There’s no shortage of people who claim to speak on social media. Most speaker bureau pages will happily list hundreds of names.
The harder task is working out who genuinely specialises in it, who’ll hold a room from start to finish, and who’ll build something specific to your audience rather than repurpose a deck they’ve given fifty times.
A genuine social media specialist has managed real accounts, built real audiences, dealt with crises in public, and understands how platform decisions connect to commercial or organisational outcomes. They can speak to an audience of junior marketing coordinators and a board of senior leaders with equal credibility.
This guide covers four UK-based social media speakers who each bring something distinct to the topic. It also covers what to ask before you book, and what you should expect to pay.
1. Mo Shehu, PhD
Dr Mo Shehu holds a PhD in informatics with a research focus in social media analytics and business intelligence, and has spent over a decade advising and training teams across three continents. He’s a three-time TEDx speaker—including on digital literacy—a former radio host, and experienced MC.
His career spans social media at Mediacom running campaigns for P&G and other global brands on budgets exceeding $400k per month, content strategy at PostHog (now a $1B+ unicorn), brand and influencer work with AB InBev and consumer clients at Y&R, and research and consulting across public sector, SaaS, and professional services through Column.
Training sessions from Shehu Social have been booked by individuals at PwC, Accenture, Unilever, the World Economic Forum, Techstars, Wavemaker, and BDO.
Mo speaks across eight areas: social media for business, personal branding, social media harms, social media policy, social media and AI, social media and disinformation, social media advertising, and influencer marketing.
The combination of hands-on practitioner experience across agency, in-house, and consulting environments—combined with published academic research and stage-tested delivery—puts Mo in a small category of UK speakers who can credibly address social media at the tactical, strategic, and policy level, and speak to the AI dimensions of the topic in a grounded, non-speculative way.
Best suited to: marketing and communications conferences, public sector and government events, policy and regulatory forums, corporate L&D programmes, professional development events, and graduate-level audiences.
Formats available: keynotes, panels, workshops, internal sessions, and media commentary. In-person across the UK and virtual.
Book: shehuphd.com/speaking
2. Andrew Miles Davis
Andrew Miles Davis has been speaking on social media since before most organisations had a social media strategy. He was involved in launching MySpace in the UK, which gives him a historical perspective on the rise and fall of social platforms that very few speakers can claim.
His keynote topics include the lessons of MySpace’s failure and what they mean for today’s organisations, how to connect social media and content marketing to commercial results, and the practical implications of generative AI in marketing. All talks can be built bespoke for each audience and event. He’s spoken to thousands of people across industries and company sizes worldwide, across keynotes, lunch-and-learns, and training workshops.
Andrew’s particular strength is in making social media strategy feel concrete and commercially connected rather than theoretical. For audiences that need a practitioner who has seen social media evolve across multiple platform generations, he’s a credible and distinctive choice.
Best suited to: corporate events, graduate programmes, marketing team away-days, and audiences that benefit from a speaker combining long-form platform knowledge with practical, commercially-focused insight.
Formats available: keynotes, lunch-and-learns, and training workshops.
Book: andrewmilesdavis.com
3. Will Francis
Will Francis is a digital marketing author, speaker, and media commentator who has been featured on BBC, ITV, Channel 5, CNN, the Guardian, the Independent, the Telegraph, and the New York Times. He’s trusted as a digital marketing expert by the Digital Marketing Institute, the American Marketing Association, CIM, the DMA, and the Professional Academy, and speaks on social media strategy, AI in marketing, and the evolving digital landscape.
A media background makes Will practiced at distilling complex topics to broad audiences. His talks cover both the strategic and the cultural dimensions of social media and digital marketing, with a consistent focus on what organisations and communicators need to do differently in response to how platforms and audiences are changing.
Best suited to: marketing and communications conferences, professional association events, L&D programmes at agencies and brand-side marketing teams, and events where the audience spans a wide range of familiarity with digital marketing.
Formats available: keynotes, training, and media commentary.
