Why you need a social media management agreement
As a social media manager, you help businesses capitalise on the popularity of various social media platforms by managing the marketing, branding and engagement for the business on those platforms. You have an important role to play as a professional and as such need to have a social media management agreement to outline the terms of your work and protect yourself.
A great social media manager proposal template will include all of the terms and conditions that apply when you take on the role of managing the social media accounts of your clients and contribute to the growth of your clients’ businesses.
Looking for an agreement to give you clients? Take a look at this editable template:
These social media templates may also be of interest:
In this article, we take a look at what a social media management agreement is, what it should include and other considerations for you to keep in mind.
What is a Social Media Management Agreement?
A social media management agreement is a document that regulates and details the relationship between the social media manager and a business or person. It is a service agreement that you can send with your proposal terms and conditions to a client. Typically, a social media management agreement covers things like how and when you are to be paid and how you will get access to third-party platforms such as Facebook, Google, Instagram, LinkedIn or other systems. It also covers expectations of what your content will be like, who or what you will be posting about and who is responsible for creating specific written and visual content.
A good social media manager proposal template will include a number of specific details to detail the relationship and cover you as the person delivering the service.
What should be included in a Social Media Management Agreement?
A social media management agreement helps to regulate your working relationship with the business or person you are managing socials for. It can include things like marketing plans, tracing leads and audience growth, reporting, responding to comments and questions and running Facebook groups. However, a great social media management contract template should include these major components:
1. Scope of work and expectations
It should be clearly indicated in the agreement what the scope of work to be done by you as the social media manager will be. For example, you may not do the copywriting or you might not provide the images as they are to be supplied by the client. The role may be that you deliver a content plan that they have given you, or you might help them create the content plan. Regardless of how you work it is really important to detail the specifics of where your responsibilities start and stop as well as where the business’ responsibilities start and stop in this work. When this is documented, there can be clarity about expectations.
Aside from that, your agreement should look to include timelines, expectations about the frequency of content and pricing as well.
2. Access to Third-Party Platforms
When you manage someone’s social media accounts, you will need to be added to their social media accounts or pages. As a result, you will have access to confidential information and passwords. Businesses usually require a high level of trust in you because they are prepared to put their brand in your hands. In your social media management agreement, it should mention that you recognise the importance of security on those platforms and that you take precautions to minimise the risk of this happening. However, you should limit that liability to events you can control and set out that you take reasonable steps to do so.
Good, clear disclaimers within your Agreement will cover you in the event that something out of your control occurs, such as if their account was hacked or their account was closed for some reason. You want to be able to protect yourself and not be held liable in these circumstances.
3. Who Owns the Content?
When working with clients managing social media, some common questions you will likely want to tackle early on include:
1. Will I be sourcing images?
2. Will the client provide me with a folder of approved images?
Any formalised agreement you have as a social media manager should clearly include who will be providing the content and who owns the content. If you plan to provide the images, you should specify which platform you are going to source them from. If you will be using stock images, you should also indicate whether you will be using free or paid images and that if the business wishes to use paid images that they are to purchase them to retain ownership.
Another key aspect to look at is whether you are profiting from a license for content rather than using it for your own business. For example, Canva is a popular tool for creating images to be used for social media. The way Canva works is that when you create an image under your account, you are allowed to use that under your license. However, when you create images and post them for other businesses, you may be breaching the Canva license as you are profiting from that license rather than using it for your own business. When using Canva, it is important to use the Businesses Canva Pro account (make sure the business gives you a login) so you cannot be accused of using someone else’s content and breaching copyright.
Related: Do you own the work you create in Canva?
Other considerations for your Social Media Management Agreement
Social media management agreements should also provide a clear way of terminating the contract. Termination or ending the contract is necessary if the client does not fulfil the expectations or simply because the business relationship is not a good fit. With a formalised social media management agreement in place, you will be able to protect yourself in the event of misunderstanding by clients or if things don’t go to plan. I suggest you include a notice period for termination to make things crystal clear.
Social media management agreements are incredibly helpful. Without one, you are relying on the loose exchange of emails with your client. I have seen this result in social media managers having issues with getting paid because there was no clear outline of work or a notice period in which to end the agreement. When an Agreement is in place, it removes any confusion about what will and won’t be included and you could focus on being a great social media manager instead.
Related articles: Five must-haves for your graphic design service agreement
Keeping it confidential: When to use a non-disclosure agreement
Having a social media management agreement to provide your client shows that you are a legitimate and efficient social media manager. Take a look at our Social Media Manager Agreement template. You can DIY your own template and customise with your logo.
