SMM
SMM and social media management
Social media stopped being a place where posting regularly is enough. In Russia two platforms are left standing, Telegram and VK, and each distributes content by its own rules: Telegram has no algorithmic feed and almost no organic growth, while VK hands out reach through short video and recommendations. We build the work around that reality: strategy, content pillars, a steady production rhythm and metrics that mean something.
- Pricing
- From $600
- Timeline
- Strategy and design take two weeks, with the first posts going live in week three. Month one is almost always the weakest on numbers because it goes into setup and building a content base. Month two shows which pillars earn reach, and month three brings a steady flow of enquiries. Three months is the honest horizon for judging results.
A starting price. The total depends on scope, integrations and deadlines.
In short
Full-service social media management starts at ₽45,000 per month for one platform. A standard package covers strategy and a content plan, 12 to 16 posts, 20 to 30 stories, 4 to 6 short videos, profile design, community replies during business hours, and a monthly report on reach, engagement and subscriber growth. In Russia the working platforms are Telegram and VK, and results usually stabilise in month two or three.
Strategy: where the work starts
The first week goes into decisions rather than posts. Who the audience is and what objections they carry; what the account is actually selling, whether product, expertise or trust; which platform is primary and which is supporting; how the brand sounds and what it will never say. Without those answers a content plan degrades into a calendar of public holidays and the report becomes a screenshot of likes.
We take apart three to five competitors and two or three adjacent niches: which formats earn a response, where they go quiet, what the audience argues about in the comments. That produces positioning and a set of content pillars, not a vague list of promotional and educational posts but specific repeatable formats your team can actually sustain.
- Audience profile and the map of objections the content has to answer.
- Tone of voice: how we write, which words are off limits and who speaks for the brand.
- Platform choice and the role of each: where you sell, where you warm up, where you show expertise.
- Goals in numbers: subscribers, reach, direct messages or site enquiries.
Content pillars and production
Four to six pillars usually cover the ground: product and case stories, expertise and breakdowns, behind the scenes, answers to customer questions, news and activations. The split that works for most projects is roughly 40 percent useful content, 30 percent product, 20 percent trust and human face, 10 percent direct selling. Sales posts without the other 90 percent burn an audience fast.
The monthly content plan is a table where every item carries a date, platform, pillar, topic, format, copy, visual and goal. It gets approved in one pass before the month starts, and time-sensitive posts slot in during the week without re-approving the whole grid. That way shoots and design happen in batches instead of an hour before publication.
Production is built around a shoot day: once a month we capture enough photo and video for four to six weeks and fill the rest with graphics, motion design and material from your archive. Short vertical video runs as its own stream, because that is what earns reach on both VK and Telegram.
Telegram: expensive subscribers, high value
The key fact about Telegram: there is no algorithmic feed. Subscribers see everything you publish, but new subscribers do not arrive on their own. A channel grows through paid placements in other channels, Telegram Ads, external traffic and reposts. So Telegram is not a free channel, it is a platform with a predictable subscriber cost that belongs in the budget as a separate line.
The metric differs too. What matters is not raw reach but ERR, the ratio of views to subscribers. A healthy channel holds 30 to 60 percent on small audiences and 15 to 30 percent on large ones. ERR falling before subscriber count falls is the earliest signal that the content has stopped landing.
What genuinely works in Telegram: posts built around one idea with specifics instead of long walls of text, a rhythm of four to six posts a week, comments enabled through a linked group, polls and reactions as cheap engagement, video notes and short clips, and for service businesses a bot funnel with a free lead magnet at the entrance.
VK: organic reach exists, but you earn it
VK works the other way around: the feed is algorithmic, so a strong post or short video can reach several times your subscriber count. Short video is currently the main source of organic growth, and recommendations pick up whatever holds attention. In exchange the algorithm demands consistency, and a community that posts once a week simply drops out of the feed.
