How many hours does social media really take a small business?
The short answer
Doing social media well takes a small business about 5 hours a week: about 1 hour planning, 1 hour filming, 2 hours editing and writing captions, and 1 hour posting and replying. That's about 260 hours a year, more than six full work weeks, on top of running the business.
Where the 5 hours go
| Task | Time each week |
|---|---|
| Planning: ideas and a calendar | 1 hour |
| Filming: setup, good light, retakes | 1 hour |
| Editing and captions: cuts, text on screen, captions, hashtags | 2 hours |
| Posting and replies: uploading, comments, DMs, checking what worked | 1 hour |
| Total | 5+ hours |
The math
5 hours a week, times 52 weeks, is about 260 hours a year. That's more than six full 40-hour work weeks, on top of running your business. This is our estimate for posting about 3 times a week and answering messages. More posts or more platforms means more time.
Ways to cut it down
- Plan the whole month in one sitting
- Film a week of videos in one batch
- Reuse your best posts on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok
- Set up an automatic reply that sends your booking link
- Hand off the parts you hate