Client Onboarding Questionnaire Template for Meta Advertising Agencies

A great client onboarding questionnaire is the difference between a Meta ads engagement that starts fast — Pixel firing correctly, Business Manager roles set, creative assets in hand, offers documented — and one that stalls for weeks waiting on access requests. This guide is a practical, copy-ready client onboarding questionnaire template for marketing agencies running Meta ads, plus the reasoning behind each section so you can adapt it to your workflow.

Why a structured onboarding questionnaire matters

Agency owners underestimate how much of a campaign's outcome is decided during onboarding. If the Pixel isn't installed correctly, if the Business Portfolio doesn't grant your team the right roles, if brand guidelines aren't documented, or if the offer isn't clear, every hour of media buying afterwards is discounted. Sending a structured questionnaire up front does three things:

• Signals professionalism — clients feel they've hired a real operation.
• Surfaces access gaps early — before you promise a launch date you can't hit.
• Creates a written record — useful for scoping, reporting and disputes.

Section 1 — Business fundamentals

Start with the basics. This section anchors everything else and often reveals misalignment (for example, a "brand" that is actually three product lines with different offers and audiences).

• Legal business name, DBA, website and primary point of contact.
• Short description of the business, products/services and pricing.
• Primary revenue goal for the next 90 days (leads, sales, installs, calls).
• Current monthly ad spend and target monthly ad spend.
• Markets and languages you sell in.
• Seasonality, launch calendars, blackout dates.

Section 2 — Meta Business Manager access and roles

This is where most onboarding delays happen. Rather than asking clients to "give you access," specify exactly what you need and how to grant it. Reference our Meta Business Manager setup guide for the underlying structure.

• Does the client have an existing Meta Business Portfolio? Provide the Business ID.
• Which Facebook Page(s) will be used for ads? Confirm ownership inside the Business Portfolio.
• Which Instagram account(s) will be connected? Confirm ownership or Partner access.
• Which ad account(s) will be used? Confirm billing is set and the account is in good standing.
• Which Pixel / dataset will be used? Confirm ownership inside the Business Portfolio.
• Grant your agency Business Portfolio access as a Partner (preferred) or add named users with the roles listed below.

Roles to request (match these to how your team actually operates):

• Ad account: Advertiser or Admin.
• Page: Content, Community Activity, Ads, Insights (or Full control if the client wants).
• Pixel / dataset: Manage.
• Catalog (if e-commerce): Manage.
• Instagram: Create Content, Community Activity, Ads, Insights.

Section 3 — Pixel, Conversions API and tracking

You need to know exactly what's tracked, how, and whether it's trustworthy — before you spend a dollar. Bad tracking makes every optimization decision unreliable.

• Is the Meta Pixel installed sitewide? On which domain(s)?
• Which standard events fire (PageView, ViewContent, AddToCart, InitiateCheckout, Purchase, Lead)?
• Which custom events, if any, are configured?
• Is the Conversions API (CAPI) implemented? Via native integration, GTM server-side, or a partner (Shopify, Stape, etc.)?
• Is event deduplication configured (event_id matching between Pixel and CAPI)?
• Are the top 8 events for the domain prioritized in Events Manager?
• Is the domain verified in Business Manager?
• Which analytics stack is used alongside Meta (GA4, Shopify, HubSpot, Salesforce)?
• What is the source of truth for revenue? How will we reconcile Meta-reported vs. actual?

Section 4 — Offers, funnels and audiences

Media buying without a clear offer is guesswork. Force the client to articulate exactly what they're selling, to whom, and why now.

• What is the primary offer for the first 30 days? (Product, price, guarantee, urgency.)
• What secondary offers do you want tested?
• Describe the ideal customer in one paragraph.
• Top 3 objections prospects raise and how you handle them.
• Top 3 competitors and how you differentiate.
• Existing customer data available for Custom Audiences (email lists, purchase history, CRM sync)?
• Any audiences that must be excluded (existing customers, refund list, employees)?
• Landing page URLs for each offer. Are these built for paid traffic or generic?
• Expected average order value or lead value. Target CAC or CPL.

Section 5 — Brand assets and creative

You cannot ship ads without assets. Get everything in one shared folder before the engagement starts.

• Logo files (SVG, PNG with transparent background, dark and light variants).
• Brand guidelines (colors, typography, tone of voice, do's and don'ts).
• High-resolution product photography and lifestyle imagery.
• Existing video assets (raw and edited) with usage rights.
• Testimonials, case studies, reviews, UGC — with permission to use in ads.
• Founder/team footage if the brand uses face-led creative.
• Approved claims and any regulated language (health, finance, crypto, etc.).
• Named creative approver on the client side and turnaround SLA for reviews.

Section 6 — Compliance and policy

Meta's policies are strict and industry-specific. Ask up front so you don't burn an account on the first launch. If ad account stability is a concern, review our piece on why Facebook ad accounts get disabled.

• Industry vertical and any Meta special ad categories that apply (housing, employment, credit, social issues, elections, politics).
• Regulated claims the brand makes (health, weight loss, income, financial returns).
• Existing ad account restrictions, warnings or previous disables?
• Any past disputes with Meta / Business Support Home cases?
• Refund and shipping policies clearly published on the site?
• Privacy policy, terms and cookie banner in place and up to date?

Section 7 — Reporting, communication and cadence

Alignment on how you'll communicate is as important as the media plan. Set it in writing during onboarding.

• Primary communication channel (Slack, email, WhatsApp) and expected response window.
• Weekly reporting format and required KPIs.
• Monthly strategy call cadence and attendees.
• Named decision-maker for creative, budget and offer changes.
• Escalation path if performance drops or an ad account is restricted.

Section 8 — Legal, billing and scope

Close the questionnaire with the boring-but-critical items. These prevent scope creep and payment disputes.

• Signed services agreement / MSA on file.
• Billing contact, payment method and invoicing cadence.
• Who pays media directly to Meta (client card on ad account) vs. through the agency?
• NDA in place if required.
• Data processing agreement if handling EU/UK customer data.

How to deliver the questionnaire

A shared document (Google Docs or Notion) beats a PDF because both sides can update it as answers evolve. Pair the questionnaire with a short Loom video walking the client through the Business Portfolio access steps — this alone can cut onboarding time in half. Keep a running "outstanding items" section at the top so nothing gets buried.

Turning questionnaire answers into an operational setup

Once the client returns the questionnaire, your ops checklist typically includes: accepting Partner access to the Business Portfolio, confirming Pixel and CAPI health in Events Manager, uploading Custom Audience seed lists, wiring the domain verification, prioritizing the top 8 events, requesting any missing creative, and drafting the launch plan. If the client's ad account is unstable, or you'd rather run through a stable, agency-tier account from day one, see how our Rent A Facebook Ad Account service and Facebook agency ad account options fit into agency onboarding.

Adapting the template to your agency

Every agency has a different mix of e-commerce, lead-gen and local clients. Trim sections that don't apply (a local service business rarely needs a product catalog) and add sections that do (e-commerce agencies often add a full Shopify/Klaviyo integration audit). The core stays the same: business fundamentals, Meta access, tracking, offers, creative, compliance, communication and legal. Nail those eight and every engagement starts on solid ground.