Social Media Questions to Ask Clients
For freelance social media managers and agencies taking on a new client: the social media questions to ask clients before you post anything on their behalf. They follow the order an onboarding conversation usually takes, from what the accounts are for and who they should reach, through voice, content and who approves and replies, to access, ads and reporting. Each has a note on what a good or a worrying answer sounds like and what to do with it.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Goals
What do you want social media to do for the business?
Why ask it
The first answer is usually 'more followers' or 'be more active', which describes the accounts and not the business. Ask what a busier account would lead to: bookings, inquiries, foot traffic, job applicants, repeat orders. If they cannot choose, offer three and have them rank them, because the top one decides what you post and what you report.
What should someone do after they see a post: call, book, message, visit or buy online?
Why ask it
Every caption ends by sending people somewhere, and it should be a place where the business can handle the reply. Test the destination before you point anyone at it: a booking page that loads on a phone, a number someone picks up, an inbox that gets read. If the owner wants all five, choose one per post.
Which number would you check first to decide whether this is working?
Why ask it
Followers, reach, messages, website clicks or sales: whatever they name goes at the top of your first report, even if you think another figure matters more. If it is follower count, agree now on a second number that sits beside it, such as inquiries that mention social.
How soon do you expect to see a result, and what would count as one in the first three months?
Why ask it
Agree on early markers that are in your hands: posts going out on schedule, messages answered within a day, a baseline report delivered. An owner who expects sales to jump in a month with no ad budget needs that conversation now, while it costs nothing. Write down what you both said.
Who has been running the accounts until now, and why is that changing?
Why ask it
If it was the owner, ask which parts they enjoyed and which they dreaded, because the first can stay theirs. If it was an employee who still works there, find out whether they know you are coming and whether they keep any of it. A handover from a person is far easier than one from a login, so ask for an hour with them.
When a customer comes to you through social today, how do you find out?
Why ask it
Asking at the counter or hearing it on the phone is a rough count, but it is a count, and you can build on it. If nobody has any idea, make counting the first task: a trackable link, a code to quote, or one extra question on the inquiry form. Set it up before the first post so there is a before to compare with.
Which dates in the next few months have to be on the calendar: a launch, an opening, a sale, a busy season?
Why ask it
Mark them before you plan anything else, then ask when the photos, prices and details for each will be ready. Launch posts tend to run late for want of material, not ideas, so get a date for the assets as well as one for the event.
What should the accounts not be for?
Why ask it
Some owners want no hard selling, some want no customer service in the comments, some never want to recruit there. Each limit removes a kind of post from your plan, so hear them before you draft one. If they say 'anything goes', test it with two examples: a discount post and a reply to a complaint.
Audience and platforms
Who are you trying to reach, and are those the people who follow you now?
Why ask it
Once you have access, compare the answer with the audience figures in each platform's insights. Small business accounts are often followed by friends, family and others in the trade. A gap between who follows and who buys is not bad news. It is the brief.
Where do your customers spend their time online, and how do you know?
Why ask it
'Customers say they saw us on Facebook' is evidence. 'My nephew says everyone is on TikTok' is a guess. Where there is no evidence, suggest asking the next twenty customers at the counter or on the booking form, and plan the first month around what is known.
Which platforms are you on, including any nobody has touched in a while?
Why ask it
List every profile by name, down to the one a former employee opened and abandoned. Then mark which are yours to manage. An account left off the list is where 'could you also post it there' begins, and a dormant page with the wrong opening hours still turns up in searches.
If you could only keep one platform, which would it be?
Why ask it
The one they name gets the original work, and the others get a version of it or a pause. Ask what makes it the keeper: sales they can trace, the comments, or simply that they enjoy it. Suggest pausing any profile nobody can give a reason for, and do it in this meeting. Raised in month four, the same advice looks like you trimming your own workload.
Is there a platform you think you should be on but are not?
