By With 9 out of 10 internet users signing on to platforms like Facebook and Twitter at least once a month, small businesses have to build an interesting and authentic social media presence in order to stay competitive. But the time and resources it takes to do social media well can distract business owners from other key tasks that demand their attention.
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Social media marketing agencies use both in-house and white-label social media services to help businesses reach their goals without the need to rapidly expand their own infrastructures. These tips for crafting social media marketing packages for small businesses can help you put together pitches that resonate with startups and scaling SMBs.
Tips for considering client needs
The first step in learning how to create social media packages that resonate with potential clients is to figure out what those clients need. Identify pain points, goals, and how clients stack up against the competition to build a holistic view of what’s happening and what needs to change.
1. Understand the client’s goals
A strong social media strategy is built backward. You start with the clients’ goals, then work in reverse to construct a blueprint that will take you from current stats to the agreed-upon finish line.
Goals can be small and more short-term in nature (think increasing followers by 20% over three months) or larger and long-term (such as generating X number of leads over the course of a year). But all goals should be SMART:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-Bound
2. Conduct a competitive analysis
You can learn a lot from your clients’ competitors, including what they’re doing right and where they’re starting to slip. Wins, you can copy and build on. Mistakes, you understand how to avoid so you get the knowledge without the consequences.
To conduct a competitive analysis:
- Pinpoint who the client’s competitors are
- Mine each social platform for relevant data, like who your audience followers and what types of posts they interact with
- Look at competitors’ strategies for clues
- Utilize social listening to get an idea of how consumers feel
- Identify opportunities to snag attention and gain traction
3. Offer a personalized approach
You may have a go-to list of social media post ideas, but show clients how you’ll tailor your greatest hits to include their voice and suit their audience. Businesses aren’t looking to repeat posts, and if they wanted a plug-and-play strategy, they’d buy templates and execute on the suggestions themselves.
Everything — video marketing, retargeting ads, even DMs — can be customized to reflect each brand’s voice, vision, and preferences.
Tips for crafting high-selling social media marketing packages
There aren’t any one-size-fits-all social media marketing packages for small businesses. Develop tiered options that can be customized to suit each client’s needs and describe the possibilities thoroughly so there’s no confusion about what’s included, what can be added, and what is unavailable.
4. Offer customized packages
Speaking of customized packages, the trick is to have a basic skeleton that you can adapt as needed. Starting fresh with each client isn’t efficient — you’ll spend a lot of time revisiting service options and pricing. But if you have a solid starting point and you’ve already conducted client and competitive research, you’ll have everything you need to quickly fine-tune your pitch.
- Offer several levels. You can’t be everything to everyone, but you can offer multiple package levels to appeal to businesses that vary in terms of size and budget.
- Consider the number of profiles you’ll oversee. It takes a lot more work to oversee five social profiles than it does to run a single page. You might include a couple profiles in your base pricing, and then charge a fee per profile for any additional.
- Make a list of “extras.” You’ve outlined what’s included, but what can be added on? Even if you’re outsourcing add-on services like graphic design, SEO, and event management to third-party providers, you can get a cut and bolster your bottom line.
- Set boundaries and be clear about the rules. How can clients reach you? When are you available? Is there a post approval process in place? Who’s the point person on the client’s team who makes the final decision about a pitch or a project? Put the answers to these questions in your contracts in black and white to avoid confusion and conflict.
5. Clearly define services
Assume your clients know very little about the inner workings of social media management and spell out the particulars of each service you’re offering. “Oversee Facebook profile” can mean dozens of different things, and sticking with a vague description doesn’t do you or your clients any favors.
Sometimes, you’ll need to clarify the amount or frequency of a service, too. For instance, if you’re offering to run and interpret analytics, you may say you’ll forward the client one report per month, or one each quarter. Or you may describe how often you’ll post on each channel and what types of posts will be in rotation. These things should be defined as part of each package.
6. Set realistic expectations
People typically think they can buy a social media marketing package one day and get jaw-dropping results the next. The truth is that it takes time to ramp up and gain the traction necessary to produce results. Ask a group of experts how long it’ll take to see the benefits of a new social media strategy, and one might say 4–6 months, another might say 6–9 months, and a third might just say, “It depends.”
But they’ll all agree on one thing: Progress takes time. Prepare clients to be patient, and you’ll minimize frustration. You can use case studies (more on those later) and client testimonials to illustrate how long it took to meet certain goals, with data points to suggest how progress looked over the weeks or months between kickoff and specific checkpoints.
Tips for strategic pricing
One pivotal part of learning how to sell social media management packages is to figure out pricing, with the right balance between delivering value to clients and protecting your profit margin.
7. Provide pricing options
Just like social media packages will vary from client to client, pricing can fluctuate as well. You may choose to charge by the hour for some clients, offer flat-rate packages to others, and do a mix of the two when situations call for it.
