Ask five Egyptian agencies to quote the same brief and the responses can differ by a factor of ten. That isn't because someone is cheating you. It's because “social media management” is not a defined service — it's a phrase describing wildly different things.
Here's what's actually inside a quote, and where the money goes.
First truth: you aren't comparing the same thing
When one agency says 8,000 EGP and another says 80,000, the useful question isn't “why the gap?” — it's “what exactly does each one do?”
- The cheap quote usually means a set number of posts using template designs — no strategy, no shooting, no ads management, nobody answering messages.
- The expensive quote usually means strategy, content planning, monthly shooting, custom design, copywriting, ads management, community management and reporting — four or five people working on your account.
Those aren't one product at two prices. They're two products sharing a name.
The four things inside every quote
1. Human hours — the biggest line by far
An agency sells people's time. If your account needs an account manager, a designer, a copywriter and a media buyer, that's four people spending part of their month on you. An account consuming 20 hours a month costs a third of one consuming 60. It really is that direct.
So the first question to ask is: “who works on my account, and for how many hours?” A vague answer is itself an answer.
2. Production — shooting and editing
Filmed content moves cost more than any other line. A mobile shoot day costs one thing; a full-crew camera day costs several times that. If a quote contains no shooting, the content will come from stock or from images you supply. Nothing wrong with that — you just need to know it.
For reference, our own mobile reels day is 6,000 EGP producing 3–5 reels, and professional camera production runs 12,000–30,000 EGP per day. Put two shoots into a monthly package and that difference shows up immediately in the retainer.
3. Experience — and who actually does the work
There's a real gap between an account run by someone with six months' experience and one run by someone who has managed millions in spend. The second makes fewer mistakes, and their mistakes cost you less. The problem is that most quotes don't tell you who actually does the work — you meet the senior team in the pitch and get handed to the most junior person after signing.
Ask by name: who works on my account? If the answer is vague, that's part of the price difference.
4. Accountability — the part nobody discusses
An agency that commits to a cost per result, measures it, and answers for it does more work than one that ships posts and stops. Measurement, optimisation and honest reporting are all hours — and those hours are in the price.
Same name, different service
| Line item | Budget quote | Full-service quote |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | None, or a generic template | Market and competitor research, content pillars |
| Content | Template posts | Custom design and copywriting |
| Shooting | None | Monthly shoots (mobile and/or camera) |
| Ads | Not included, or just boosting | Campaign management optimised on cost per result |
| Community | None | Comments and messages answered |
| Reporting | Screenshot of the insights tab | Analysis, recommendations, decisions |
| Team | One person doing everything | Specialists per discipline |
How to compare two quotes fairly
Don't compare the totals. Convert both into the same units and ask:
- How many human hours per month? — the real cost basis.
- Who works on this, by name and experience?
- Is shooting included? How many days? Mobile or camera?
- Is ads management included, or billed separately? — and ad budget is always separate from fees.
- Are comments and messages handled? — the most commonly forgotten line, and the one that quietly loses leads.
- What gets measured, and how will I know it worked?
So which should you choose?
The answer isn't “more expensive is better.” It's to work backwards from what a customer is worth to you.
If a customer is worth 500 EGP and the 80,000 package brings 40 a month, that maths doesn't work. If a customer is worth 50,000 EGP — real estate, say — then the cheap package that never produces qualified leads is the genuinely expensive one, because of what it costs you in missed opportunity.
Cheap and expensive are meaningless without customer value. The only number that matters is acquisition cost against what a customer is worth.
Red flags in any quote
- A price with no questions asked — quoting before understanding your business is guessing.
- Ad budget blended into the fee — makes both impossible to judge.
- Guaranteed results — nobody controls the auction or Google's algorithm.
- A big post count at a small price — volume comes out of quality and strategy.
- They own the accounts — the ad account, pixel and page must be in your name.
We publish our full price list — every service, its real range, and exactly what's inside — so you can compare without having to ask. You can build your own quotation in seconds.
Also see our real campaign data: cost per lead, per conversation and per click across 8 industries.
Why is there such a huge price gap between marketing agencies?
Because “social media management” isn't a defined service. An 8,000 EGP quote might be 8 template posts with nobody answering messages. An 80,000 quote might include strategy, production, shooting, ads management and a full team. They aren't the same service — they just share a name.
How do I compare two quotes fairly?
Convert them into comparable units: how many human hours per month, who specifically works on the account, is shooting included, is ads management included, is community management included. Ask those and the gap explains itself.
Is the cheapest quote always wrong?
No. Sometimes it fits your stage perfectly. The mistake is comparing a cheap quote to an expensive one as if they're identical. Cheaper buys less activity — which may be all you need right now.