32+ Questions Every SMM Should Include in Your Client Onboarding Questionnaire

If you’ve ever wondered how those social media managers on IG get those raving reviews, I’ll let you in on a secret – it all starts with your onboarding questionnaire.

Behind every screenshot of a client saying “you nailed it – it’s like I wrote that! ” or “I LOVE IT” is a SMM who knows how to ask all the right questions to create content that feels like it came directly from their clients’ brains. And like most things when it comes to social media, it’s not the quantity (I mean, yes, there’s a lot), but the quality of what you’re asking – and when.

The Questions You Should Include in Your Client Onboarding Questionnaire as a Social Media Manager

This is your official permission slip to require – not ask – your clients to answer a lot of questions, but ONLY if they’re strategic. It might feel like a hassle in the moment (no one REALLY loves the idea of a never-ending questionnaire), but they’ll love you for it when you deliver their first batch of content and they don’t feel like they have to revise everything.

When you’re not shy about digging deep into their business, you’re able to implement a stronger strategy, create better content, get better results and deliver a better client experience. 

But before we get into all that, here’s everything you should include in your client onboarding questionnaire as a social media manager – straight from the one I send my SMM clients.

Business Background

AKA the foundations of their business. You’re learning about their values, their clients, their offers, and what their clients love about them. I recommend also asking about their goals – where do they want to be? (You’ll get some insight into what they’re expecting from their work with you, too.)

Here are the business background questions you can add to your onboarding questionnaire:

1. What inspired you to start your business?
2. How long have you been in business?
3. What are your core values?
4. Who is your ideal client/target audience?
5. What are some recent client/customer wins? 
6. What products or services do you sell? A bullet point list would be great, with links to where I can find more info if you have them.
7. How does your product or service help your ideal client?
8. What are 3 pain points and 3 pleasure points your ideal client has?
9. What are the 3 most common questions you receive from clients/customers, and how do you respond? If you have an FAQ page, you can link it here.
10. Where do you see your business in the next 5 years?

Psstt…. There are FOUR sections to my onboarding questionnaire. You can separate these with headers or create separate pages in your questionnaire for each – it just depends on your CRM (which btw I highly recommend Dubsado, it’s what I’ve been using for years).

Brand Voice/Style Guidelines

You have two jobs as a social media manager: match their brand and their voice. This is the section (and questions) that’ll help you do both: 

11. Do you have a branding kit? If so, please upload to our [insert where you’re having them upload resources/photos – we use Google Drive!)]
12. What colors do you want to see on your Instagram? 
13. What colors do you NOT want to see on your Instagram?
14. What fonts do you like for posts? I will use Canva to create graphics so any I can access from there are perfect.
15. Are there any words/topics you do not want to see featured on your Instagram?
16. What brand voice tone should Instagram posts have?

Content Questions

These are the questions that’ll help with creating a content calendar that gets approved with minimal questions or concerns – a literal social media management  dream.

Here’s what you need to know (and ask) in your questionnaire to help plan content:

17. What events do you have coming up over the next 3 months?
18. Any national holidays you’d particularly like us to create content around?
19. Do you have any promotions/sales/new services this month you would like to promote? If so, please share a bit about them.
20. Any topics you want to avoid talking about on your Instagram?

Engagement Questions

One of the ways I’ve scaled ABC Social Media Management over the past 4 years is bringing on an engagement specialist – and even if you don’t have a team member to do it for you (or you’re not doing it yourself), your clients SHOULD be encouraged to engage on social media.

But, if you are offering done-for-you engagement in your SMM package, here are the questions you should ask:

21. Ask your client to provide 3 sample posts for them to write a comment in response to (I pull from their following list)
22. What is your favorite food?
23. Favorite color?
24. Favorite animal?
25. Favorite self-care practice?
26. Where did you go to college, and what did you major in?
27. Do you have a partner? How did you meet? Tell me about them!
28. Do you have any kids? Tell me about them!
29. Do you have any pets? Tell me about them!
30. What’s your favorite place you’ve traveled?
31. What do you do outside of work?
32. What are you currently reading?
33. What are you currently watching?
34. Are you into podcasts? What kind?
35. What kind of music do you listen to?
36. What does your morning/evening routine look like?
37. What’s your go-to drink?
38. Where can we find you on a Friday night?
39. Is your faith something that’s important to you?
40. What is your zodiac sign?
41. What is your enneagram?
42. Are you into the “woo”?
43. Anything else that would be important for me to know?

Why Ask All the Questions? (Hint: It’s Your Client Experience)

This post might seem like it’s all about the questions you ask your clients, but the truth is it’s actually about your client experience and results. 

The more you know about your client, the better you can represent them and their brand on social media. The same applies to their results – the better you can represent them and speak to their ideal client, the better their results will be (and you want the best results possible).

And that’s not to say you HAVE to ask these questions and only these questions – build on it yourself. Find yourself asking for the same information month over month with each client? Add it to your onboarding. This questionnaire was developed over two years of working with social media management clients and constantly tweaking so I could get the information needed to support them best. 

Take out what you don’t need or use, and add what you do!

Want to learn more about creating a sustainable SMM business and learn the ins and outs of what it takes to build a business on social media by managing clients’ social media? Learn more about mentorship here.