The service with the most visible output and the least clear link to revenue. Everyone sees the posts, including you, which is exactly why activity is easy to mistake for results.
What you are actually buying
You are buying presence and responses: someone to post regularly, and someone to reply to the people who write. The second part is the one most often skipped and the one that costs most.
A customer who sent a message and got no reply for three days is a lost customer, however good the profile looks.
What each budget realistically buys
150 – 400 € / month
A few posts a month built from stock images and short copy. Keeps the profile alive, does not create demand.
600 – 1 500 € / month
Original content, photos of your products or team, replies within the working day, and a link to what you are actually selling now.
Separate from advertising
Posting and paid advertising are different services. If they sit in one price, ask for a split so you know what you are paying for.
The first questions
C1
Who owns the page and the business account?
Why you ask
A page created by a provider on their own account can stay with them. Recovery is slow, sometimes impossible, and meanwhile you have no access to your own audience.
A good answer
You are the owner, they get a role with permissions. They agree immediately, with no explanation of why it cannot be done.
A bad answer
"We will create it and transfer it to you at the end." "At the end" is the word that creates the problem.
How to check
Open the page settings from your own account. If you cannot remove an administrator, you are not the owner.
C2
How many posts a month, and what is the occasion for each?
Why you ask
The count is easy to promise and easy to deliver. The occasion is the hard part and the reason anyone stops to read.
A good answer
Ties posts to what is happening in your business: a new product, a season, a real customer question. Prefers fewer and more specific.
A bad answer
"12 posts a month" and nothing else. Twelve times nothing is still nothing, only busier.
How to check
Ask for next month’s plan before approving it. If you cannot say why a given post exists, probably nobody else can either.
C3
Who replies to messages and comments, and how quickly?
Why you ask
This is where real orders are lost. Many contracts include posting but not replying, and nobody notices until a month has passed.
A good answer
States a response time in working hours and clearly separates which questions they handle from which they pass to you because they need product knowledge.
A bad answer
The topic does not appear in the offer. Then the default answer is "nobody".
How to check
Message as a customer from your personal profile on a Friday afternoon. You will learn more from that test than from three reports.