A social media management contract is the agreement between a business and the freelancer or agency who runs its social accounts: what gets posted, who approves it, how account access works, what the monthly fee covers, and who owns the content. It matters more than people expect, because the manager holds the keys to the client’s public voice. This free template is written for small businesses and independent social media managers.
Any time someone other than the owner will post on the business’s accounts, a contract is worth the ten minutes. A general service agreement or freelance contract will cover the money and the basics, but it won’t deal with the things that go wrong in social: a manager who leaves with the only admin login, a post that goes live without approval, an ad budget that quietly doubles, or a sponsored post with no disclosure.
If the arrangement is a steady monthly fee for loosely defined work, our retainer agreement is an alternative. If the manager needs to see confidential plans before you’ve agreed terms, start with an NDA.
Which accounts (Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, a Facebook page, and so on), how many posts per week, whether the manager handles comments and messages, and what’s excluded. Community management is where scope creep lives. “Replies to comments and DMs weekdays 9 to 5, within one business day” is a promise a manager can actually keep.
Approvals
The template sets a content calendar that the client approves in advance, a turnaround time for approvals, and what happens if the client doesn’t respond (the manager waits, rather than posting anyway). There’s a separate line for time-sensitive replies the manager may post without sign-off.
Account access and credentials
The client owns every account. The template asks for role-based access through each platform’s business or team tools where available, rather than sharing the owner’s password, and says the manager must use two-factor authentication, never change recovery details, and hand back or remove all access within a set number of days after the contract ends. If a password has to be shared, it goes through a password manager, and the client changes it when the engagement ends.
Ad spend, kept apart from the fee
Management fees and ad spend are different money. The template has the client pay platforms directly with the client’s own payment method (or reimburse pre-approved spend at cost), sets a monthly cap, and requires written approval to go over it. Say a bakery pays a manager $900 a month and budgets $300 for boosted posts. Writing those as two separate numbers prevents the “why was my card charged $1,100?” conversation.
FTC endorsement disclosures
This is the section most small-business contracts skip. The FTC’s Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255) say that when there’s a connection between an endorser and the seller that might materially affect how people weigh the endorsement, and the audience wouldn’t expect it, the connection must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. Advertisers themselves are subject to liability for misleading endorsements or undisclosed material connections, so a brand can’t just blame the influencer.
The FTC’s plain-language guide for influencers says the disclosure should sit with the endorsement itself (not only in a bio or behind a “more” link), use clear words like “ad” or “sponsored,” appear in the video itself for video content, and not rely only on a platform’s built-in disclosure tool. The template makes the manager responsible for including these disclosures in any sponsored or gifted content they arrange, and makes the client responsible for telling the manager about any such relationships.
The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) matters too. Among other things, it prohibits fake reviews, paying for reviews that express a particular sentiment, and buying fake indicators of social media influence such as bot followers or views in the circumstances the rule describes. The template has both sides agree not to do any of that.
Content ownership
Copyright starts with the author of a work under 17 U.S.C. 201. A freelancer’s posts usually don’t fit the narrow federal definition of a “work made for hire” in 17 U.S.C. 101, which for commissioned work only covers certain listed categories, and only with a signed written agreement. So the template assigns finished, paid-for content to the client in writing, while the manager keeps their own templates and methods and may show published work in a portfolio.
Reporting, term and ending
A monthly report with agreed metrics (no promises about follower counts or sales), an initial term, month-to-month after that, and 30 days’ notice to end it.
- List the platforms and the posting schedule, and write down what’s not included.
- Set the approval process and who on the client side approves.
- Fill in the monthly fee and, separately, the ad spend cap and how it’s paid.
- Agree how access will be granted, and name the accounts.
- Both sign, then set up access the way the contract says, on day one.
Service contracts like this are routinely signed electronically; the federal ESIGN Act says a contract can’t be denied legal effect just because it’s electronic. See are electronic signatures legally binding for more. Download it, fill in the blanks, and send it with any e-signature tool you like. (We’re building SignWren for exactly this; join the waitlist if you’d like early access.)
This template and guide are general information, not legal advice. For a specific contract or dispute, talk to a lawyer licensed where you are.
Template from signwren.com. General information, not legal advice. Check your state's rules and adapt it before you use it.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT
This Social Media Management Agreement ("Agreement") is made on [date] between:
Client: [Client's full legal or business name], of [address] ("Client"), and
Social Media Manager: [Manager's full legal or business name], of [address] ("Manager").
1. Accounts and services
Manager will manage these accounts belonging to Client (the "Accounts"):
- [platform and account handle, e.g. Instagram @handle]
- [platform and account handle]
- [platform and account handle]
Each month, Manager will provide:
- Content: [number] posts per week on [platforms], including [captions, graphics, short videos].
- Community management: ☐ Replying to comments and direct messages [days and hours], within [one business day] ☐ Not included.
- Paid social: ☐ Setting up and running ads within the ad spend budget in section 5 ☐ Not included.
- Reporting: A monthly report by the [day] of each month covering [e.g. reach, engagement, follower change, ad results].
Not included (quoted separately if requested): [e.g. photo or video shoots, influencer campaigns, website work, crisis PR].
