Last updated: October 2026
Before hiring a social media manager, ask five questions: who works on your account each week, which business results they track beyond likes, which similar clients they've gotten results for, what your monthly fee includes, and how cancellation works. The 2025 Sprout Social Index found only 30% of marketers believe they can measure social ROI.
I've been doing social media marketing for 18 years, and here's what a good answer sounds like, what a red flag sounds like, and exactly how I answer each one for Stellar Media Marketing clients in Aurora and across the Denver metro.
Here's what a good answer and a red flag sound like for all 5 questions
A good answer is specific, written down, and names a person or a number. A red flag is vague, verbal only, or quietly changes the subject.
- Who works on my account each week? Good answer: "Me. I write, schedule, report, and I'm on your monthly call." Red flag: "Our team handles that."
- What results will you track besides followers? Good answer: "Leads, calls, form fills, and website traffic from social, reported monthly." Red flag: "Reach and engagement are up!"
- Can you show me 2 to 3 similar clients? Good answer: before and after numbers with a timeframe. Red flag: viral post screenshots and follower counts.
- What does my monthly fee include? Good answer: a written, line-by-line list. Red flag: "Social media management" with no details.
- What happens if I cancel? Good answer: Clear notice period, and you own the accounts and content. Red flag: "We'll figure that out if it comes up."
Who will actually be working on your account each week?
The person who sells you on the account should be able to name the person who runs it, and the best answer is that it's the same person.
This is the agency bait-and-switch, and it's the most common complaint I hear from business owners who come to me after a bad experience. You meet a senior strategist on the sales call. Then your account gets handed to a junior coordinator, a rotating team, or a freelancer you've never met. You didn't hire the person you were talking to.
Ask it plainly, and then get specific:
- Who writes my captions?
- Who replies to comments and DMs, and how fast?
- Who is on my monthly strategy call?
- Who do I contact when something goes sideways on a Saturday?
If all four answers are different names (or no names at all), you know exactly what you're buying.
How I answer it: At Stellar Media Marketing, the answer to all four is me. I handle strategy, content, posting, and reporting for every account myself. Nobody gets handed off.
What business results will you track besides followers and engagement?
A good social media manager reports on numbers your accountant would care about: leads, phone calls, booked appointments, website traffic from social, form submissions, sales, and cost per lead.
This is where most of the industry falls short. The 2025 Sprout Social Index, which surveyed 1,222 social media practitioners and marketing leaders, found that 65% of marketing leaders want to see social campaigns tied directly to business goals, but only 30% of marketers believe they can actually measure social media ROI. Translation: a lot of monthly reports are full of whatever was easiest to count.
Ask how they connect a post to a result. Real answers mention things like UTM links, Google Analytics 4, call tracking numbers, or your CRM. "We look at the insights tab" is not a tracking plan.
- Instead of followers, ask for website visits from social
- Instead of likes, ask for form submissions and quote requests
- Instead of impressions, ask for phone calls and booked appointments
- Instead of engagement rate, ask for sales or cost per lead
How I answer it: Every client starts with an audit and a strategy, I personally analyze the numbers every month, and every quarter I do a deep dive that updates the strategy. Reports cover every platform I manage and the numbers that matter: engagement, mentions, views, reach, and page growth. Where the platform tracks leads, those go in the report too. For a North Texas custom pool builder I work with, Meta tracked 53 leads over 12 months, 43 of them from paid ads.
Can you show me 2 to 3 clients similar to my business and what results you achieved?
Yes, and every example should include a starting number, an ending number, and how long it took to get there.
Red flags here are easy to spot: a viral post with no business outcome attached, follower growth with no revenue story, or "we can't share client data" with no anonymized version offered. Any experienced manager can strip out the client name and still show you the before and after.
Also ask how long their clients stay. Retention is the result that's hardest to fake, because nobody pays for social media for years if it isn't working.
How I answer it: Most of my work is with established home services and outdoor living businesses, including custom pool and outdoor living companies in North Texas.
- A North Texas custom pool builder: Over 12 months, we published 650 posts across Facebook and Instagram. Facebook views hit 119,000 (up 562%), Instagram views hit 70,000 (up 278%), and Meta tracked 53 leads, 18 of them strong, for a builder whose projects typically run $70,000 to $100,000. Meta's own benchmarking showed them at 3x the typical follower count and 3.7x the content interactions of comparable Home Services pages.
- A real estate leadership client: In a three-month sprint, engagement rose 5,600% and impressions rose 5,844%.
- A client who moved to me from an agency: They saved $5,000 a month and got more specialized service.
And on retention: right now one client is in their third year with me, another has been with me for a year and a half, and one client I worked with for two years before COVID came back to work with me again in 2026.
Exactly what does my monthly fee include?
Your monthly fee should be spelled out line by line in writing before you sign, including what is not included.
"Social media management" can mean four posts a month on one platform or a full content operation across five. Use this checklist on every proposal you get:
- Posts and reels: How many per month, and how many are video?
- Platforms: Which ones, specifically?
