Pros and Cons of the Pricing Options for Social Media Freelancers
Love getting the $$$ but HATE the struggle of setting your price as a freelancer? We are right there with you. It's challenging to choose how you're going to price your services! Luckily, there are so many different options for charging, such as packages, retainers, hourly rates, project-based rates, so you can pick the best option for your services, niche, and target audience.
Check out our full list of different ways to price your freelancing, plus pros and cons to each!
Package Pricing
This is a common way to price social media management and is also our favorite! However, it does not work for all freelancers considering how different our services and skills can be. With this option, you usually group together your services and form different variations of each.
Pros:
It specifically states the expectations, so your client and you both know what the expectations are.
Doesn't define you by an hourly rate.
By grouping your services together, it allows for a complete and well-rounded overview of what you'll be managing.
Is a set price and doesn't flux, so your client always knows what they will be paying for each period.
Cons: D
This type can make clients feel like it's not specifically tailored toward them.
It can be difficult to accommodate for all different kinds of clients in just a few packages.
People can be scared off by the price up front when compared to an hourly rate where they see it broken down.
Retainer
A retainer is when the client puts gives you a fixed amount and you can subtract from that amount based on the work you do. This usually pairs with an hourly rate and every time you put an hour in, you subtract from the retainer until it's used up!
Pros:
It allows for clients to choose a plan that is tailored around their budget.
They know exactly how much they are spending and no added costs are added on.
This is great for clients that have fluxes in income.
Cons:
Sometimes it's difficult as the SMM to get everything done that you want to get done!
Might leave you to prioritize certain tasks over others.
Hourly Rate
This one is as plain and simple as it sounds! Charging by your hourly rate means that you set the rate and charge the customer by the hour for the services selected.
Pros:
You get paid exactly for the time you put in.
Easily comparable to other positions, which can be an advantage!
You set the rate and can take your experience, education, and demand into account.
This option is great for accounting for the unpredictable time that tasks are surrounded with!
Cons:
Defined only by your hourly rate, not by the amount of work or level of difficulty.
Can be difficult if you want to take your time on something or it can make you rush yourself a bit!
Might have to invest in a time tracking system.
Hours can rack up quickly and the client feel like they don't have control on the cost.
Project-Based Rate
Pros:
This is perfect for those that offer more project or campaign based social media services.
Great for brands that just need help once in awhile.
Cons:
Limits you to just a certain period of time.
Your workload per project can vary and unexpected things can pop-up and add more time to the matter.
Performance-based rate
Charging based on performance is another option. With so many analytics in our industry, performance-based rates are definitely possible to do.
Pros:
Capitalizes on your successes!
Perfect for analytic mindset, motivated by results and numbers.
Your clients feel a sense of "you get what you're paying for."
Cons:
There are a lot of factors that come together to get the results.
You might put a lot of work in and not start turning results and showing your performance until more down the road!
Results and performance are unpredictable on social media (no matter how good your content strategy is!).
Sometimes favors of results over genuine engagement and community creation.
Check back on our blog every FRIYAY for more tips, tricks, and all things social media!