Why ask it
Find out what is behind it: a competitor doing well there, customers asking, or the owner's own scrolling habits. Quote a new channel as new work. It needs its own formats and its own time, and reposting what was made for another platform rarely does the job.
Can you send me two or three accounts you wish yours looked like?
Why ask it
Have them say what they envy in each one: the look, the jokes, the pace, the comments. If an account they send clearly has a video crew behind it, say which part of it is reachable on this budget. When they cannot say what they like, it usually comes down to polish, and that is a design conversation.
Which competitors' accounts do you watch, and what do they do that bothers you?
Why ask it
This is the yardstick the owner will privately hold you to. Look at those accounts before you send a proposal and note what draws replies, not only likes. If they watch nobody, bring two local examples to the next meeting so there is something shared to point at.
What do customers ask most often in person, by phone or by email?
Why ask it
Each of those is a post that already has an audience. Try to leave with ten. If the owner cannot think of any, the person who answers the phone can, and that person is worth meeting anyway.
Voice and limits
Should the accounts sound like you, like the team, or like the company?
Why ask it
It settles 'I' or 'we', whether posts are signed and whose face appears. An account in the owner's voice needs the owner's time: voice notes, opinions, a quick video now and then. Ask whether they will give it, and if the answer is doubtful, write as the team.
Can you show me one post of yours that sounded exactly right and one that made you wince?
Why ask it
Two real posts show where the line sits far better than a list of qualities would. Ask what exactly was wrong with the second one: the wording, the photo, the timing, or who wrote it. Keep both in the client's folder and check drafts against them for the first month.
Are there words, phrases or emoji you never want to see in a post?
Why ask it
Small dislikes get whole posts sent back. Ask as well how product names are spelled and capitalized, and whether customers are guests, clients, members or patients. Collect the answers on one page and have it approved, so later edits can point back to it.
How do you feel about humor, memes and trending sounds?
Why ask it
A relaxed yes in the meeting often turns into a rejected first joke. Bring three sample captions for the same photo, from straight to playful, and have them point at one. Leave trends alone if they hesitate: a late or awkward one reads worse than a plain post.
Which topics are off limits?
Why ask it
Politics, religion, competitors by name, prices, staffing and news events are the usual ones. Write the list down. Then ask what happens to scheduled posts on a day of bad news, local or national: who decides to pause them, and how they reach you.
Does your industry have rules about what can be said, shown or promised in public?
Why ask it
Health claims, financial products, alcohol, children, before-and-after photos and testimonials are common areas. Do not guess: the rules depend on the trade and the place, so ask who in the business knows them and whether that person needs to see posts first. Build their check into the approval step.
Who is happy to appear in photos and video, and who is not?
Why ask it
Get names, because a general 'the team is fine with it' tends to leave out the one person who minds. Ask how the business records permission from staff and from customers, and follow its process, since what is required depends on where they are and on their own policies. If children are ever on the premises, ask about them separately.
When a customer tags you or posts a photo, do you want it shared, and how do we ask first?
Why ask it
Agree on one short message that requests permission and credits the person, and decide whether a yes in the comments is enough for this client. If they have never thought about it, ask them to check what their own terms and local rules expect before you repost anything.
Content
What photos, video, logos and brand files already exist, and where are they kept?
Why ask it
The good answer is a shared folder. The common one is 'on my phone', in which case book an hour to go through the camera roll together. Check that the logo exists as a clean file with a transparent background, because a screenshot of the sign will not survive a profile picture.
Will you send me photos and news, or do you expect me to come and capture it?
Why ask it
No other answer on this page moves your price as much. If they will send material, agree on a day of the week and a minimum amount. If you are shooting, price the visits and ask how often you can get in and who will be there. An owner who assumes you will simply know what to post has not planned to supply anything, so spell out what you need each week.
How often do you expect to post, and where did that number come from?
