Social media client onboarding: a checklist for the first 30 days

The onboarding timeline

Thirty days is a comfortable pace for a monthly retainer. If the client needs posts sooner, shorten the audit and plan a lighter first fortnight rather than skipping the steps that set up approvals — those are the ones that save time later.

Before the kickoff call: send the intake form

Most of what you need to know can be collected in writing before anyone meets. A form the client fills in at their own pace gets better answers than questions asked on a call, and it turns the kickoff into a conversation about the answers rather than a dictation.

About the brand
1. In one sentence, what does the business do and for whom?
2. Who are your two or three main competitors on social?
3. Which accounts do you run today? (network and handle)
4. Which of them matter most to the business, and why?

Voice and rules
5. Three words that describe how the brand should sound.
6. Anything we must never say, show or joke about?
7. Words, claims or topics that need legal or leadership sign-off?
8. Where are the logo, fonts, colours and brand guidelines kept?

Approvals
9. Who approves posts? (one or two people — name and email)
10. Who else should see posts before they go out, and does their view override the approver’s?
11. How quickly can the approver usually answer?

Goals and dates
12. What should social media achieve for the business in the next three months?
13. Launches, events, sales or closures in the next three months?
14. Anything coming up we should avoid posting around?

Content
15. Where do photos, videos and design files live today?
16. Are there posts from the past you loved — or hated? Links help.

Get access without sharing passwords

Never ask a client to send you their passwords. It is insecure, it breaks when two-factor authentication kicks in, and it leaves you holding credentials you are responsible for. Every network has an official way to grant access; use it.

• Facebook and Instagram: access is granted through the client’s Meta business settings; the Instagram account must be a professional one to publish through a tool
• LinkedIn: the client adds you as an admin of their company Page
• X, TikTok and YouTube: the account owner signs in through each network’s own consent screen when the account is connected

The cleanest route is for the client to connect their accounts to their own workspace themselves, through each network’s sign-in. Nobody at the agency ever sees a password, and when the relationship ends the client simply disconnects.

Set up approvals before the first post

Question 9 on the intake form matters more than any other. Before the first draft, settle who approves, how fast they will answer and what happens if they don’t — the approval workflow guide has proposal wording for exactly this.

1. 01Invite the named approver, and nobody else yet
2. 02Agree the turnaround: for example, three working days per monthly batch
3. 03Decide whether to set an approval window — how many hours before a post’s slot a decision must land
4. 04Explain the three answers: approve, request changes, reject
5. 05Tell them what the review email will look like, so they recognise it

Approvers are free on every plan, so there is no cost reason to share one login between the client’s team. One person, one login, one name in the history.

The kickoff call

Keep it to an hour and send the agenda in advance. The intake form has already done the fact-finding, so the call is for the things that need a conversation.

• Walk through the intake answers and ask about anything vague
• Agree one goal for the first month — see the monthly calendar guide
• Show the client what a review looks like, on screen, with a sample post
• Confirm the approval terms and the dates of the first review
• Agree what the first monthly report will measure

Showing a sample review on the call is the step most often skipped, and it is the one that makes the first real review go smoothly. A client who has already clicked “Approve” once knows what to do when the email arrives.

Audit what already exists

Before planning anything, spend an hour looking at the client’s current accounts. You are looking for what has worked, what the audience responds to, and anything that will need cleaning up.

Write the findings up as half a page, not a deck. Three things to keep, three to change and three ideas to test is enough to make the first month plan feel informed.

The first month

Plan the first month slightly lighter than the retainer allows. The first review always takes longer than later ones — the client is calibrating your voice, and you are learning their taste — so fewer, stronger posts get approved faster than a full calendar.

• Send the whole month for review as one batch, with a due date
• Expect more change requests than usual, and treat them as briefing
• Keep a note of every preference the client expresses — it becomes the brand rules page
• Leave a slot or two open for things the audit turned up

After the month closes, send the first report even if the numbers are small. It establishes the rhythm: plan, approve, publish, report. The client reporting guide covers what to put in it.

The welcome email

Subject: Welcome — next steps for [Brand]’s social media

Hi [Name],

We’re glad to be working with you. Here’s what happens over the next few weeks:

1. This week: please fill in the short intake form [link] and connect your social accounts when the invite arrives. You won’t need to share any passwords.
2. [Date]: kickoff call — we’ll agree the first month’s goal and walk you through how reviews work.
3. [Date]: your first month of posts arrives for review, all together, with a link.
4. [Date]: first posts go live.

You’ll only get emails from us when there’s something to do: an invitation, and a note when posts are ready for your review.

Any questions, just reply.

[Your name]

The onboarding checklist

1. 01Send the welcome email and intake form the day the contract is signed
2. 02Get accounts connected through each network’s own sign-in — no passwords
3. 03Check the client actually owns every account
4. 04Invite one or two named approvers, and agree the turnaround
5. 05Run the kickoff call: goal, voice, rules, a sample review
6. 06Audit the existing accounts and write up half a page of findings
7. 07Plan a slightly lighter first month and send it as one batch
8. 08Collect every stated preference into a brand rules page
9. 09Send the first report, and agree the monthly rhythm from there