How To Handle Client Expectations As A Social Media Manager
Social Media Managers (also called community managers) can be in-house in a business, or work on client accounts as part of a social media provider service company.
For the in-house social media manager your department head or the managing director is effectively your 'client'.
Client expectations can take quite some management, and the best way to go about this is to have the following agreed upfront:
It may sound obvious, but if a client is not fully aware of the process, or if they do not fully understand it, then they will not know whether it is being followed, or how to voice their opinion if they want things done differently.
So all parties can fully understand what is involved you need to create a Document of Works.
This should describe exactly what will be delivered and should be signed-off by the client before commencing work.
Here are the topics you will need to cover in your Document of Works:
Definition and agreement of roles Good practice involves clarifying and agreeing the roles and responsibilities of both the service provider (you), the client and any other people involved.
If you require content from the business to be delivered to you for uploading to blogs, Facebook posts etc.
there needs to be someone within the company appointed to this task who understands what is required and can complete these tasks in the specified time.
Agreed Budgets Fees, budgets, and outgoings must be clearly discussed and agreed.
Areas to consider when planning the budget are:
Having such an arrangement provides the client with the benchmarks they need in order to measure progress towards the stated objectives.
Performance should be analysed, recorded and sent to the client at regular agreed intervals.
It takes time to compile data and turn it into a report, this time needs to be factored into fees and billing.
It is usual to report monthly, unless you are in-house, then weekly reporting is the norm.
For a digital media services provider it is important to factor into the client agreement such things as acceptable frequency of contact from the client.
If you are managing multiple accounts you don't want to make yourself available for telephone calls at any time.
This sends the wrong signals to the client who can then expect you to be available at any time to them.
If there is no agreement in place for calls, this time is usually not paid for, and this can cause problems.
You need to set boundaries with your clients and let them know upfront if you have an email only support policy.
For the in-house social media manager your department head or the managing director is effectively your 'client'.
Client expectations can take quite some management, and the best way to go about this is to have the following agreed upfront:
- Scope of project
- Definition and agreement of roles
- Agreed budget
- Agreed schedule
- Clearly defined milestones and reporting
It may sound obvious, but if a client is not fully aware of the process, or if they do not fully understand it, then they will not know whether it is being followed, or how to voice their opinion if they want things done differently.
So all parties can fully understand what is involved you need to create a Document of Works.
This should describe exactly what will be delivered and should be signed-off by the client before commencing work.
Here are the topics you will need to cover in your Document of Works:
- Online Marketing Objectives and how this will fit in with the current marketing strategy
- Budget
- Competitor Research - what are they doing online?
- Action Plans
- Search Engine Optimisation
- Online Advertising
- Affiliate Marketing
- Online PR
- Social Media Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Measurement, Reporting and Tweaking
Definition and agreement of roles Good practice involves clarifying and agreeing the roles and responsibilities of both the service provider (you), the client and any other people involved.
If you require content from the business to be delivered to you for uploading to blogs, Facebook posts etc.
there needs to be someone within the company appointed to this task who understands what is required and can complete these tasks in the specified time.
Agreed Budgets Fees, budgets, and outgoings must be clearly discussed and agreed.
Areas to consider when planning the budget are:
- Your fees, whether these are charged by the hour, daily, weekly or on a project basis.
- Software costs associated with carrying out your tasks
- Website directory submission fees
- Graphic design work
- Other third party Costs
Having such an arrangement provides the client with the benchmarks they need in order to measure progress towards the stated objectives.
Performance should be analysed, recorded and sent to the client at regular agreed intervals.
It takes time to compile data and turn it into a report, this time needs to be factored into fees and billing.
It is usual to report monthly, unless you are in-house, then weekly reporting is the norm.
For a digital media services provider it is important to factor into the client agreement such things as acceptable frequency of contact from the client.
If you are managing multiple accounts you don't want to make yourself available for telephone calls at any time.
This sends the wrong signals to the client who can then expect you to be available at any time to them.
If there is no agreement in place for calls, this time is usually not paid for, and this can cause problems.
You need to set boundaries with your clients and let them know upfront if you have an email only support policy.
