Agency client onboarding is where relationships are won or lost. A thorough onboarding process means better content, fewer revisions, and happier clients. A rushed one means weeks of off-brand posts, frustrated clients, and the constant feeling of playing catch-up.
The onboarding checklist
Week 1: Discovery
- Brand audit. Review existing social presence, website, any brand guidelines. What exists? What's working? What's broken?
- Competitor mapping. Identify three to five direct competitors and audit their social presence.
- Voice workshop. Sit with the client and define personality descriptors, audience, language rules, and examples. Document everything.
- Platform access. Get admin access to all social accounts, analytics dashboards, and any existing tools.
- Compliance requirements. For regulated industries, collect compliance documents, licence details, and approval workflow requirements.
Week 2: Setup
- Brand profile creation. Enter everything from the discovery phase into your management tool.
- Platform connections. Connect all social accounts and verify publishing permissions.
- Content pillar definition. Agree on three to five content themes with the client.
- Approval workflow setup. Define who approves what, response time expectations, and escalation procedures.
- First content plan. Generate or create the first month's content plan. Review with client before publishing anything.
The brand profile as the foundation
Everything flows from the brand profile. If the brand voice is well-defined, content creation is fast and revisions are rare. If the brand voice is vague, every post becomes a negotiation. Invest the time upfront.
Onboarding with Brand and Go
Brand and Go's onboarding flow is designed to capture everything an agency needs in one structured process. Create a new business, enter brand colours and voice descriptors, connect social platforms, upload compliance documents (if applicable), and generate the first content plan. All within the platform. The brand profile becomes the single source of truth that every team member and AI generation references.
The 48-hour rule
Don't publish anything for the first 48 hours. Use that time to absorb the brand, study the audience, and review past content. The first posts you publish set the client's expectations for the entire relationship. Make them count.