What should a social media client onboarding questionnaire ask?

Enough to plan the first month without guessing: the business and what it sells, goals and how success is measured, the audience, brand voice, which accounts exist and who runs them, content sources, who approves posts and how the client wants results reported. This template covers all of that in 39 questions.

Should I send the questionnaire before or after the contract is signed?

After. It asks for account details and brand material that clients should share only once you are working together. Before signing, a short discovery call covers goals and budget, and the questionnaire then fills in the detail.

How do I get access to a client’s social accounts safely?

Never ask for passwords. Ask the client to add you through each network’s own tools, such as a partner request in Meta Business Suite for Facebook and Instagram, or a Page admin role on LinkedIn. In Posty, a client onboarding form can ask the client to connect their accounts directly, so the agency never sees a password.

Can clients fill in the questionnaire online?

Yes. Upload the Word file to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs, and the client can type straight into it, or save it as a PDF for clients who prefer paper. In Posty, the same questions can go out as a client onboarding form that clients answer in their browser.

Do I need an account to download the questionnaire?

No account, nothing to pay. The file is built in your browser, and nothing you pick or type is sent to Posty.

Social Media Client Onboarding Questionnaire

Social media onboarding questionnaire

Thank you for choosing to work with us. Your answers help us plan content that sounds like you and reaches the right people. Answer what you can, and we will go through anything you skip on our first call.

About your business

Business name: Blank
Website: Blank
Main contact: Blank
Email: Blank
Phone: Blank

1.Describe your business in two or three sentences, as you would to a new customer.
2.Where are you based, and do you serve customers locally, nationally or online?
3.What do you sell, and which products or services matter most this year?
4.What makes you different from the alternatives your customers consider?
5.Who are your main competitors, and whose social media do you admire?

Goals

6.What do you want social media to achieve in the next six months?
7.How will you judge whether it is working? Name the numbers you care about.
8.Which launches, events, sales or seasonal dates should we plan around?
9.What has worked well on your social media before, and what has not?
10.Is there a monthly budget for content production or paid promotion?

Audience

11.Who are your best customers? Describe one or two in detail.
12.Where do they live, and when are they most likely to be online?
13.What questions or doubts do they raise before buying?
14.What do customers love about you? Quote a review if you have one.
15.Which networks do your customers use most?

Brand voice

16.Which three words describe how your brand should sound?
17.Are there words, topics or styles we should avoid?
18.Do you use emoji, slang or humour? Share an example you like.
19.Do you have brand guidelines, logos, fonts or colours to share? Add links.

Accounts and access

Please do not send passwords. We will ask you to give us access through each network’s own settings.

Instagram

Profile link or handle: Blank
Who manages it today: Blank

Facebook

Profile link or handle: Blank
Who manages it today: Blank

LinkedIn

Profile link or handle: Blank
Who manages it today: Blank

20.Does anyone else post to these accounts, such as staff or another agency?
21.Do you run paid ads on any of these accounts? Who manages them?

Content

22.Which topics should we post about most often?
23.How often would you like to post on each network?
24.Do you have photos, videos or a shared drive we can use? Add a link.
25.Can we photograph or film at your premises or events?
26.Which posts from other brands would you like us to learn from?
27.Are there products, people or places that must never appear?

Approvals and communication

28.Who approves posts, and who has the final say if two people disagree?
29.How much time do you need to review posts before they go out?
30.How should we reach you about urgent comments or messages?
31.Who should we contact if something goes wrong outside business hours?

Reporting

32.How often would you like a report, and in what format?
33.Which numbers matter most to you: reach, engagement, clicks, enquiries or sales?
34.Who else should receive the report?

Legal and compliance

35.Are there legal or industry rules your posts must follow?
36.Do posts need sign-off from legal or compliance before publishing?
37.Which disclosures must we include, such as for partnerships or promotions?

Anything else

38.What would make this partnership a success for you?
39.Is there anything else we should know before we start?

How to use the onboarding questionnaire

Send it the day the client signs, and plan from the answers.

1
Tailor it to the client
Add the client’s name, tick the networks they use and leave out sections that do not apply, such as legal and compliance for a café. The questions renumber as you go.
2
Send it with a return date
Download it for Word, or upload that file to Google Drive and share it as a Google Doc. Give the client a date to return it, a week is usually enough, and say you will cover anything they skip on a call.
3
Review it on the first call
Go through the answers together on your first call. Confirm the goals and approval rules in writing, and turn the content answers into the first month’s calendar.
4
Keep it as the record
Save the completed questionnaire with the client’s files. When the client asks for something that contradicts it, or a new team member joins, it is the record of what you agreed.

What a good client onboarding questionnaire does

The questionnaire replaces the first two weeks of back and forth email. Every question in it is one you would otherwise ask piecemeal, while the client is waiting for the first posts. Sending it as one document, with a date to return it by, gets the answers in one go and shows the client you have a process.

Ask for decisions, not essays. ‘Which three words describe how your brand should sound?’ gets a usable answer; ‘Tell us about your brand’ gets a paragraph you cannot plan from. Each question here asks for something you will use in the first month: a goal, a date, a name, a link or a rule.

Settle approvals and communication before the first post. Who approves, how quickly, and who to call when a comment needs an urgent reply are the questions that cause trouble when nobody asked them. Agree them in writing and refer back to the answers when something goes wrong.

Send it as a client onboarding form in Posty

Agencies on Growth and Accelerate can send these questions as a client onboarding form. The client opens a link and answers without creating an account, uploads files, and connects their own social accounts, so nobody shares a password. Your team chooses which answers to apply to the client’s workspace, such as its name, logo, personas and objectives.

5 client onboarding forms per workspace on Growth, unlimited on Accelerate
Start from a ready-made social media onboarding form, or build your own
Text, choice, date, file and colour questions, shown or hidden by earlier answers
Email the link with an expiry date and automatic reminders
Answers stay with your team, with a CSV export

Social media client onboarding Social media for agencies Compare plans and pricing

Questions about the client onboarding questionnaire template

What should a social media client onboarding questionnaire ask?: Enough to plan the first month without guessing: the business and what it sells, goals and how success is measured, the audience, brand voice, which accounts exist and who runs them, content sources, who approves posts and how the client wants results reported. This template covers all of that in 39 questions.
Should I send the questionnaire before or after the contract is signed?: After. It asks for account details and brand material that clients should share only once you are working together. Before signing, a short discovery call covers goals and budget, and the questionnaire then fills in the detail.
How do I get access to a client’s social accounts safely?: Never ask for passwords. Ask the client to add you through each network’s own tools, such as a partner request in Meta Business Suite for Facebook and Instagram, or a Page admin role on LinkedIn. In Posty, a client onboarding form can ask the client to connect their accounts directly, so the agency never sees a password.
Can clients fill in the questionnaire online?: Yes. Upload the Word file to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs, and the client can type straight into it, or save it as a PDF for clients who prefer paper. In Posty, the same questions can go out as a client onboarding form that clients answer in their browser.
Do I need an account to download the questionnaire?: No account, nothing to pay. The file is built in your browser, and nothing you pick or type is sent to Posty.

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