Why ask it
The number is usually borrowed from a competitor or an article. Set it against the material they can actually supply and propose a pace you can keep up for a year. Daily posts with no photos coming in is a promise to turn down in this meeting, not in month two.
What three or four subjects should the feed keep coming back to?
Why ask it
Most businesses already have them without having named them: the product, the people who make it, what customers got out of it, how something is done. Naming them gives you a way to plan a month and gives the owner a way to say what is missing. If every subject on their list is a product, ask what regulars like about the place that a stranger would never guess.
Which of your past posts did best, and why do you think it worked?
Why ask it
Check their theory against the insights later. Owners tend to remember the post they were proud of, while the figures often favor a staff photo or a plain announcement. Where memory and numbers disagree, show both kindly: it is your first chance to show how you will make decisions.
Who took the photos you have been posting, and what are you allowed to do with them?
Why ask it
Images from a hired photographer, a stock library or a supplier's website can each come with limits on where and how long they may be shown. Ask the client to check the agreement or the license and tell you. Until they have, post only what the business shot itself.
Are there set colors, fonts and logo versions I should be designing with?
Why ask it
If there are guidelines, ask for the file and not a description of it. If there are none, pull the colors and fonts from the website and the signage, put them on one sheet and get a yes before you build templates. Redoing a month of graphics over a shade of green is avoidable.
Which products, services or offers do you want pushed, and which should stay quiet?
Why ask it
Some lines are low margin, nearly sold out or about to be dropped. Ask who tells you when stock, prices or hours change, and how fast, so you never promote something a customer cannot get. If nobody is named, add a weekly check-in message to your own routine.
Do you run giveaways, discounts or competitions, and do you want to?
Why ask it
Settle who pays for the prize, who picks the winner and who delivers it. Platforms publish their own promotion terms, and places have their own rules on contests, so read the first and ask the client to confirm the second before a date is announced.
Do you work with influencers, ambassadors or partner businesses?
Why ask it
Ask who manages those relationships, whether anything is in writing and how gifted or paid posts are labeled. Disclosure rules vary by place and platform, so find out how the client handles it now. If free products go out with nothing agreed, raise it before you inherit the arrangement.
Approvals and replies
Who approves posts before they go out?
Why ask it
You want one name. When two or three people review, ask who decides when they disagree, and send drafts to that person. If the whole office expects a look, posts will go out late, so propose a single approver with the others copied in.
How quickly can you turn an approval around, and what happens if I hear nothing?
Why ask it
Agree on a number of working days, then settle the silent case: does the post go out or wait? Either rule works as long as it is written into the agreement. A busy owner often does better approving a month in one sitting than a post at a time.
Do you want to see every post, or only certain kinds?
Why ask it
Offer two lanes. Routine posts go out after a monthly look at the calendar, and anything with a price, an offer, a named person or an opinion waits for a yes. Owners who start by wanting everything often relax once they have seen a few weeks of your work, so agree to revisit it.
Where do you want to review drafts: a shared calendar, a scheduling tool, a document or messages?
Why ask it
Pick one place and keep every edit there. Approvals scattered across texts, emails and voice notes get lost, and you end up posting the version before the correction. If the owner will only ever reply by message, accept it and log each yes in your own calendar.
Does anyone else post to the accounts: you, staff, another agency?
Why ask it
A surprise post from the owner can land on top of a planned one or contradict it. Give each person a lane, for example stories for the owner and the main feed for you, or ask for a quick message first. For a franchise or a branch, ask whether head office has its own social rules and get the document.
Who answers comments and direct messages, and during which hours?
Why ask it
Replies are easy to leave out of an agreement, and they take time every day. If the job is yours, state the hours and a reply time, and price it as its own line. If it stays with them, check that someone has the apps and the notifications switched on, because an inbox nobody owns is where a complaint goes unanswered.
Which messages can I answer on my own, and which do I pass to you?
