Even though marcomms pros have long been building social media strategies, expectations don’t always meet reality – whether that’s within your internal team or your client conversations. We had a discussion on how to pitch, price and demonstrate ROI on social with Bridgette Zou, Principal at social media and digital marketing agency Second to None NYC. She spoke on how to explain the value of social to your boss or client, from the vast scope of work and budget to demonstrating success through the right metrics.

The takeaways: 

• When pitching social media to your client/boss, start off by asking how familiar they are with social media and how they consume it. From there, you can decide if it needs to be an educational convo, or if they are already up to speed, you can talk collaboratively
• Always ask what the client’s goal is with social and understand how much effort is already being put into social (or not)
• Pro tip: take an account you personally like and ask the client/person you are pitching to to do the same, so you have a solid starting point
• Stick with it for a minimum of three months – it takes time to learn or create the voice, test content, assess analytics and adjust strategy, etc.
• Bridgette’s seven categories for pricing for social services
  • Creative brainstorming campaigns (being a content strategist, not just posting)
  • Photography - do you need a professional photographer?
  • Videography - do you need a professional videographer? 
  • Copywriting - you need someone that knows your tone/voice, as well as grammar, etc.
  • Spending time on the platform - knowing how to do things like change the background color of an Instagram Story, keeping track of trending Reels...
  • Management - scheduling software, posting, community engagement, metrics
  • Managing partnerships - especially for influencer/social-heavy brands
• Phones are great for shooting content, but require some extras like a tripod, ring light, editing, etc.
• ROI: Saves and shares are key for measuring engagement
• Some brands are able to sell their products directly on social, so sales are a metric to track. Others, like alcohol brands that can't sell on social, should look to engagement for ROI 
• If you care about how people perceive you or your brand visually online (website, etc.), then that is social media’s inherent worth
• When looking for influencers, remember the blue verified check can be bought, so gauge credibility through their content (do they have “ad” in some of their posts? Have they collaborated with like minded brands? What is their engagement like compared to their following?)
• It's smart to have people with different experience levels on a social team – college students are on the platforms with their friends and can come up with fresh ideas, while a 15-year marcomms pro can help figure out the strategy for testing these new ideas 
• When it comes to social, quantity over quality – be more concerned with great posts than many random ones
• You get what you put into it, and if you want it done well, like anything, you'd want an expert
• Social teams should be in the mix with the marketing team, events team, PR, etc. for a bigger-picture understanding of the brand/organization and therefore more successful social strategy