I address pricing in a number of other posts that I’ve written. Social media has to be monetized. I’ve been writing from the position of ‘fueling your agency’s new business through social media.’ And I’ve been able to monetize social for the past 4 years. It drives all of my new business.

Pricing social to me isn’t that difficult. It’s very time intensive. It’s much easier to price through a retainer agreement. Agencies would be able to develop their internal processes to efficiently deliver social media services for clients and increase these types of account’s networth.

With a community, there is a beginning and no end. Is it a retainer? Is it performance based — whereby the agency is paid on a scale depending on success? Is it a cost to set up, then and hourly rate to manage (3 hours a week at a typical agency rate adds up fast).

All of the things you listed here are right (although I clearly disagree with the way you framed #1). I also think you’re right that agencies have to crack this. We have content creators who should be able to engage communities, so maybe we will.

Jane
Starmark Vacation Homes