What it costs to run a political campaign’s social media in Colombia

The question comes up in every meeting and is rarely answered clearly. A social media campaign has three different costs, and mixing them up is the most common way to run out of budget in the final month.

The three costs of a digital campaign

1. The team. Strategy, content production, design, video editing, message replies and reports. A monthly fee.
2. The ads. What is paid to Meta so the ads reach voters. It is paid directly to the platform and counts toward the CNE spending caps.
3. The tools. The WhatsApp platform for team replies, the volunteer register and mention monitoring.

What we charge

These are our plans for the Caribbean coast. They cover the team and management; ad spend is separate.

• City council: COP $3,500,000 a month. Strategy, daily content, walkabout coverage, a response room and a weekly report.
• Mayor or assembly: COP $6,500,000 a month. More production, districts handled separately and a larger response team.
• House or Senate: from COP $12,000,000 a month. Several municipalities or departments, coordinating local teams.

Each plan and what it includes is on the political campaigns page.

How much to put into ads

There is no single figure, but there is a way to work it out:

1. Start from the cap. The CNE sets the campaign’s total spending limit. Digital ads are only one part, alongside billboards, events, transport and everything else.
2. Count the voters in the district. A council race works with neighbourhoods; a governor race, with municipalities. More territory means more budget to reach the same person several times.
3. Split it by stage. Little and steady while building the community; most of it in the three months of propaganda; a strong push in the final two weeks.

What makes a campaign more expensive

• Starting late. Building an audience in three months means paying more to reach people who do not know you.
• Changing teams halfway. Access, history and momentum are lost just when they matter most.
• Producing without a plan. Shooting a lot and posting without a calendar burns team hours and does not move votes.

What every proposal should include

When you compare agencies, ask for it in writing: weekly deliverables, who answers messages and how fast, whose name the accounts are in and how every expense is documented for the CNE. If a proposal does not say it, it is because it has not solved it.

If you want a proposal for your campaign, request it here and we will reply within 48 business hours.