Other things to consider include:
- How you want to scale services and what each level of commitment would cost your company
- The average cost for services catering to your client’s industry
- Geographic considerations, if you’re largely serving local clients
- How adding clients affects other costs of doing business — for instance, if your client adds five social profiles and you must upgrade your app subscriptions to meet demand
- Whether you're outsourcing services, and what margin you’d have to add to still make a profit
8. Highlight value-added services
Value-added services offer clients a little something extra that fits into your strategy but would also be considered going above and beyond. These aren’t social media management basics, like posting content or monitoring comments, but offers that help the clients save time and connect with their audience.
For instance, if you deal with clients who are in high-profile positions or prone to missteps, adding reputation management services could help seal the deal. Of course, those services cost extra, because they’re technically outside the scope of your “base” social media marketing package.
Other examples of value-added services include:
- Creating and running social media ads
- Influencer marketing consultations
- In-person training sessions to bring your in-house team up to speed
- Creating editorial calendars that include non-social channels/assets
9. Provide clear terms and conditions
As clear as your pricing structure is, your exceptions and answers to “what if” questions should be equally transparent. What happens if certain milestones aren’t met? What if the client fails to provide the necessary assets (video, graphics, product details, etc.) to allow your team to do their jobs? Who owns the rights to content and strategy? Is there an exit clause?
Your terms and conditions protect everybody involved and will help boost confidence and minimize debate while you’re hammering out an agreement.
Tips for demonstrating value
You’re good at what you do — and you’re excellent at hiring top-notch third-party agencies to do whatever isn’t in your wheelhouse — but how will clients know that you’re better than your competition? Here’s how you can demonstrate your value and justify your pricing in a few simple steps.
10. Showcase past successes
Case studies are a beautiful way to demonstrate that not only do you know your stuff, your approach has also produced verifiable results in the past. Most case studies follow the same basic structure:
- History of/general info about the client
- The purpose of the study (e.g., increasing social media to website conversions)
- Explain the core issues, aka the hurdles preventing the client from reaching their goal previously
- Share your approach
- Conclude with data that shows exactly what changed
Include direct quotes from the client to further humanize the study and you have trustworthy, captivating examples of real-life successes to show businesses that may be interested in your services.
11. Include reporting and analytics
General statements like, “We do an excellent job of increasing brand awareness” simply don’t hold the same weight as actual data that shows a significant change in branded search volume. Including reporting and analytics in your packages and initial pitches can help prove that you’re worth your fees, but it also shows potential clients how you’ll track their campaigns once they welcome you aboard.
12. Offer scalability
Finding, vetting, and onboarding a new vendor or marketing partner can use up a solid chunk of time and money. But in the end, it’s worth it when businesses find a company that can help them meet important goals, like increasing revenue or repairing a damaged reputation. It’s unfortunate, then, when businesses grow and realize the social media agency they’re currently partnered with is ill-equipped to lead them into the future.
Demonstrate that you’re ready to help clients scale, either because you have the bandwidth internally already or because you know how to outsource strategically and still maintain control over quality and quantity.
13. Demonstrate expertise
You’ve covered services offered, showcased value, priced your packages, and handed offer proof of your successes. But you’re also selling yourself, or at least your knowledge and expertise. Including a short bio or even an introductory video with your pitches gives your agency a face and another way to connect with future clients. Include information about you and your team, such as:
- Where everyone went to school
- What companies they’ve worked with
- Previous job titles
- Certifications
- Special skills, like familiarity with high-demand software
- Any awards or other tidbits of interest, such as a team member who gave a TED talk or who contributes regularly to an industry publication
Tips for client support
While the expectation is always that your strategy will be executed well and the process will go smoothly, it’s reassuring for clients to know what communication and client assistance look like just in case.
14. Emphasize ongoing support
Explain that your agency is available for support at any time, or at least on the days and times that align with your operating hours. Reassure clients that they’ll be able to ask questions and share concerns as they pop up, and your team will respond ASAP.
15. Offer training and educations
Sometimes the best way to get your clients to put their faith in your talent and plan is to educate them on best practices and the details of key aspects of social media. An online library with educational snippets and videos, an active blog, and live training sessions can all help clients better understand social media and what goes into effective online branding.
Frequently asked questions
How much do social media marketing packages for small businesses typically cost?
Because social media marketing packages come in all shapes and sizes and should be customized to fit each client’s needs, fees can run the gamut from a few hundred dollars to mid-four-figure prices for monthly services. The industry standard for social media marketing spend seems to be around one-fourth of a company’s total marketing budget (Socialistics).
Can social media marketing packages for small businesses be customized to fit specific needs?
Social media marketing packages should always be customized for clients. Typically, agencies will do a lot of research, including interviewing potential clients and auditing their existing online presence, before presenting a pitch that includes a well-tailored package and a clear and easy-to-understand fee schedule.