VK also has tools Telegram lacks, and they are worth using: a product showcase inside the community, broadcast messages from the community page (open rates there are noticeably higher than email), widgets, lead form apps, chatbots and a direct link with VK Ads for promoting a proven post to a look-alike audience.
The practical approach: first find the two or three formats that earn a response organically, then amplify those with budget. Promoting a post that does not work without money is pointless, because paid reach increases the audience without changing the reaction.
Community management and reporting
Community management is not just replying to comments, it is keeping a conversation alive and not losing enquiries in it. We fix a service level: comments answered within two to four hours during business hours, direct messages within an hour, scripted answers for the recurring price and timing questions, and a separate protocol for complaints (answer publicly, move the resolution to private messages, come back with the outcome).
The report lands by the fifth and is not a wall of likes. It contains reach and its trend, ERR by content pillar, subscriber growth and cost per subscriber including media spend, UTM-tracked clicks to the site, direct message volume and how many enquiries reached the CRM. A separate block lists the three best and three worst posts with a conclusion about what changes next month.
- Agreed response times and a tone of voice for replies.
- Moderation: spam, competitor promotion, trolling and genuine complaints.
- Hot enquiries handed to your sales team the same day.
- A monthly report with conclusions and a plan, not a statistics dump.
What the work includes
- SMM strategy: audience, positioning, tone of voice, content pillars and numeric goals
- A monthly content plan with topics, formats and dates, approved in advance
- 12 to 16 posts a month, with copy and visuals adapted per platform
- 20 to 30 stories and 4 to 6 short vertical videos
- Profile or channel design: avatar, cover, description, pinned material and navigation
- Community management: comments and direct messages during business hours to an agreed SLA
- A placement and post promotion plan with a forecast cost per subscriber
- Monthly report: reach, ERR, subscribers, clicks, enquiries and next month plan
- A content bank: source files, Figma templates and shoot archives stay with you
How we work
- 01
Discovery and strategy
Week 1. Interviews with you and the sales team, competitor breakdown, audit of the existing accounts, platform choice, content pillars and goals. The output is a 10 to 15 page strategy.
- 02
Design and first content plan
Week 2. We build visual templates in Figma, redesign the channel and community, prepare the first month content plan and approve it in full.
- 03
Production and launch
Weeks 3 to 4. Shoot day, visual design, short video editing, the first posts going out on schedule and community management switched on.
- 04
Ongoing management and growth
Every month. Publishing to plan, paid placements and promotion of proven posts, comment work, tests of new formats, then the report and next month plan.
Technology and tools
- Telegram
- VK
- VK Клипы
- Дзен
- YouTube Shorts
- Figma
- CapCut
- Adobe Premiere Pro
- SMMplanner
- TGStat
- Яндекс.Метрика
Selected work
Cyber Lady
Posters for the Colizeum network of esports clubs and arenas. A dedicated banner with promotions for International Women’s Day — warm yellow and pink tones evoke femininity and a welcoming feel inside the club.
FEIARY Craft
Design for a leather accessories store. The style echoes street and tattoo art to tie the products to a bold youth aesthetic, while the palette signals premium quality. Built by Veltos.Tech together with Makar.
Restaurant promo film
An atmosphere film for a premium restaurant and lounge: set tables, the bar, the stage and warm evening light that make the venue feel worth visiting.
Frequently asked questions
How much does social media management cost per month?
From ₽45,000 a month for one platform: strategy, content plan, 12 to 16 posts, 20 to 30 stories, 4 to 6 short videos, design and community replies. Two platforms with adapted content start at ₽70,000. Location shoots, complex editing, influencer work and paid placements are quoted separately. Media budget sits outside the fee: Telegram placements and VK targeting typically add ₽30,000 to ₽100,000 a month.
What does a content plan actually contain?
A monthly content plan is a table with a date, platform, pillar, topic, format, copy, visual and goal for every item. There are usually four to six pillars: product and cases, expertise, behind the scenes, answers to customer questions, news and activations. The typical split is 40 percent useful content, 30 percent product, 20 percent trust and 10 percent direct selling. It is approved before the month begins, and timely posts slot in during the week without re-approving the grid.
