Market retainers in Dubai
Nobody in the UAE publishes official statistics on SMM prices. The ranges below come from pricing guides written by agencies and directories, checked on 13 October 2026. They show what agencies ask for, which is useful, but they are not audited averages.
| Level | Monthly retainer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | AED 2,000–4,000 | LPS |
| Typical agency | AED 5,000–10,000 | LPS |
| Premium | AED 15,000–30,000 | LPS |
| Common range (Feb 2026) | AED 3,000–12,000 | GoodFirms |
The two sources roughly agree in the middle. GoodFirms' range starts a little higher and ends below LPS's premium tier.
What the retainer pays for
An SMM retainer buys people's time. The same "Instagram management" can mean three posts a week from stock photos or a daily mix of reels, stories and replies to comments. The things that move the price most:
- Content production. Shooting your own video and photos costs more than designing posts from templates. A reels content day alone runs AED 2,000–7,000 on the market. Some agencies include shooting, many bill it separately. We break production prices down in how much video production costs in Dubai.
- Number of platforms. Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube each need their own formats and cadence.
- Posting volume. Posts, reels and stories per month.
- Community management. Daily replies to comments and DMs. Ask whether they're in the package or billed as extra hours.
- Languages. Dubai audiences often need English, Arabic and sometimes Russian. Federal consumer protection law requires advertising and contracts aimed at consumers to be in Arabic, with other languages allowed alongside, and the penalty schedule sets AED 100,000 per violation. Native Arabic copy costs money; ask whether it's in the quote.
- Reporting and ads management. Running paid campaigns is often a separate fee from organic posting.
Ad spend comes on top
The retainer pays the agency. The ad budget goes to Meta, Google or TikTok, and you should see it as a separate line.
| Platform | Benchmark | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Meta, average CPM | about USD 15.8 (Jul 2025 – Jul 2026) | Superads |
| Meta, CPM range | USD 6.5–12 | BIMO |
| Facebook / IG feed / Reels CPM | AED 18–32 / AED 22–40 / AED 15–28 | 23hublab |
| Google Search CPC | AED 3–15 | LeadsDubai, Obelisk |
| Google CPC, real estate / legal | AED 15–60+ / AED 20–50 | LeadsDubai, Obelisk |
The Meta benchmarks don't line up. Superads' USD 15.8 average sits above BIMO's whole range of USD 6.5–12. The three sources use different periods and samples, so treat them as a corridor, not a forecast for your account. We found no reliable TikTok CPM figure for the UAE.
For a small business this changes the maths: a AED 3,000 retainer with no ad budget gets your posts made, but it doesn't buy reach beyond your followers.
Influencers: three reports, three price lists
Many SMM plans include influencer posts. Agencies publish rates by follower tier, and the numbers disagree.
| Tier (Instagram) | Yamammi | SL Marketing | CreatorMarket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nano | AED 300–1,500 | AED 300–2,000 | AED 100–500 |
| Micro | AED 1,500–5,000 | AED 2,000–10,000 | AED 500–2,000 |
| Mid | AED 5,000–15,000 | — | AED 2,000–5,000 |
| Macro | AED 15,000–45,000 | AED 10,000–50,000 | AED 5,000–15,000 |
| Mega | — | AED 50,000–200,000+ | — |
Sources: Yamammi, SL Marketing, CreatorMarket. SL Marketing also says UAE rates run 20–30% above the global average. CreatorMarket's macro tier tops out where Yamammi's starts, so a quote that looks high by one table may look fair by another. We found no separate statistics on UGC creator rates. When you compare a quote with these tables, check what you are buying: one reel and a set of stories are different orders. Ask whether the post stays on the profile, whether you may run it as an ad from your own account and what that right costs, and what share of the audience lives in the UAE. A resident who advertises only to a foreign audience does not need the permit, per the NMA FAQ summary; if you sell in Dubai, you want the local audience, and the permit comes with it.
Check the permit before you pay
Since 1 February 2026 anyone who advertises a brand, product or service on social media from the UAE needs an Advertiser Permit from the National Media Authority (NMA, formerly UAE Media Council). That covers paid, barter and promo-code deals, as the NMA FAQ is summarised by UAE Expert Hub. The permit is free for citizens and residents for the first three years, then costs AED 1,000 a year, according to Pinsent Masons.
Pinsent Masons and Gulf News both say brands and agencies should verify the permit and put its number in the contract. Advertising on social media without a permit costs a written warning the first time, then AED 20,000, then AED 50,000 under Cabinet Resolution 42/2025; see our media fines table and Advertiser Permit guide.
Three ways to buy SMM, and what each costs
The retainer is one line. A month of social media in Dubai usually has three: the people who run the accounts, the content they post and the ad budget. You can buy them in three combinations. The sums below add up published market ranges; they are arithmetic, not quotes.
1. Posting only
You hand over photos and videos, the agency writes captions, posts and reports. This is the AED 2,000–4,000 starter tier. It works when you already have a steady supply of content, for example a restaurant whose chef films every day. If you don't, the feed runs dry by the second week.
2. Retainer plus separate production
The agency manages the accounts at AED 5,000–10,000, and you hire a videographer for a content day at AED 2,000–7,000. Add one content day a month and the total lands at roughly AED 7,000–17,000 before ads. The weak point is the hand-off: the shooter and the SMM team plan separately, and someone has to brief both.
3. Production and SMM in one package
Some agencies shoot and post under one fee. Compare such a package against option 2 line by line: shooting days, number of reels, posting volume, replies, reports. A bundle only saves money if it covers the same work.
Whichever option you choose, put the ad budget on top. With Meta CPM somewhere between USD 6.5 and USD 15.8 by the published benchmarks, you can estimate how many thousand impressions a given budget buys, but your real cost depends on audience, creative and season.
What Savage Media charges
These are our prices, published on our SMM page.
| Savage Media | Special offer | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| SMM | from AED 950/month | Final price depends on platforms, posting volume and content |
| Savage Story | AED 3,500 first month, then AED 4,500/month | 2 shooting days, 8 reels and 15 photos every month |
| Savage Full | AED 9,900/month | Production, content and sales automation in one studio |
We shoot the content ourselves, so the reels in your feed come from the same studio that posts them. If you run paid ads, see our Meta ads service. If the ads bring messages faster than you can answer, our AI sales automation replies to leads on WhatsApp.
Questions to ask before you sign
- How many posts, reels and stories per month, on which platforms?
- Who shoots the content, and is shooting in the price?
- Is the ad budget separate, and who manages campaigns?
- Who replies to comments and DMs, and how fast?
- Is Arabic copy included?
- If influencers are involved, will the agency check their NMA permits?
- What do the monthly reports show: reach, leads or sales?
