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Social media management
Social media management means helping a business plan, create and publish content, and keep its social channels organised. You can start small by offering a clearly defined service to local businesses and building a portfolio as you go.
Open the interactive guide (checklist, video, read-aloud) →In plain words
- You help a business plan and share social media posts.
- You can write captions and make simple pictures.
- Agree what work you will do and when.
- Ask the business to approve posts before they go live.
- Keep the fee and advertising money separate.
Who it suits
It may suit someone who enjoys writing, visual content, planning and communicating with business owners. It helps to be organised, reliable and comfortable learning how different social platforms work.
Businesses may pay for help keeping their social channels organised and posting regularly. A clear service can save them time, while you can show examples of your work and agree what results you will report.
Step by step
- Choose a type of business to learn about. Pick a local business type you understand, such as a café, tradesperson or community organisation. Look at its public social pages and note practical ways posts could be clearer or more consistent. About 30–60 minutes.
- Define exactly what your service includes. Choose the channels you will manage and what you will prepare, such as captions, visuals or a content calendar. Decide whether you will reply to comments and what reporting you will provide. About 30–60 minutes.
- Make sample work for a portfolio. Use a fictional business, or get permission before making examples for a real one. Include a short content calendar, sample captions and a few draft visuals. About 2–4 hours.
- Create a simple portfolio and contact route. Explain what you offer, show your examples and give prospective clients an easy way to contact you. Label fictional examples clearly so they are not mistaken for client work. About 1–2 hours.
- Find potential clients and contact them politely. Try local business networks, referrals or direct enquiries. Make each message specific to the business instead of sending the same generic message to everyone. About 30–60 minutes per week.
- Ask about the client’s needs and approval process. Ask about their audience, goals, existing content, preferred tone and who approves posts. Agree what success will mean for the work before you begin. About 30–60 minutes.
- Write down the agreement before starting. Record the scope, fee, payment schedule, responsibilities, approval process and how either side can end the arrangement. Keep advertising spend separate from your management fee; the ad spend goes to the platform, not the agency. Orbis About 1–2 hours.
- Arrange safe access to the client’s accounts. Agree a secure way to access accounts and customer information. Choose tools that suit the work and meet relevant data-protection requirements; the government playbook advises researching tools for suitability and compliance. GOV.UK About 30–60 minutes.
- Prepare, approve and publish posts in batches. Plan and prepare a group of posts, then send them to the client for approval. Publish or schedule them as agreed, and keep a record of approvals and requested changes. About 1–3 hours per batch.
- Review results and agree the next changes. Share a clear report with the client and discuss what to adjust. Ask permission before using client work as a portfolio example. About 30–60 minutes each review.
Your first 15 minutes
Make a sample content calendar and a small set of draft posts for one local business type, then ask a trusted person to review whether the offer and examples are clear.
The money
Set a fee based on the agreed channels, number of posts, time, reporting and whether you will reply to comments. A UK guide gives a beginner range of £300–£600 a month for managing two or three platforms for a small local business; it is a guide, not a guarantee. <a href="https://www.lilachbullock.com/how-much-to-charge-for-social-media-management/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lilach Bullock</a> Keep any advertising budget separate from your fee; ad spend is paid to the platform. <a href="https://www.orbis.agency/ie/services/social-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Orbis</a>
Example only: For a UK illustration, £300 income − £30 assumed costs = £270 before tax; £300 is within the cited beginner guide range, and the costs are hypothetical. <a href="https://www.lilachbullock.com/how-much-to-charge-for-social-media-management/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lilach Bullock</a> For an Ireland illustration, €200 assumed income − €20 assumed costs = €180 before tax; this is arithmetic only, not a typical Irish rate or earnings promise. The Irish sources supplied no typical rate.
The rules
Social media management is generally lawful in the UK and Ireland. Check and follow the tax, advertising and data-protection rules that apply to you. Agree your work clearly with your clients.
UK and Northern Ireland
- Trading income and tax. The first £1,000 a year of your trading income is covered by the trading allowance. This is your gross income before expenses. If your income is above that, you must tell HMRC. If you need to register for Self Assessment, do so by 5 October after the end of the tax year. GOV.UK Tax Help for Hustles GOV.UK
- Advertising labels. Clearly label advertising and affiliate posts. For example, use “Ad”. Advertising Standards Authority
- Data protection fee. The ICO says its wholesale and retail guidance includes advertising or marketing another person’s business, goods or services as an example of work where a fee is required. This is not a general rule for every sole trader. Use the ICO self-assessment tool to check whether you need to pay a fee. ICO
- Account and customer information. Take care when handling account access and customer information. Choose tools that suit your work and meet the relevant compliance needs. GOV.UK
- Insurance and client terms. Consider whether suitable insurance could help protect you. Put the service scope, fee, responsibilities, approval process and arrangements for ending the work in writing.
- Licences and consumers. There’s no general licence or vetting requirement for this service. If you work for individual consumers rather than businesses, check your terms with Trading Standards.
Ireland
- Non-PAYE income and tax. If you work in a PAYE job, register for self-assessment using Form 11 if your taxable non-PAYE income is over €5,000 or your gross non-PAYE income is over €30,000. Below those amounts, declare your income on Form 12 through myAccount. Revenue
- VAT threshold. The VAT registration threshold for services is €42,500. If you’re unsure how the threshold applies to your business, check with Revenue. Revenue
- Advertising labels. Label commercial influencer content with “#Ad”. The CCPC advises you to label it if in doubt. CCPC
- Business name. If you trade under a name other than your own, register the business name with the CRO. Online registration costs €20. Companies Registration Office
- Data, insurance and consumers. Take care when handling account access and customer information. Consider suitable insurance. If you’re unsure which data-protection or consumer rules apply to your work, check with the Data Protection Commission and the CCPC.
- Licences or vetting. There’s no general licence or vetting requirement for this service. If your work includes other regulated activities, check with the relevant local authority or regulator.
Checked against official sources: 22 October 2026. Not yet reviewed by a qualified tax or legal adviser. General guidance, not legal advice. Check the official link beside each point before you start.
Common mistakes
- Leaving the number of posts, channels or revisions unclear.
- Promising sales or audience growth that you cannot guarantee.
- Mixing the client’s advertising budget with your own fee.
- Publishing commercial content without clear advertising labels.
- Using account access or customer information without an agreed safe process.
AI-made demonstration: this module has a 20-second street-chat video in the interactive guide. The presenter and the people in it are computer-generated, not real people.