Telegram or VK, which platform should we pick?
It depends on the audience and the goal. Telegram has no algorithmic feed: subscribers see every post, but organic growth is close to zero, so a channel grows through paid placements, Telegram Ads and external traffic. Subscribers cost more but are more loyal and convert better for B2B and high-ticket services. VK gives organic reach through recommendations and short video, costs less to buy and suits mass-market products and local business. For small teams we recommend one platform done properly.
Which metrics do you report on?
Not likes. The monthly report covers reach and its trend, ERR broken down by content pillar, subscriber growth and cost per subscriber including media spend, UTM-tracked clicks to the site, direct message volume and the number of enquiries that reached the CRM. A separate section lists the three strongest and three weakest posts with conclusions about what changes next. The report arrives by the fifth alongside the plan for the new period.
Who shoots the photo and video?
Three options. First, you shoot it yourself against our brief with a storyboard, references and a shot list, which for many projects produces the most authentic content. Second, we run a monthly shoot day with a photographer or videographer and come away with four to six weeks of material. Third, content without filming at all: graphics, motion design, AI generation and your existing archive. In practice a mix of the three usually works best.
How long until SMM produces results?
Month one goes into strategy, design and building a content base, so it is almost always the weakest on numbers. Month two shows which pillars earn reach and response, and month three brings a steady flow of enquiries. If you need leads faster, launch SMM alongside paid promotion: placements and targeting deliver traffic immediately while organic catches up later. Judging the result on a single month makes no sense, and three months is the honest horizon.
Want to talk it through?
Tell us what needs building. We will work through the task, propose an approach and send a staged estimate. No charge, no commitment.
Related services
- Targeted and search advertisingPaid advertising brings traffic the day after launch, and burns budget just as fast when audiences are guessed at and nobody counts the leads. We build campaigns in the channels that genuinely work in Russia in 2026: VK Ads, Telegram Ads and Yandex Direct, plus Meta and Google Ads for projects selling abroad. Tracking goes in before launch, not after.
- Motion design and AI video for adsWe produce short video ads: shots generated with AI models, motion graphics on top, then edit, grade and sound design. You get a 16:9 master plus reframed 9:16 and 1:1 cuts, ready to upload to social feeds, Reels, Shorts, marketplace listings and ad accounts. We are straightforward about where AI delivers in a day and where filming or hand-built animation is still the right answer.
- Branding, logo and visual identityWe build the visual system of a brand: positioning and naming through to logo, palette, typography and a brand book any future contractor can work from. You get vector source files, not just a PNG on a white background. We work with new companies and with rebrands, where an identity exists but has stopped doing its job.
- SEO and GEO website promotionSearch traffic is the one acquisition channel that keeps working after the ad budget stops. We run two tracks in parallel: classic SEO for Yandex and Google, and GEO, the work of getting your pages quoted inside AI Overviews, Yandex Neuro, ChatGPT and Perplexity, where a growing share of queries now ends. It starts with an audit, never with buying links.
Terms used on this page
Further reading
- SMM strategy for 2026: VK, Telegram and short video that actually workBeing everywhere is not a strategy, it is a way to spread a budget thin. A platform selection matrix, why one mechanic cannot serve reach, loyalty and sales at once, and how to build a content plan that fits the team you actually have.
- A business Telegram channel: how to run it, grow it and turn it into salesTelegram has no algorithmic feed, so organic growth does not happen: every subscriber arrives paid or from another channel. Here is the acquisition economics, the content that retains, and the funnel that sells.
- B2B Content Marketing: Making Articles Produce Leads Instead of PageviewsMost corporate blogs optimise for reach and report pageviews. Here is how to pick topics by funnel stage, why comparisons and pricing breakdowns produce enquiries, why author pages matter and which metrics belong in a monthly report.