Why ask it
Opening hours, directions and menu questions are usually yours. Quotes, complaints and anything touching health, money or legal matters go to the business. Ask for approved answers to the ten most common questions and one named person, with a phone number, for the handover.
How do you want complaints and bad reviews handled in public?
Why ask it
Get the rule before the first one arrives: who drafts the reply, how quickly, and when it moves to a private message. Ask whether they would ever hide or delete a comment. An owner who wants all criticism removed needs to hear how that reads to everyone else watching the thread.
If something goes wrong on a weekend or late at night, who do I call, and am I expected to be watching?
Why ask it
Out-of-hours cover is either priced or excluded. It should never be assumed. Get a second contact for when the owner is on a plane, and agree on what you may do alone in the meantime, such as pausing scheduled posts.
Access, ads and reports
Who owns each account, and which email address and phone number is it tied to?
Why ask it
The worrying answer is a former employee, a relative or the last agency. Start recovering those before your start date, since the platform sets the pace and it can be slow. The aim is for the client to be the owner of record, with you added on top.
How will you give me access: a team role, a partner invitation or the password?
Why ask it
Ask for role-based access wherever the platform offers it, so the client can remove you in one step and no password changes hands. Where only a shared login works, agree on a password manager and on where the security codes are sent. Codes that go to the owner's phone will lock you out at the moment a post is due.
Is anything already scheduled or running: queued posts, an ad, an automatic reply?
Why ask it
Whatever is in motion keeps going out after you start, and from then on it looks like your work. Go through the scheduling tool, the ad account and the saved replies together and decide what stays. Find out too which tools the business already pays for and whose login they sit under, before you add your own.
Have you worked with a social media manager or agency before, and what went wrong or right?
Why ask it
Each complaint points at something you can put in place: a manager who never caught the voice is answered by the voice sheet, and one whose work was a mystery by the report. Three managers in a year says something about the client. Check whether the last one still has access, and have the owner remove it.
Has any account been hacked, restricted or had posts taken down?
Why ask it
Past trouble can follow an account, and you want to hear about it from the owner and not from an error message. Ask what happened, whether it was resolved and who dealt with it. Where a platform shows an account's standing in its settings, look at it together.
Can I see the insights for the past year before I change anything?
Why ask it
Export or screenshot them in the first week. Platforms differ in how far back their figures go, so check each one and do not assume the history will still be there later. Those numbers are your baseline, and they belong on page one of the first report.
Is anything set up on the website to show what visitors from social do there?
Why ask it
Analytics, a platform's tracking tag and tagged links let a report go past clicks to inquiries or sales. If the owner does not know, ask who built the site and get an introduction. Without it, be clear at the start that your report can only speak to what happens on the platforms.
Have you paid to boost posts or run ads before, and what came of it?
Why ask it
A few boosted posts and no visible result is a common story. Ask which post, who it was shown to and what they hoped people would do next. The answers tell you whether ads were tested or only tapped, and whether the owner has already decided they do not work.
Is there a budget for ads, and is it separate from my fee?
Why ask it
Get an amount per month, however small. Ask whose card sits on the ad account: it should be the client's, so the spend, the billing and the history stay with them if you part ways. No ad budget is a fine answer, provided the goals from the start of the conversation shrink to fit.
Would you read a monthly report, and what should be on its first page?
Why ask it
Aim for one page: the number they named as their measure of success, the posts that did best and worst, and what you will change next month. Some owners would sooner have a fifteen-minute call. One who admits they will not read anything gets five lines in a message, and that is still a report.
If we stop working together, what do you expect to get back?
Why ask it
Agree on the handover while everyone is friendly: access removed, templates and raw files passed on, the calendar exported. Who owns the work you created is a matter for the written agreement, so put it there, and get advice on the wording if either of you is unsure.
Here is what I think is included. What were you expecting that I have not mentioned?
