Social media management contract template
Managing someone's social accounts means posting in their name, answering their customers and sometimes spending their money on ads. A contract spells out how many posts, who approves them, who owns the accounts, and what happens to your access when the work ends. This template is written for freelancers and small agencies on a monthly retainer. Read it below, then send it from SignMaster.
Updated November 5, 2026 · 4 min read
The contract
Gray blanks are yours to fill in before you send. Each signer fills in the blanks in their color.
- You, before sending
- Client
- Manager
Social Media Management Contract
This Social Media Management Contract (the "Contract") is made on Contract date between Manager business name (the "Manager") and Client business name (the "Client").
1. Services
Each month, the Manager will:
- Manage these accounts: Platforms.
- Plan, write, design and publish Posts per month posts per month on each platform. A post is one feed post, carousel or short video; How stories are counted.
- Reply to comments and direct messages during Community management hours, and pass on anything about complaints, refunds, legal issues or the press to the Client the same day.
- Send a monthly report with reach, engagement, follower change and the best and worst posts.
2. Not included
Unless listed here, the following are not part of the monthly fee and will be quoted separately: running paid ads, photo or video shoots, influencer outreach, contests and giveaways, and responding to a public relations crisis. Extra services included: Extra services included.
3. Content approval
The Manager will share a content calendar for the following month by Calendar delivery day. The Client will approve it or request changes within Business days to approve business days through its approval contact: Approval contact. Nothing is published without approval. The Manager isn't responsible for gaps in posting caused by late approval, and posts that weren't approved in a month don't roll over.
4. Account access and ownership
The Client owns every account, page and profile the Manager works on, including their followers, messages and data. The Client will give the Manager access through each platform's own role or partner tools rather than sharing passwords. The Manager will not change passwords, recovery details, two-factor settings or ownership settings, and will not delete an account or past posts without the Client's written request. When this Contract ends, the Client removes the Manager's access, and the Manager hands over any scheduled content, files and logins it created for the Client.
5. Advertising budget
If the Manager runs ads for the Client, ad spend is charged by the platform directly to the Client's own payment method. The Manager will not spend more than Monthly ad budget cap a month without the Client's written approval. Ad management is charged at Ad management fee, in addition to the monthly fee.
6. Fees and payment
The monthly fee is Monthly fee, invoiced in advance and due by Monthly due date. Invoices go to Billing email. If an invoice is more than Days late before pausing days late, the Manager may pause publishing until it is paid, after telling the Client in writing.
7. Term and notice
This Contract starts on Start date for a minimum term of Minimum term in months month(s), and then continues month to month. After the minimum term, either party may end it by giving Notice period in days days' written notice. Fees are due through the end of the notice period.
8. Content ownership
Once the Client has paid for a month, the posts, captions and graphics made for the Client in that month belong to the Client. Stock photos, music and fonts remain under their own licenses. The Manager keeps its templates, tools, processes and know-how, and may show published work in its portfolio.
9. Results
Platforms control who sees content and change their rules without notice. The Manager will do the work in section 1 with care and skill but does not guarantee any number of followers, views, leads or sales.
10. Accuracy and rules
The Client is responsible for the accuracy of facts it provides about its products, prices and offers. The Manager will follow each platform's rules, and both parties will follow the law on advertising disclosures, contests and use of other people's content.
11. Confidentiality and liability
Each party keeps the other's non-public business information confidential, during this Contract and afterward. Neither party is liable for indirect or lost-profit damages, and the Manager's total liability under this Contract is limited to the fees the Client paid in the three months before the claim.
12. General
This Contract is governed by the laws of the state of State. It is the entire agreement about these services and can be changed only in writing signed by both parties. Electronic signatures count as originals.
Contact details
Client contact name: Client contact name Phone: Client phone
Manager phone: Manager phone Email: Manager email
I have read this Contract, including the account access terms in section 4 and the notice period in section 7.
Client
Social media manager
Opens it in SignMaster as a template you can edit and send.
A starting point, not legal advice. Have a lawyer review it for your state and situation.
On this page
What the contract is for
Retainer work drifts. A client who signed up for twelve posts a month starts asking for daily stories, replies at 10 p.m. and a quick TikTok. Without a written scope, every extra is a negotiation. The contract also protects the client: it confirms they own their accounts and content, and it limits what you can do with their ad budget.
What the template covers
- Services: the platforms, posts per month on each, community management hours, and a monthly report.
- What's not included: ad management unless listed, shoots, influencer outreach and crisis response, quoted separately.
- Approvals: when the content calendar goes out, how long the client has to approve it, and that nothing unapproved is posted.
- Account access: the client owns every account and gives you a role through the platform's own tools, never a password.
- Ad spend: paid by the client straight to the platform, with a monthly cap you can't go over without approval.
- Fee and term: a monthly fee paid in advance, a minimum term, then month to month with written notice.
- Content ownership: the client owns what you made for them once paid; your templates and methods stay yours.
- No guaranteed numbers: followers, reach and sales depend on platforms you don't control.
Access without passwords
The cleanest setups never involve the client's password. Most major platforms let a business add a person or partner agency with its own login and a limited role, and remove them in one step when the contract ends. That keeps two-factor codes on the owner's phone and leaves a record of who posted. Section 4 of the template asks for access that way and says you won't change recovery details or ownership settings.
Mistakes that sour a retainer
- Counting "posts" without saying what one is. Decide whether a story, a reel and a carousel each count as one.
- Running ads on your own card and billing them back. Ad budgets belong on the client's payment method.
- No approval deadline. If the calendar sits unapproved for a week, the gap in posting shouldn't be your fault.
- Promising growth. A line saying you'll double followers becomes the yardstick for every month after.
- Forgetting the exit. Say how much notice either side gives, and that you'll hand back access and files when it ends.
How to send it with SignMaster
- 1
Open the template
Choose Use this template. SignMaster adds it to your templates with the client as the first signer and you, the manager, second.
- 2
Set the scope and fee
Fill the gray blanks: platforms, posts a month, community hours, the ad budget cap, the monthly fee, the start date and the notice period. If you don't run ads for this client, leave the section 5 blanks empty, or Strike through that section with the editor's Markup tools.
- 3
Send it to the decision-maker
Add the business owner or marketing lead by name and email. They write in their approval contact and billing email, tick that they've read the contract and sign. If a second owner must approve, add them as another signer, in order, with their own signature field.
- 4
Start once it's signed
When the client's signature lands, sign as the manager. Both sides get the signed PDF, and the certificate of completion shows when the client agreed, which is handy if the start date or the first invoice is ever questioned.
New rates for every client at once
When your prices change in January, every retainer client needs a fresh agreement with their own fee and platforms. Put the clients in a spreadsheet, with columns named after the gray blanks (Monthly fee, Platforms, Posts per month), and bulk send creates one envelope per client. Each one sees only their own contract. Once they're signed, the Responses tab shows what every client wrote in, such as their approval contact, in one table you can export.
Questions? Answers.
Should a social media manager have the client's passwords?
Better not. Ask the client to add you with a role through the platform's business tools. Section 4 of the template says so and keeps ownership with the client.
Who pays for ads in a social media management contract?
Under this template the client pays the platform directly, and you're paid a management fee. You can't spend above the monthly cap without written approval.
Can I guarantee followers or engagement?
Avoid it. Platforms change how they show content without notice. The template says results aren't guaranteed and lists what you will deliver instead.
How much notice should either side give?
Thirty days is common for monthly retainers. Put your number in the notice blank in section 7; it applies to both of you.