What To Look For In a Contract with a Social Media Consultant or Manager

Lately I've found myself in a new position as a consultant: working with clients to hire social media marketing agencies and managers. After being on the other side of the table for four years in this business pitching services, I find myself in this new role and surprised by what I'm seeing. The role reversal is fascinating as I see into other people's habits and behaviours.

Contracts are contracts, and from a non-lawyer perspective and in my industry I am fascinated by what people include, and exclude from them. Sometimes it is an intentional choice, other times it's a lack of awareness.

Having now seen a couple dozen contracts and proposals from other social media marketers and many other general digital marketers, I'm starting to see common trends in contracts, and some things I speak up more about than others with clients.

Please note this is not legal advice (see disclaimer at the bottom). Having seen the many items professionals include and what clients benefit from, I simply want to make you aware of what your options are when working with a consultant or manager. These pointers are designed for consumer's best interests, and make for (I think) excellent add ons:

General Points to Include in a Contract With a Social Media Professional (Consultant or Manager)

1. Identified needs: has your professional explained back to you what the identified problems or goals are, and matched action plan to those asks? Make sure to look fr this (usually identified in the proposal).
2. Confidentiality. Make sure this is spelled out and your professional explains how they keep your information safe. Bonus tip: since data breaches have been coming into the news more and more, ask your professional when they would notify you if they had a data breach.
3. Non-Compete. While technically you can ask for your professional to not work with anyone else in a similar industry, this may be a harder ask. Some social media professionals only work in one industry, or take on all industries. But, it doesn't hurt to ask if you're worried you're either a) not getting the best advice or b) getting the same advice as someone else.
4. Disclosures. Does your professional have any potential/conflicts of interest, or get incentives if you do something? Ask about these. An example may be that a social media manager may tell you that you have to use Hootsuite to schedule social media posts, even though there's many other social media schedulers. They may say this because they are incentivized by Hootsuite, so be sure to explore this.
5. What is, and isn't included. This one shocks me how little I see it in contracts: make sure it is spelled out in no uncertain terms all the behaviours, deliverables and tasks that are, and are not included. Another way to frame this is by asking your professional what common things can cause extra fees.
6. Are there any guarantee of outcomes? Some social media professionals do actually guarantee outcomes, others say there is absolutely none. Make sure this is clearly stated to clearly manage your expectations.

Points to Include in a Contract With a Social Media Consultant

1. The length or term of the agreement. How long will you be working together, either in terms of time, project or key outcomes. As always, also look for how to get out of this just in case.
2. What the objectives, goals or deliverables will be. This is also important, and sometimes also includes who is responsible for doing what.
3. If it's project or hourly based. Another way to frame this question is what can incur extra charges, or what is/not included in your work.

Points to Include in a Contract With a Social Media Manager

1. Ads. This is a big and sticky one. Who will pay for it? Who approves budget? how does budget even work in the first place? Watch out for this. I always recommend having two additional clauses; the first being that you, the client, have to approve the budget before hand. Second, budget is only allocated when it is used. In this instance, a social media manager can't ask for say $400 per month in ad spend and keep anything unused.
2. Who owns the work? This particularly applies to creative like photography, videography, graphics and posts. It is not unusual for the client to own everything, so don't be afraid to ask for that.
3. Term and termination. This will include any minimum or maximum terms working together and what's involved in ending the contract. Be sure there are reasons listed in the contract that you can break it early without penalty (if, for instance, your manager was stealing your information, you could break the contract without penalty).
4. What is, and is not included. I also see this get a lot of people: who's responsible for providing photography? videos? Ad spend? PR? The list goes on and on. My favourite way to investigate this as I've said before is ask for a list of common things that could incur extra charges.
5. Timelines. When will things be done? How will the process work? Here I also include some other time sensitive contingencies: first is what I call the 9-1-1 clause, which is an extra fee charged if you (the client) require something be done with less than 24 hours notice. Next is pre-approvals: do you want to pre-approve content or posts before others see it, and how much time would be required for this process to work? Finally is collaboration: what has to be decided between two or more people, and how long would that take?
6. Ramifications for non-payment or non-delivery. Often this is stacked in the manager's favour, but it goes both ways! If you don't pay your manager, what actions can and can't they take? If they don't deliver, what's the ramifications for that? Be sure this isn't just totally stacked against you. Ultimately on this one, make sure your manager cannot lock you out of your accounts or delete all the content they delivered for you.
7. Original Creations or Changes. Sometimes social media managers may recommend changes (like a new password) or something new (like signing you up for a new social media platform). Be sure they get your explicit permission before doing this.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer and this article does not, in any way, constitute legal advice. These are simply things to look for in a contract or relationship that may otherwise be forgotten about or hidden, and could potentially benefit consumers hiring social media consultants or managers. For proper legal advice, please seek legal counsel.

Thanks for reading my article! If we haven’t been formally acquainted, I’m Tim: a social media marketing expert for small businesses and impact driven organizations. To discuss this article more or connect, send me a message at [email protected] or visit www.timcampbellstrategist.com