If you need help with your business's social media, the four realistic routes in Singapore are: an AI content tool your team drives (from about US$99/month), a freelancer (S$500–S$1,500/month), a managed content service (S$500–S$2,500/month), or a full agency (S$2,000–S$5,000+/month). Which one is right depends on one question: how many hours a month can anyone in your business actually give this? Two hours makes the cheapest option viable. Zero hours means paying someone to do it for you.
"I need help with social media" usually means one of three things. A time problem: you know what to post, nobody has time to make it — solved cheaply by a tool that drafts the month for approval. A hands problem: nobody can even approve and post — solved by a freelancer, agency, or a managed service that hands you a finished month. A strategy problem: you're posting but nothing is working — that's a genuine agency or consultant conversation. Most Singapore small businesses we meet have the first or second problem and are quoted prices for the third.
| Route | Monthly cost | Your time needed | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI tool, self-run | From ~US$99 | ~2 hrs/month | Someone can approve & post |
| Freelancer | S$500–S$1,500 | Manage the person | You want one human owning it |
| Managed content service | S$500–S$2,500 | Approve only | No time, but want control |
| Full agency | S$2,000–S$5,000+ | Minimal | Bigger budget, want ads + strategy too |
The most common mistake is buying the expensive row to solve a cheap-row problem. The second most common is buying the cheap row and never using it — a tool nobody drives produces nothing. Match the route to the hours your team honestly has.
Pulse is built for the time problem: one brand setup, and it plans and writes a month of Instagram, TikTok and Facebook content in your voice — you approve and post, and it never touches your logins. If you don't even have approval time, Pulse Managed is the hands-problem version: the month is produced and curated for you, and the only thing left on your desk is the sign-off. What no AI replaces: your judgement about what's true for your business, and real photos of your actual space and people — feed both in and the output improves sharply.
For clinics and other regulated businesses, who approves and publishes is a legal structure, not a preference — the licensee stays the advertiser of record and that duty cannot be outsourced. Choose help that builds your rules in from the start and keeps your qualified person signing off. More in our clinic social media compliance guide.
Or start free: Pulse's 14-day trial — 100 credits, no card needed.
Start by naming the actual problem. If it's ideas and time, an AI content tool that plans and drafts your month is the cheapest fix. If it's that nobody can even approve and post, you need a person — a freelancer, an agency, or a managed service that hands you a finished month to approve. If it's strategy or ads, that's an agency conversation. Most small businesses' real problem is time, not strategy.
Realistic ranges: from about US$99 a month for an AI tool your team drives, S$500–S$1,500 for a freelancer, S$500–S$2,500 for a managed content service, and S$2,000–S$5,000+ for a full agency. Spend at the level where posting actually happens consistently — a cheap option nobody uses is the most expensive one.
If your feed has been quiet for weeks, yes — an inactive feed quietly costs you customers who check social proof before buying. Whether that someone is a tool, a freelancer or a service depends on how much time your team can give: two hours a month makes a tool viable; zero hours means paying for a done-for-you arrangement.
AI can plan the calendar, write captions in your voice and generate visuals — a purpose-built tool does the volume. A person still needs to set up the brand, approve what goes out and press post. That human step is small (a couple of hours a month) but it is what keeps the content honest and on-brand.
Then who approves and publishes matters legally, not just practically. A clinic stays the advertiser of record under the Healthcare Services Act and that duty can't be outsourced. Choose help that builds your rules in before writing, keeps a qualified person approving every post, and never takes your account logins. This is general information, not legal advice.