- Content capture: Do you film and photograph, or do I supply raw content?
- Editing and captions: Who edits video and who writes captions?
- Community management: Do you reply to comments and DMs? How fast?
- Paid ads: Do you manage ads? Is ad spend separate from your fee?
- Reporting: How often, and which metrics?
- Meetings: How many strategy calls per month?
How I answer it: My social media management packages start with Essentials at $1,200 a month, and fractional social media director engagements start at $1,500 a month. Essentials clients supply the raw photos and video, and Essentials does not include YouTube or TikTok, since those video-first platforms need heavy filming and editing. Any client can add a content and media day for done-for-you photo and video, and Denver-area businesses get special local pricing.
Every package includes:
- An audit and initial strategy before anything gets posted
- Content creation and scheduling
- Platform management
- Monthly analysis of your numbers, done by me personally
- A quarterly deep dive with fresh ideas, an updated strategy plan, and any changes the numbers call for
- Monthly reporting (on request, because honestly, some clients don't want it)
- An annual report and strategy
- An optional monthly video call, plus unlimited email support
Some packages include social ad management. Ad budget is never included in any package, so your ad spend goes directly to the platform.
For context, a full in-house social media hire typically runs $90,000 to $150,000 a year, and an agency often runs $8,000 to $20,000 a month. That gap is exactly why fractional exists.
What happens if I'm unhappy or want to cancel?
Before you sign, you should know the contract length, the notice period, any early termination fee, and, most importantly, that you own your accounts and your content.
Two things protect you here:
- Keep ownership of your accounts. In Meta Business Suite, the right setup is to give your manager partner access to your Facebook page, Instagram account, and ad account from your own business portfolio. According to Meta partner access documentation, partner access never transfers ownership and you can revoke it at any time. If your manager owns the business portfolio, you're renting your own Facebook page.
- Get content ownership in writing. The U.S. Copyright Office's Circular 30 explains that work made by an independent contractor only counts as "work made for hire" under specific conditions, including a signed written agreement. Ask for a clause that assigns the content to you. (I'm a marketer, not a lawyer, so have yours look at the contract.)
How I answer it: Clients choose month-to-month or an annual agreement, and annual comes with a discount. If you need to leave an annual agreement early, you can buy out the remainder with 30 days' notice. And as long as your account is paid up and in good standing, you own all of the content I created for you when you leave.
Why the clients who stay longest asked the hardest questions first
The best client relationships I've had in 18 years started with an owner who grilled me on all five of these questions before signing anything.
When those answers are clear up front, nobody is surprised at month four. That's a big part of why most of my clients stay two years or longer, and why a client from before COVID picked up the phone again this year.
"Working with Stellar Media Marketing has been a blessing to our company. Communication is always clear and timely, she follows through on what she says she'll do, and she's proactive about bringing new ideas to the table. Whether it's branding, content, or overall strategy, she's helped us tighten up our message and look far more professional to customers." Casey Griffith, Co-owner of a North Texas custom pool company (Google review)
Related reading: Why Your Agency Gave Your Account to Junior Staff, What Social Media Metrics Should You Actually Track?, and Social Media Manager vs. Social Media Director.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a social media manager cost in Denver?
It depends heavily on what's included, so compare line-by-line scopes, not monthly totals. At Stellar Media Marketing, management packages start at $1,200 a month and fractional director engagements start at $1,500 a month, with special pricing for Denver-area content days.
What's the difference between a social media manager and a social media director?
A manager executes: posting, scheduling, replying. A director owns the strategy and ties social to business goals like leads and sales, then executes it. Most established businesses that hire a manager when they need a director end up with lots of posts and no plan.
Should I sign a 12-month social media contract?
Not necessarily. Annual agreements usually cost less per month and give strategy time to compound, but month-to-month should be on the table too. I offer both: annual comes with a discount, and an annual agreement can be bought out with 30 days' notice. Whatever you sign, make sure you keep your accounts and content if you leave.
Is ad spend included in a social media management fee?
Usually not. Ad spend is paid directly to the platform, and many managers charge separately to run ads, or don't include ads at all. Some of my packages include ad management, but ad budget is never part of the fee. Ask both questions separately so there's no surprise on your first invoice.
Do I need to give my social media manager my passwords?
No. For Facebook and Instagram, add them as a partner in Meta Business Suite so they get access without owning anything. Sharing passwords makes it harder to remove access later.
What should a monthly social media report include?
At minimum: what was posted, what drove website traffic, leads, calls, or form fills, and what's changing next month because of it. If a report is only reach and engagement, ask what those numbers led to.
How long does it take to see results from social media management?
Reach and engagement can move within the first 90 days. In a three-month sprint for a real estate leadership client, engagement rose 5,600%. Leads build over a longer runway, which is why the pool builder numbers above are measured across a full year.
Want these 5 answers from me on a video call?
If you're a Denver or Aurora business owner comparing options, I'll answer every question on this list for your business specifically, no pitch deck required. Book a complimentary discovery call or see all Stellar Media Marketing services.
Changelog: Published October 2026.