to a Facebook friend

There’s been a lot of recent talk and tweeting around pricing for business social media management applications.  We’ve received a number of tweets, emails and tickets asking if, when and what we plan to charge for our service.

Having been involved with a number of technology businesses over the years, we at MediaFunnel have come to the conclusion that the current customers of any vendor really don’t like upside price surprises.  So, the first thing we’d like to state is that we will grandfather our existing clients at no charge for their existing number of users and social media accounts — for the life of their current MediaFunnel account(s).

Next, we like to keep things simple at MediaFunnel.  So, rather than having an array of pricing tiers, we are going to start with just two pricing plans — Free and Standard.

The Free Plan

The Free Plan will have a maximum of two users and two social media channels.  This plan will provide access to all of MediaFunnel’s features except for background Brand Monitoring and Alerts.  Standard searches will be available.

There may be some additional features added in future that will not be included in the Free Plan.  The Free plan will not be advertising supported.

The Standard Plan

The first two users and two social media channels will always be free.  Organizations that need a third user and/or a third social media channel will need to subscribe to the Standard Plan, which also includes Brand Monitoring and Alerts.  Each User/Channel (a combination of one user and one social media channel) beyond the two, free User/Channels will cost $4.95 USD per month.

As a configuration example, if you have two users and five social media channels, you will need a total of five User/Channels, for a total cost of $14.85 per month (since the first two User/Channels are free).  If you decide to add up to three more users, you will not pay any extra, since you are already paying for five User/Channels.

If you have five users and two social media channels, you will also need a total of five User/Channels, for a total cost of $14.85 per month (since the first two User/Channels are free).  If you decide to add up to three more social media channels you will not pay any extra, since you are already paying for five User/Channels.

So the math for the monthly charge is: take the number of users you need, or the number of social media channels you need — whichever is higher — and subtract two.  Multiply the result by $4.95.

The Standard Plan will include a 30 day, free trial.

501(c)(3) nonprofit corporations and K-12 educational institutions will receive a total of five User/Accounts for free and should contact us directly after signing up for the free trial.

Pricing will be month to month, with no long term commitments.  SMS phone numbers and SMS message credits will cost extra for both plans, since these represent hard costs to us.  These will both be priced with a small markup over our cost.

Pricing and the MediaFunnel Business Model

Some prospects that we’ve explained our pricing plan to in recent weeks have said to us, “not that we’re complaining with your price point, but how can you charge so little?”

The answer is simple.  We’re self-funded through profitable U.S. and European based technology services businesses and we’re in this for the long haul — so we’re not being pressured by anyone for specific levels of short term revenue.  We are free to create what we hope is win/win pricing that will result in mutually beneficial, long term relationships between us and our customers.

For those who are already using MediaFunnel, we appreciate your business and look forward to our ongoing relationship.  For those who are not yet using MediaFunnel and have a need for our solution, we look forward to having you on board.

Cheers,
The MediaFunnel Team