2. Approvals
Manager will send a content calendar for each [week / month] at least [number] business days before the first post. Client will approve or request changes within [number] business days. Manager will not publish content that Client has not approved.
If Client doesn't respond in time, Manager will hold the content and may reschedule it, and the deadlines Manager misses because of the delay are not a breach.
Manager may post routine replies to comments and messages without advance approval, following the brand guidelines Client provides. Manager will flag complaints, legal threats, press inquiries and anything sensitive to Client within [number] hours and will not respond to them without Client's approval.
3. Account ownership and access
Client owns the Accounts, including their handles, followers, content and data. Nothing in this Agreement transfers the Accounts to Manager.
Access. Where a platform offers role-based access (for example a business manager, team member or partner role), Client will grant Manager access that way, and Manager will not ask for Client's personal login. Client keeps the owner or top-level admin role on every Account.
If a login must be shared, it will be shared through a password manager, not by email or text. Client will change that password when this Agreement ends.
Security. Manager will use two-factor authentication on any login used for the Accounts, keep access details confidential, not share access with anyone else without Client's written consent, and not change any Account's recovery email, phone number, owner or admin settings.
When the Agreement ends, Manager will, within [5] business days, remove its own access, hand back any logins, and give Client any scheduled content, media files and reports prepared for Client.
4. Fees
Monthly management fee: [$ amount] per month, invoiced on the [day] of each month in advance, due within [number] days.
Extra work Client requests beyond section 1 is billed at [$ amount] per hour, or at a price agreed in writing first.
Late payments: if an invoice is more than [number] days overdue, Manager may pause the services after [number] days' written notice. [Late fee, if any: amount or percentage, if permitted by law.]
5. Ad spend (separate from fees)
Ad spend is separate from Manager's fees. Choose one:
☐ Client pays the platforms directly using Client's own payment method on each ad account.
☐ Manager pays approved ad spend and Client reimburses it at cost, with platform receipts, on the next invoice.
Monthly ad spend cap: [$ amount]. Manager will not exceed the cap without Client's written approval (email is enough). Manager will not add any markup to ad spend unless stated here: [markup, or "None"].
6. Endorsements, disclosures and reviews
Disclosures. Whenever content on the Accounts, or content Manager arranges on someone else's account, involves a material connection between Client and an endorser (for example payment, free products, discounts, employment, or a family or personal relationship), Manager will include a clear and conspicuous disclosure, placed with the endorsement itself, following the FTC's Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255). Client will tell Manager about any such connection Manager may not know about.
Reviews and followers. Neither party will write or buy fake reviews or testimonials, offer anything in exchange for reviews that express a particular sentiment, or buy fake followers, views or other fake indicators of social media influence, and both will follow the FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (16 CFR Part 465).
Platform rules and claims. Manager will follow each platform's terms and advertising policies. Client is responsible for the accuracy of product claims, prices and offers it provides to Manager, and for having rights to materials it provides.
7. Content ownership
Once Client has paid for it, Manager assigns to Client all rights, including copyright, in the finished content Manager creates for Client under this Agreement. Manager keeps its pre-existing materials, templates, tools and methods, and gives Client a non-exclusive, permanent licence to use any of them built into the finished content. Licensed stock images, music and fonts are used under their own licence terms, which Manager will pass on to Client.
Manager may show published content in its portfolio unless Client says no in writing.
8. Results
Manager will do the work carefully and professionally, but social media results depend on things neither party controls, such as platform algorithms. Manager does not promise any specific number of followers, engagement, leads or sales.
9. Confidentiality
Each party will keep the other's non-public information, including Account access, analytics, plans and customer data, confidential and use it only for this Agreement, during the Agreement and for [2] years after it ends. This does not cover information that is public, already known to the receiving party, or required to be disclosed by law.
10. Independent contractor
Manager is an independent contractor, not an employee. Manager decides how and when to do the work (within the approvals in section 2), uses its own equipment, may work for other clients, and handles its own taxes and insurance.
11. Term and ending the Agreement
This Agreement starts on [start date] and runs for an initial term of [number] months, then continues month to month. After the initial term, either party may end it with [30] days' written notice. Either party may end it immediately by written notice if the other party seriously breaks it and does not fix the problem within [10] days of being told. Section 3 (handover of access), sections 7 and 9, and payment for work already done continue after the Agreement ends.
12. Limitation of liability
Except for breaches of sections 3, 6 or 9, or amounts owed under this Agreement, neither party is liable for indirect or consequential losses, and each party's total liability is limited to the fees paid in the [3] months before the claim arose, to the extent permitted by law.
13. General terms
Entire agreement. This Agreement is the entire agreement about these services and replaces earlier proposals.
Amendments. Any change must be in writing and signed (or confirmed by email) by both parties.
Governing law. This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of [State].
Severability. If any part of this Agreement is found invalid, the rest stays in effect.
Notices. Notices go to [Client email] and [Manager email].
Counterparts and electronic signatures. The parties agree this agreement may be signed electronically and in counterparts, and an electronic signature has the same effect as a handwritten one.
Signatures
Client
Signature: ______________________________
Name: [full name]
Date: [date]
Social Media Manager
Signature: ______________________________
Name: [full name]
Date: [date]