As seen with our social media use survey, not every business has formalized accounts for each platform. This is especially true now that many companies have decided to leave Facebook alone!

This is totally fine if you’re in a market that stays out of social media, or if you don’t like using it, but for most businesses, this is simply not the case anymore.

By having an account, you expose your company to all sorts of opportunities, from growing your audience to finding new customers. In fact, according to Business Insider, being online is a must-have experience for potential clients these days!

That’s why there are now more ways than ever before to bill yourself as a social media manager. You can start by adding “social media consultant” to your list of credentials, and then work your way up from there.

Billing as a social media consultant comes with its own set of rules and regulations, so make sure to do some research first before officially starting down this path.

Read reviews of companies to pick a good one

As mentioned before, social media management is very diverse and can be tricky to gauge what services offer quality results. Before picking a service, make sure they have an active account that you can check out to see if their skills are real and if they are there to put in the effort to improve your profile’s engagement and reach.

By reading other people’s reviews about different firms, you will get a sense whether these reviewers were given helpful answers or not. You can also look at pictures and videos to determine if the staff members are organized and seem like professionals.

Since this is such a crucial part of your business’ success, do not take it lightly! Make sure you find a company that you feel comfortable with so that you can develop trust which will help ensure successful engagements.

Calculate how much you should be charging

Now that you have determined what services your client has paid for thus far, it is time to determine how much you should be asking for per hour to do the same things!

There are two main reasons why this is important. The first is because like I mentioned before, not only does social media use cost money, it can also cost you money if you are not careful with fees. For example, Facebook charges per minute for posting and some users may pay more than necessary depending on how quickly they post.

The second reason is due to competition. Companies are spending large amounts of money on professional help, so unless you know what tools and strategies work, you will get discouraged or even hired away by someone who does. This would be very costly for your company!

Price is an integral part of our psychology. If we perceive something as too expensive, then we will never purchase it. As professionals in our field, you should feel comfortable offering your services at a reasonable price.

I recommend thinking about the average person’s income range and looking up past costs online to make sure yours are within that budget. Also, remember that marketing costs fluctuate seasonally so keep that in mind when setting your prices.

Create a contract with your company

As mentioned earlier, it is very important to have clear definitions before agreeing to do any social media management work. Make sure you define what services you will be doing and what time frame you will be working under these services’s terms.

It is also important to know how much of an overhead this service has so that you can include this in your pricing. For example, if their “office manager” only doesleaving 30 minutes per day to check messages and update accounts, then they are not including enough resources in their price tag.

Have your clients read and approve the contract

Another way to avoid overpaying is by having your client review and accept the social media management contract you have prepared. Make sure they understand what services will be provided, how much it will cost, and any additional fees that apply.

Make sure they agree to pay in advance of receiving these services, as well! This helps prevent being overextended due to unexpected expenses or lack of income. Most people start paying their bills at the end of the month, which can put them under a lot of pressure.

Be aware of this timing so you are not too stressed out when you need to get things done. For example, if you are about to launch a new website, you don’t want to be stressing about money.

When you make your next payday (or two!), you’ll have time to relax and focus on other things. And since you planned ahead, you’ll have the resources you need to succeed.

Charge for each service you provide

As mentioned before, it is important to be clear about what services you are offering and how much your time is worth. It is very common to find social media management agencies that do not clearly label their services.

They may offer “social posting” but include additional features such as content creation or backlink building which can cost more. Make sure you are being completely transparent with your clients about all of the extra services you are providing!

Some other things to consider when estimating your hourly rate includes any software used to manage accounts (this could include paid apps or ones you create yourself), websites connected to these accounts, and logistical costs like transportation to and from work.

General online expenses like domain names and hosting also count towards this.

Include tax in your bill

When accounting for social media management fees, include taxes in the price! Most vendors will not mention how much you are paying in additional fees due to taxation. This is very important as you should be aware of what kind of income or gift status you qualify as depending on where you live.

Some countries have no sales tax which can seem attractive at first, but then you must also factor in the cost of shipping goods. If you are looking to save money by buying online, make sure you’re only spending what you need to purchase before adding delivery costs.

In some cases, companies will claim they are including shipping in their quoted fee, when really they are just taking advantage of low tax rates to avoid having to pay more in revenue. It is best to do your research and see what average prices are like in your area before agreeing to such terms.

Provide clients with a timesheet or diary

There are several ways you can bill for social media management. One of the most common is providing your client with a timesheet, which has you as paid time and therefore includes an hourly rate. This is typically done through an app that allows you to record what tasks you completed during a given period.

The difficult part about this approach is determining how much time was spent on each task. It’s easy to say “I spent one hour on Facebook” but how do you measure that? You could simply use a number per minute, but that doesn’t take into account the length of time it took to get back in touch after posting, etc.

You could also keep track of the amount of time you spend thinking about social media and developing strategies, which some may consider part of the job. But many people have brainstorming sessions that don’t necessarily map onto an exact hour so there is no way to include those costs within the scope of work.

Keep your clients informed

As mentioned earlier, social media management is not free! If you are being paid to manage someone’s account, then make sure they are aware of this fact.

It is very common for employers to only give their employees an hourly rate or per hour cost for time spent working. It is important to be aware of this if you are ever asked to do work beyond the scope of just managing an account.

For example, if a company asks you to create and launch a new Facebook page with thierlogo, that’s great but also include the website domain and link to it. Or to promote them on Instagram, add people to their team and offer your best price.

By being aware of how much social media marketing costs, you can better defend yourself from being overbilled.