Why ask it
Read your scope back: platforms, posts per week, replies, shoots, ads, reports. Whatever they add at this point was going to surface in month two as a disappointment. Price it, leave it out in writing, or trade it for something else.
How to run a social media onboarding conversation
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the meeting
Look at the accounts first
Spend twenty minutes on every public profile before you speak: when each last posted, what the bio says, whether comments get replies, whether the link works. You will skip the questions the feed already answers and ask sharper ones, such as why the posting stopped in March. It also shows the owner you did not arrive cold.
Send the factual questions ahead
Which platforms exist, where the files are, who holds each login and whether there are guidelines can all go in a short form before the call. That leaves the meeting for the questions that need a conversation: what the accounts are for, how the business should sound, and who replies to a complaint.
Know which answers you need before you quote
Platforms in scope, posts per week, who supplies photos, who answers messages and whether ads are included set the price. Voice and subjects for the feed can wait for a second session once the work is agreed. If time is short, ask the pricing ones first.
Ask to have the right people there
The owner knows the goals, but the person at the front desk or on the phones often knows the customers' questions and is the one who will be sending you photos. Fifteen minutes with them, in the same meeting or after it, saves weeks of guessing.
In the conversation
Follow the order of the page
Goals first, because every later answer is judged against them. Audience and platforms next, then voice and limits, then content, then approvals and replies, with access, ads and reports last. Owners often want to start with posting frequency. Note the number and come back to it once you know what the posts are for.
Ask for examples, not adjectives
Asked how the business should sound, most owners reach for words that would fit any company on the street. A post they liked, an account they envy and a caption they hated give you something to write to. Whenever an answer is an adjective, ask them to show you one.
Get a name for every job
Approving, supplying photos, answering messages, handling a complaint, paying for ads: each needs a person, not 'us' or 'the office'. Where no name comes, that task will fall to you by default, so decide in the room whether you are taking it on and at what price.
Say what things cost as they come up
When the owner mentions a fourth platform, weekend replies or a monthly shoot, say there and then whether it is in the fee. It is easier than sending a revised quote later, and it keeps the wish list honest.
Turning the answers into paperwork
A one-page voice sheet
Put who is speaking, the words to use and avoid, the topics that are off limits, and the two example posts on a single page. Send it for approval before the first draft. Later, when a caption comes back with 'this does not sound like us', you both have something to point at.
Approval and reply rules in the agreement
Who approves, how many working days they have, what happens when nobody answers, which messages you handle and during what hours: these belong in the written agreement, not in a meeting note. They are the terms most likely to be remembered differently three months on.
An access checklist
List each account with its owner, the kind of access you have been given and where the security codes go. Tick them off as invitations arrive. Do not set a start date until the list is complete, because one missing login can hold up a whole month's calendar.
A baseline before the first post
Record followers, reach, messages and website visits from social for the months before you began, taking whatever each platform's insights will show. Date it and send it to the client. Every later report is read against this page.
Reading the answers
Vague goals are normal, vague approvals are not
Most owners have not put their goal into words, and helping them do it is part of the job. An owner who cannot say who approves posts, or says they will know it when they see it, is describing how every week will go. Sort it out before you start, or price for the extra rounds.
Check what you are told against the feed
'We post all the time' and 'customers love our stories' can be checked once you have access. Do it quietly and without scoring points. Where the account and the description differ, bring the figures to the next meeting as a starting point.
When the answer is 'I am not sure we are allowed'
Questions about staff and customer photos, contests, paid partnerships and regulated products do not have one answer. They depend on the place, the trade, the platform's terms and the client's own policies. Your job is to ask who knows and wait for the answer. It is the client's decision to make, with advice if they need it.
Signs to slow down
No goal and a tight deadline, logins held by someone who left on bad terms, a demand for daily posts with nothing to photograph, or an expectation that you are reachable at any hour for the same fee. None of these has to end the conversation. Each one needs to be settled in writing before work begins.