How Much Can I Earn As A Social Media Manager?

One question I always get asked is how much you earn as a social media manager? There’s no easy way to answer that.

A freelance social media manager is someone who provides social media services for businesses (but, unlike an employee) owns their own business as a self-employed independent contractor.

You can work part-time or full-time, as well as when, where, and for whomever you want.

You also get to decide what to charge.

Which sounds awesome, if you knew…what to charge…

Some common questions I get: 

• Should I charge hourly or by package rate?
• How much should I charge as a beginner?
• How do I get paid anyways? 
• What if a business owner says ‘I’m too expensive?”

No worries, I’ve got you. Answering all your Q’s below.

So how much can I make?

The question EVERYONE wants to know.

And I wish I had an answer that could serve as a blanket statement.

But to be honest, it depends on a few factors.

And also…it’s unlimited.

The factors that go into pricing:

• Hourly rates or packages
• What all you are offering to the client
• Your experience level
• Your own personal confidence
• The ideal client that you’re working with or attracting.

Should you charge hourly or by package rate?

A lot of people that are looking for assistance with tasks in their business, social media, and otherwise, look for someone that will work on an hourly rate.

Because…

• They want an assistant
• They want to be sure they’re getting value for the work that the person is doing
• They’re unsure what tasks they really want you to do

Hourly rates work IF it’s a one-off project or work that will be irregular or frequently changing, but to be honest, the VAST majority of your social media tasks are going to be recurring.

And if you are charging hourly and doing tasks repeatedly…is there any incentive to be more quick or efficient or invest in time-saving tools? 

NOPE. 

So I’m a HUGE fan of:

PACKAGE PRICING.

This means that you are able to charge $_____ per month, for a specific set of deliverables.

Deliverables = tasks you are committed to providing for the business.

Reasons I love package pricing: 

• The better you get, the more you are earning
• You can charge more with less push-back
• No one is keeping track of your time
• People view you as more of an expert and LESS of an assistant
• You can charge more if you want to outsource specific tasks in your package 
• You are able to outline exactly what will meet the client’s needs and goals each month, which forces them to get clarity and means you are less of a task rabbit
• Expectations are set – they know what to expect and you know what to provide
• If you don’t like doing a specific area of social media management, then you just DON’T put it in your package deliverables (for example, I NEVER put engagement/DM responses in my package rates, because I HATE doing it)
• It allows you to pick a specialty and have more of a streamlined system for working with clients.

How do I get paid as a social media manager? 

Firstly, ALWAYS do this ONE THING.

ALWAYS get paid upfront.

Send out your invoice before your monthly contract begins.

You can send invoices through services like PayPal or Stripe, or invest in a more sophisticated CRM that has embedded contracts, invoices, and proposal templates (like Dubsado or Honeybook).

What if someone says I’m too expensive? 

Firstly, “too expensive” is relative. What may be expensive to one person, is affordable and reasonable to another.

Secondly, don’t make the mistake of pricing based on your own pocketbook. You aren’t your target client.

Thirdly, if someone says you’re too expensive, it’s not about you or your prices. It’s about the target market, and how much they value the service and want to prioritize it.

So don’t take it personally, bargain, or drop your prices.

In my personal opinion, full management of a platform should be a minimum of 1K per month. Will you find people that will do that for cheaper? OF COURSE. You always will. Drop the comparison and stand in your power and expertise, k?

You’ve got this! 

Allison