There’s never been a better time to be a social media freelancer. 

As more and more people turn to freelancing, social media management has become one of the top roles to pursue independently. In 2022, social media managers were the third most in-demand marketing position, according to a LinkedIn report. 

If you’re a freelance social media manager or aspire to be, it’s important to know how to price your social media services. And given the consistent nature of your work, it makes sense to structure your services as a social media retainer. If you’re new to the world of retainers, let’s dive into what a social media retainer is, the benefits of setting one up, and what to include in your social media retainer. 

What is a Social Media Retainer?

A social media retainer is an ongoing contract agreement between a company and a social media freelancer or studio. The retainer outlines pre-determined social media deliverables that are to be completed for a set price on an ongoing basis, usually monthly. These deliverables can include anything from social media management to content creation to reporting. 

If you’re a freelance social media manager or content creator, a social media retainer is a smart way to structure your services and pricing as it guarantees predictable work and income. 

What are the Benefits of a Social Media Retainer?

For freelancers who offer ongoing services rather than one-off projects, setting up a freelance retainer is a good way to structure your projects. Not only do retainers help you build strong client relationships, but they also help you plan exactly how much work and income you’re getting from your clients each month. Let’s dive into these benefits in more detail.

Steady work

A major benefit of setting up a social media retainer is that you’ll have steady work. As a social media freelancer or small studio owner, there’s no better feeling than having several ongoing client contracts to rely on instead of having to pitch yourself for new work each month. Social media retainers ensure you have consistent work for a set period of time, whether you sign a client for one quarter or for a six-month contract. 

Predictable income

Consistent, steady work results in predictable income. Knowing exactly how much money you’re going to bring in from your social media retainer clients each month helps you plan and manage your finances. When you know how much money you’ll bring in each month, you can set aside money for taxes, plan your savings, and figure out how much to pay yourself without worrying about where the money is going to come from.

Grow with your clients

When you work with clients on an ongoing basis, you get to see the long-term results of your work. Social media freelancers know that social growth takes time. Whatever your client’s social goals are — increased brand awareness, better engagement, more conversions — they won’t happen overnight. Social media management requires a deep understanding of your audience, a willingness to experiment with content ideas, and an analytical attitude so you can stay on top of your platform insights. 

Executing all of this as a social media freelancer means you have to get hands-on with your clients’ social platforms and dive into their brands to see long-term results. A social media retainer ensures you get to grow alongside your clients and watch the fruits of your labor unfold. 

How to Set Up Your Social Media Retainer 

Before you start pitching your social media retainer to clients, it’s essential to set it up in a way that works for your business. 

Here’s how to set up your social media retainer so you can establish long-term client relationships and secure more work. 

For a full breakdown of social media services — along with recommended pricing — take a look at our Social Media Retainer Scope of Work Template. 

1. Understand the goals of the project 

Before you can get started with your ongoing social media services, it’s important to align with your client on their goals. What do they hope to achieve with the social media retainer? Increased brand awareness? Becoming an established thought leader? Make sure you’re on the same page so you know where to focus your efforts with your monthly work.    

2. Choose your services 

What services you choose to include in your social media retainer depends on the client’s goals and where your expertise and interests lie. For example, if you’re more of a strategist instead of a content creator, then you may want to focus on building the monthly content calendar while you outsource the content creation to another freelancer. 

To get an idea of the types of social media services you could include in your retainer, check out our Social Media Retainer Scope of Work Template. The template outlines a full scope of work for a monthly organic social media retainer, breaking down individual services from building content calendars to writing social media captions to reporting on campaign performance. Using this template not only gives you an idea of the types of services to include but also how to structure your retainer on a monthly basis. 

3. Figure out your pricing 

Pricing your freelance social media services is one of the most challenging aspects of freelancing. The cost of a social media retainer depends on what your monthly scope of work includes, how much time it will take you to complete the monthly deliverables, and what the client’s needs are. 

The best way to figure out your pricing is to see what other social media freelancers charge. Seeing how other freelancers price their work helps you gauge the market and understand the value of your services (you may even find that you’ve been undercharging yourself). 

Wethos’ Social Media Retainer Scope of Work Template is a good place to find this pricing data. Our community-sourced social media retainer template outlines the granular services typically included in an organic social media retainer along with recommended pricing for each. You can use this template as is or customize it to fit your project’s needs and adjust the pricing as necessary. 

Social media retainers are a valuable way to structure your ongoing services as a social media freelancer. Before you pitch your next retainer project, use our Social Media Retainer Scope of Work Template to confidently structure and price your services.