As seen with most services, social media management has become an expensive hobby. Just like owning a house or car, additional features require larger monthly bills.

Mostly due to increasing pricing, professional level users have been forced into more casual use of various platforms. This is not healthy for their business as they will eventually run out of free accounts to test tools on.

In this article, I will go over some sneaky ways you can manage your social media profiles for less than $10 a month! These are great starting points if you are new to managing social media or the platform yourself.

I will also include some easy recipes to create and update posts using one of the many free blogging softwares such as Blogger or WordPress.

2) 2) What is social media management?

As mentioned before, keeping up with all of these accounts can be hard to manage, especially if you’re not totally invested in the platform.

Most people hire someone to handle their social media for them, or they themselves take control at times by posting content and engaging with comments and messages.

However, aside from paying for an account manager, there are other costs involved in managing your social media presence.

3) 3) What do they do?

As mentioned earlier, social media management is ensuring that your accounts are linked together, is finding new ways to use each site, developing strategies for growing your followers, and responding to comments, messages, and conversations in the various apps.

This includes posting appropriate content at an appropriate time, engaging in discussions, and responding to other users or conversations as needed.

Running a social media account is a lot of work! If you hire someone to handle this for you, make sure you understand what their costs are before agreeing to pay them.

Many will include a monthly fee per account, but there may be additional fees for things like special features or upgrades. Make sure you’re both clear about which ones apply so you don’t get hit with extra charges later.

There can also be unexpected one-time expenses; for example, if something major happens such as a lawsuit or scandal, you might be required to log into all of these accounts to remove the person's name and image. These fees are not included in the monthly cost.

4) 4) Who do you hire to manage your social media?

As mentioned before, choosing who to hire as your social media manager is an integral part of managing your online presence. You want someone that can give you personal service that keeps you feeling comfortable and confident in their ability to take care of you.

As we have discussed, the number one cause of failed social media campaigns is not having control over your account. Whoever you choose to handle this will be spending time outside of business hours which may or may not factor into how well they perform for you.

You also need to make sure that they are signed up to all the major social networks so that they can easily access accounts there. This way they can still contribute even if you don’t use their services yourself.

5) 5) What should you look for in a social media management company?

Look for professionals that can help you grow your followers, engagement, website traffic, and income. Make sure they have proof of expertise in social media marketing strategies so that you know they are not spending time looking very professional!

A good manager will be able to tell you how many likes and comments their client’s page is getting, as well as what types of posts perform best. They can also give tips on how to improve your posting style and maximize effective content.

Some social sites offer free accounts, but then people paying for more features get limited access to some services. Check out the full extent of each site before deciding if it is worth the money.

6) 6) What are the different social media management services?

Most people begin looking into social media management software with all sorts of different prices and features. Some focus more heavily on business accounts, while others offer personal accounts only.

There are many types of social media management software- you will find paid apps, free apps, mobile apps, and even browser extensions. No matter what type they are, most cost either a monthly or yearly fee in order to use their service.

The price usually includes the basic functions like creating an account, posting updates, responding to comments, and monitoring other users’ profiles. Some add chat functionality as well.

There is no wrong way to manage your social media presence, but it is important to know how much money you are spending before signing up! Check out our article: Tips for Choosing The Right Social Networking Plan For You to learn more about the differences between them.

7) 7) What are your social media management goals?

As mentioned before, one of the biggest costs associated with running a social media account is social media management. This includes monitoring accounts, responding to comments and messages, creating engaging content for posts, and ensuring that all settings are correct.

As you probably know by now, staying in budget requires being aware of expenses! The cost of managing an Instagram profile, for example, can range from $0 - $100 per month depending on what features you want and how much time you’re willing to invest into it.

The more active you become on each platform, the higher those fees will be. To save money, focus on having limited profiles with few followers which still give you enough exposure.

8) 8) How to start managing social media

Manage your accounts using their own settings and tools, create meaningful conversations, respond to comments and messages, keep it natural, be direct, use appropriate language, etc.

All of these things take time so don’t feel like you have to do them all at once! Start small by creating a profile (we recommend starting with Twitter first), read some quick tips or tutorials, and then start experimenting.

You will learn as you go along but don’t get discouraged if you make no progress for day or two- this is totally normal! Keep trying and eventually you’ll reach a level where you can comfortably manage your account.

Once you are able to consistently interact on social media sites, try branching out to other platforms such as YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram.

9) 9) Creating a social media management plan

Once you have identified your resources, determined how much time you have to manage all of these accounts, and figured out what kind of budget you have for this activity, it is time to create your social media management plan.

You will need to determine which platforms you want to prioritize and focus on managing content for, and who you want to oversee those accounts.

Some people may be more efficient at certain types of sites than others so maybe you could hire them as freelancers or give their account to someone else while they supervise other ones. It depends on the individual and the organizational structure that works best for you!

There are many ways to organize and run your social media accounts, so do whatever fits you and your schedule the best.