7) |
Sources: Buffer, Metricool, Later, Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Planable and SocialBee pricing pages and the Kodanote homepage (October 2026); $99Social and LYFE Marketing via Fit Small Business (June 2025); 98 Buck Social FAQ (2025); SolidGigs (September 2026); Savvy Social Solutions (April 2026); Cool Nerds Marketing (July 2026); Clutch (September 2026). Hours a week are this page's estimates.
Schedulers charge per channel (Buffer), per user (Hootsuite, Sprout Social) or per workspace (Planable). That choice swings your bill more than the headline price.
An owner shopping for an agency (r/smallbusiness, September 2026) heard the same two things over and over: fees the business could not carry, and a twelve-month contract up front. Ask these ten before you sign with anyone.
Two in three owners got their best return somewhere else. In the same r/smallbusiness thread (September 2026), what worked for other owners: a Google profile with clean photos and recent reviews, and an email every two weeks. Both answers are true. It depends on where your customers decide. So test it. Run the four-week calendar twice. At week eight, count the inquiries in the notebook from section 8. Empty? Cut to one platform plus your Google profile and spend the hours elsewhere. Not empty? Keep the three hours a week.
About three hours a week covers two platforms at two or three posts each, plus a weekly Google Business Profile post. The fixed parts are one photo afternoon a month and 20 minutes every Monday to approve and reply. Captions fill the rest. One hour a week runs a single platform. For scale, 70% of small business owners spend under five hours a week on their marketing (Fiverr, May 2025).
Two or three times a week on each platform, and don't skip weeks. Showing up regularly beats volume: accounts that posted in 20 or more of 26 weeks earned 450% more median engagement per post than accounts active in four weeks or fewer (Buffer, January 2025, 100,000+ users). Daily posting is not required. Once a week, every week, still beats a burst and then silence.
The one your customers check before they decide, which depends on what you sell. Restaurants and local shops: Facebook, then Instagram. Salons: Instagram, then TikTok. Trades: Nextdoor, then Facebook groups, with your Google Business Profile ahead of both. B2B: LinkedIn. Online shops: Instagram, then TikTok. Across all owners, 62% call Facebook important for revenue and 43% Instagram (SBE Council, March 2026). Pick two and stop there.
From $0 a month to a $5,107 full-agency average (Clutch, September 2026). Do it yourself on Buffer's or Metricool's free plan, or pay $5 a channel to $99 a user for scheduling software. Freelancers from $750 a month (SolidGigs, September 2026); boutique agencies $399 to $1,500 (Savvy Social Solutions, April 2026). Software that drafts, you approve: free for one post a week, $39 for five. Prices checked October 2026.
Do it yourself for the first eight weeks; let software draft the posts if writing slows you down. Then look at what your notebook says about where customers came from. If some say social, and your hours are worth more than the help, hire. If none do, hiring will not fix that. A part-time in-house social media manager costs $25,000 to $45,000 a year (Cool Nerds Marketing, July 2026).
Yes, at least once a week, even if you post nowhere else. Google repeats that number in its own workshops (Whitespark, May 2026). For a local business, this is where the search ends, so keep it looking open. One photo from the shop and one line about what is new this week is a post. Check your hours while you're there, and ask a happy customer for a review.
For most, yes. For some, no. Eight weeks of posting tells you which. 49% of consumers use social media to find new small businesses, ahead of search engines at 40% (Constant Contact, June 2026). But if your customers arrive by referral or a maps search, posts reach the wrong people. Post two or three times a week for eight weeks, and ask every new customer how they found you.
Research dates appear beside the figures. Pricing is a 2026 snapshot, generally based on annual billing in USD, excluding taxes, add-ons and ad spend. Confirm current prices and account limits before buying. Time budgets are our estimates, not guarantees.
Your next Monday could look different
Send Kodanote a voice note or a few words. It drafts a post for each channel in your voice. Ask for changes in the chat beside the draft, or approve it and it goes out at the channel's next slot.
Scheduling your own posts is free, up to five a week on each channel. If Kodanote writes the post, one a week is free and five a week is $39 a month.