Book: willfrancis.com
4. Philip Calvert
Philip Calvert is a Forbes-featured author, Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association, and an international speaker on marketing, lead generation, and social media with over four decades of experience working with financial advisers, planners, and IFAs.
He’s written nine books on LinkedIn, marketing, and professional networking, and has spoken at dozens of events worldwide including the IT Directors Forum, the Guardian Wealth Management Conference, and London Social Media Week. His clients have included Canon, Volvo, and Santander.
Philip focuses on how professionals in financial services—IFAs, financial planners, equity release specialists—can use LinkedIn and social media to generate leads, build credibility, and attract the right clients. His sessions are known for being practical, energetic, and immediately applicable.
Best suited to: financial services conferences, IFA and wealth management events, professional services marketing forums, and any event where the audience needs to connect social media strategy directly to client acquisition and lead generation.
Book: philipcalvert.com
How to choose the right social media speaker for your event
The most common booking mistake is choosing a speaker whose topic list includes social media without checking whether their specific angle matches what your audience needs.
Start with the outcome. What do you want your audience to leave knowing, feeling, or planning to do differently? Inspiration and a new perspective on social media is a legitimate goal. So is a practical toolkit the team can implement the following week. Both are achievable, but they require different speakers and different session designs.
Match the niche carefully. A session on social media governance for a public sector comms team needs different expertise than a session on LinkedIn visibility for a financial services audience, or a keynote on platform strategy for a consumer marketing conference. The four speakers above each serve a distinct context—knowing which applies to your event is the first decision to make.
Ask for a sample talk outline or a reference from a comparable event before committing. Any credible speaker should provide both without hesitation.
Be specific about format before you brief anyone. A 20-minute conference keynote, a 45-minute panel contribution, a 90-minute interactive workshop, and an internal half-day session are four different deliverables requiring four different kinds of preparation. Knowing which you need saves time on both sides and produces a better result.
Give enough lead time. For major conferences, booking three to six months out is advisable. For internal events, six to eight weeks is a reasonable minimum. The best sessions are built over weeks, not assembled the night before.
What does it cost to hire a social media speaker in the UK?
Speaker fees vary considerably depending on the speaker’s profile, the session format, and how you book.
| Tier | Typical fee range | What to expect |
| Emerging practitioners | £500–£1,500 | Solid content knowledge; developing stage profile; suited to internal or smaller events |
| Established specialists | £1,500–£5,000 | Strong track record, tailored content, professional delivery; appropriate for most UK conferences and corporate events |
| High-profile specialists | £5,000–£10,000 | Major credentials, significant media or publishing profile, high-demand speakers |
| Celebrity or platform-level | £15,000+ | Former platform executives, bestselling authors, nationally recognised names |
Pricing factors
Several factors affect where a speaker’s fee sits within or beyond these ranges.
Session format and length. A keynote, a workshop, and a panel contribution are priced differently. A full-day in-house session costs more than a 30-minute conference talk, regardless of the speaker.
The level of tailoring. Speakers who build bespoke content for your specific audience and event charge more than those delivering a standard session. But tailoring usually determines whether a session is memorable or forgettable.
In-person logistics. Events outside major UK cities or requiring overnight stays add cost. Virtual delivery removes this variable entirely.
Bureau versus direct booking. Speaker bureaus typically charge a commission of 15–25%. Where a speaker offers direct booking, the total cost is lower without any reduction in quality.
Lead time. In-demand speakers fill their calendars months in advance. Last-minute bookings sometimes carry a premium; more often, they simply mean your preferred speaker is already committed.
For most UK conferences and corporate L&D events, a budget of £2,000–£5,000 will secure an experienced specialist who’ll tailor their content to your audience and deliver a session your attendees will remember.
The best social media keynote for your event is the one built for your specific audience, delivered by someone who has done the work rather than just observed it. The four speakers on this list bring that combination in different niches and at different price points.
If you’re considering booking Dr Mo Shehu for your next event, visit shehuphd.com/speaking to learn more and get in touch.