I Provide Social Media Management Services. What Should Go in My Terms and Conditions?

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Table of Contents

• Social Media Services
• Payment
• Responsibilities and Obligations of the Client
• Term and Termination
• Social Media Exclusivity
• Intellectual Property Rights
• Confidentiality
• Subcontracting
• Dispute
• Key Takeaways
• Frequently Asked Questions

As a social media manager, you must ensure you have a robust terms and conditions agreement. Ensuring your agreements are strong from the start means you have less to worry about in the future. Without it, you can open your business up to potential disputes or financial losses that can be easily prevented. As a social media manager, you know how the smallest things can make the biggest impressions.

With clear and easy-to-understand terms and conditions, you not only position yourself as a reputable business to your potential clients, but you also ensure that everyone understands their rights and responsibilities before entering into a commercial relationship. This article will take you through the key details to include in your social media management services terms and conditions.

Social Media Services

While it might seem obvious, lacking a clear scope of work is often the first issue to arise from poorly drafted terms and conditions. Make sure that both parties understand what is being provided. Things to consider include, what social media account you are managing, how often you are posting on the social media account and what you are posting. By having a clear scope of work, you can avoid scope creep. This refers to providing services the parties did not agree to.

Payment

If you provide work, you deserve compensation. Therefore, your terms and conditions should outline the cost of the services, such as whether you charge an hourly rate, a fixed fee per post or month, or otherwise. Once clear, specify the payment process, such as how often you will be invoicing the client and how long they have to pay once they receive your invoice.

Responsibilities and Obligations of the Client

Even though you are the service provider, you will inevitably require certain things from the client to provide the services. This may include:

• requiring client approval to post on social media;
• access to social media login details; and
• whether the client will provide you with products or product images.

Term and Termination

You should discuss with your client how long you will be providing the services, whether on an ongoing basis, for a three-month promotional period, or a year. Regardless of the term, set out the rights of both parties if one of the parties breaches the agreement or if the client cannot pay your fees. For ongoing agreements, it is also advisable to include a termination for convenience clause. Most service providers will request 30 days’ notice, but this is adaptable case-by-case. One thing to be mindful of is avoiding including unfair contract terms that may not be enforceable.

Social Media Exclusivity

Some clients may want to work with other social media management providers. You should include in your terms whether they can do so or if you will be exclusively managing their social media. Consistency is a key feature of any strong social media presence, so this may be an important factor.

Intellectual Property Rights

When dealing with someone else’s brand, you must have the correct licenses to use their branding and other intellectual property. In addition, you need to outline who will own the intellectual property in any of the materials created during the provision of the services. Often, clients will want to own any materials that are created for their brand. However, it is useful for you to have a licence to use their materials in your portfolio or on your website.

Confidentiality

Since you will have access to important company information, you want your clients to feel comfortable sharing details about their business. This is most easily achieved through a confidentiality clause. There is no need for a separate confidentiality agreement or non-disclosure agreement.

Subcontracting

If you plan on subcontracting any portion of the services, you should outline this in the terms and conditions. It is not necessary to specify the subcontractors you will be using. However, some clients may require prior written approval before you engage any third-party contractors.

Dispute

The reality of operating a business is that you will encounter some kind of dispute at some point in your tenure. You can mitigate this risk by having a detailed dispute resolution process in your terms and conditions. The best dispute resolution clauses require mediation before either party can commence any claim in court. This is a significantly cheaper option for both parties, and most disputes are resolved in mediation. 

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Key Takeaways

As a social media manager, your contractual agreements should reflect your specific arrangement. Most social media managers will have contracts with terms for services, payments and responsibilities and obligations. Furthermore, it is prudent to include confidentiality and dispute resolution clauses. You will protect your commercial efforts by drafting a robust social media management agreement.

If you need assistance drafting a terms and conditions agreement for your social media management business, our experienced contract lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Visit our membership page.

Frequently Asked Questions