Before you start requesting quotes for social media management, define your goals, decide what you’ll handle in-house, and use a checklist to guide the conversation. This will help you compare packages fairly, avoid unnecessary extras, and get a solution that fits your needs and budget.
When most business owners start thinking about outsourcing their social media, their first question is simple: “How much does it cost?” A quick Google search turns up a huge range of answers – from $500 a month with a freelancer to $5,000+ with an agency.
But here’s the thing: before you start contacting providers or requesting quotes, it’s important to know what you actually need. Otherwise, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the options, or worse, to be oversold on a package full of bells and whistles that don’t really serve your business.
At BeKonstructive Marketing, we believe knowledge is power – and that power belongs to you. The more clarity you have up front, the more confidently you can guide conversations with social media management agencies, compare packages fairly, and invest your budget in the right areas.
💡 If you’re ready to see real numbers, check out our Social Media Packages & Pricing hub page for sample packages and benchmarks.
Step 1: Start With Your Goals
Your social media goals should be the foundation of your decision-making.
- Brand awareness: Do you want more people to know your business exists?
- Engagement: Are you looking to build customer retention through community and conversation with your audience?
- Leads and conversions: Do you want your socials to directly generate enquiries or sales?
- Customer service: Do you need someone monitoring DMs and comments so nothing slips through the cracks?
Each of these goals requires different strategies, content types, and levels of involvement. For example, if your main goal is awareness, you might prioritise eye-catching visual content and consistent posting. If you’re chasing conversions, you’ll need more strategy, testing, and reporting built into your package.
💡 Tip: Write down your top 1-2 goals before you ask for a quote. That way, you can quickly filter out inclusions that don’t serve those goals.
Step 2: What Can You Handle In-House vs Outsource?
Your budget goes further when you’re clear on what you can and want to keep in-house.
- Good to outsource:
- Content scheduling and publishing
- Monthly performance reporting
- Strategic planning and campaign management
- Paid ad management (if you don’t have internal expertise)
- Good to keep in-house:
- Capturing behind-the-scenes content (photos, short clips, staff updates)
- Quick replies to customer questions (if you want a personal touch)
- Sharing team or company news that only you would know
For many businesses, a hybrid model works best: you provide the raw content (photos, updates, video snippets) and outsource the planning, polish, and posting. This way you stay authentic and reduce costs while still benefiting from professional strategy and consistency.
👉 For a deeper dive, check out our article on Stretching Your Social Media Budget: What to Outsource vs Do In-House.
Step 3: Use a Checklist to Guide the Conversation
To make this process easier, we’ve developed a Social Media Support Checklist you can download and use before you start contacting providers. It’s designed to help you think through every key area that affects your package, including:
- Content Creation: Will you supply ideas and assets, or do you want the agency to research, script, and design from scratch?
- Branding and Visuals: Do you already have a brand kit, tone of voice guide, or templates, or will you need these created?
- Posting Frequency and Platforms: How many posts per week do you want, and on which platforms? Should content be reused across platforms, or tailored individually?
- Campaigns and Paid Ads: Do you need support with ad campaigns, promotions, or events?
- Engagement and Community Management: Who will handle comments, messages, and audience growth — you, your team, or the agency?
- Strategy and Reporting: Do you need a full content strategy and calendar? How often do you want performance reports?
- Approval and Workflow: Do you prefer to approve each post, or give overall guidance and trust the agency? How do you want to manage feedback (email, project management tool, direct edits)?
By working through these questions, you’ll have a clear idea of what you actually need support with – and just as importantly, what you don’t. This arms you with the knowledge to guide conversations confidently, compare packages fairly, and avoid being oversold on extras that don’t serve your business.
Download our Social Media Support Checklist here to get started.
Step 4: Knowledge is Power
One of our core values at BeKonstructive is transparency. We don’t believe in hiding the ball or locking you into a package that doesn’t suit your goals. Instead, we want to give you the tools to walk into every conversation with confidence.
When you understand your goals and your in-house capabilities, you’re in the driver’s seat. That’s when you get exactly what you need – no more, no less. And that’s also when your social media investment starts delivering real value.
Final Thoughts
Before you start emailing agencies or filling out quote forms, take a few minutes to reflect on:
- What you’re trying to achieve with social media.
- What you can realistically do yourself.
- What gaps you want filled by an expert.
Armed with this clarity (and your checklist), you’ll not only save time, but also protect your budget and set your business up for better results.
At BeKonstructive, we’ve spent more than a decade helping SMEs, not-for-profits, and agencies build social media strategies that actually deliver. We’ve seen every type of package under the sun, and we know which inclusions genuinely make a difference – and which ones are fluff. That’s why we’re so committed to giving you the tools to make informed choices.
💡 Next step: Take a look at our Social Media Packages & Pricing page for sample packages and pricing benchmarks – then get in touch to design a package that’s tailored to your needs.
About the Author
Bek Drayton is the founder and Managing Director of BeKonstructive Marketing, a Brisbane-based marketing communications agency with over 12 years’ experience helping SMEs and not-for-profits grow through content, SEO, and social media strategy. A passionate advocate for making marketing knowledge accessible, Bek specialises in cutting through the jargon and empowering businesses with the tools they need to make informed decisions.
