The Journey of Onboarding a New Client: Why It’s More Complex Than You Think

Signing a new client at Digital Space Marketing is just the beginning—the real work starts with onboarding.

Post Author:

Clayton Patterson, Esq.

Date Posted:

February 27, 2025

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Signing a new client at Digital Space Marketing is just the beginning—the real work starts with onboarding.

  • It’s not just sending a welcome email and diving in.
  • It’s not a simple “flip the switch” process.

  • It’s often a messy, time-consuming challenge—especially when it comes to getting access to accounts.

Our onboarding process is designed to ensure a seamless, efficient, and successful partnership. But many people don’t realize how much effort, coordination, and troubleshooting goes into getting everything set up properly.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to onboard a new client.

1. Pre-Onboarding: Research & Strategy Preparation

Before we officially start working together, we do our homework to understand your business and goals.

  • What Happens in This Phase?

  • Initial Consultation: Discuss objectives, challenges, and expectations

  • Market & Competitor Research: Analyze your industry and identify opportunities.

  • Audit of Current Marketing Efforts: Review your website, social media, ad accounts, and analytics data.

  • Internal Strategy Discussion: Align our team to build a customized approach.

  • Time Investment: 10-15 hours before any execution starts.

  • Why This Matters:

Without proper research, we’d be flying blind—leading to wasted time, poor results, and misaligned expectations.

2. The Access Chaos: Getting Logins, Permissions & Account Access

Here’s where things can get messy.

In an ideal world, clients would:

  • Have all their logins stored and organized.

  • Know how to grant access quickly.

  • Not have ex-employees or forgotten accounts causing issues.

But in reality, this process can turn into a nightmare.

  • What Happens in This Phase?

  • Access Requests for Google Ads, Facebook Business Manager, LinkedIn Ads, Analytics, CRM, and Website CMS.

  • Troubleshooting Forgotten Logins & Locked Accounts: Clients often don’t have the right credentials or ownership.

  • Dealing with Ex-Employees Who Still Have Control: Untangling past employees from account permissions can take weeks.

  • Granting Proper Admin Access (Without Giving Away Full Control): We guide clients on how to securely provide access without compromising security.

  • Time Investment: Anywhere from 5-20 hours depending on complexity.

  • Real Scenario:

We’ve had clients who lost access to their own ad accounts because an ex-agency or ex-employee was the admin. It took weeks of back-and-forth with Facebook & Google just to reclaim ownership.

  • Why This Matters:

Without full access to the right platforms, we can’t execute campaigns, track results, or optimize effectively.

3. The Kickoff Call: Aligning Expectations & Strategy

Once the access chaos is sorted (hopefully), we schedule a detailed kickoff meeting to ensure we’re fully aligned.

  • What Happens in the Kickoff Call?

  • Meet Your Dedicated Team: Introductions to your account manager, strategists, and specialists.

  • Clarify Goals & KPIs: Define what success looks like and how we’ll measure it.

  • Discuss Workflows & Communication Preferences: How often we’ll meet, send reports, and provide updates.

  • Review Brand Guidelines & Messaging: Ensuring consistency across all campaigns.

  • Time Investment: 2-4 hours for structured meetings & documentation.

  • Why This Matters:

Misalignment at the start can lead to confusion, miscommunication, and wasted effort later.

4. The Discovery & Strategy Phase: Building the Roadmap

Once we have access and alignment, we move into strategy mode.

  • What Happens in This Phase?

  • Customer Persona Development: Defining the ideal audience and their behaviors.

  • Marketing Funnel Mapping: Outlining how leads move from awareness to conversion.

  • SEO & Keyword Research: Identifying high-value search terms for organic visibility.

  • Ad Campaign & Budget Planning: Determining the best platforms, messaging, and targeting.

  • Content Strategy Development: Planning high-impact blog posts, videos, and social media content.

  • Time Investment: 15-20 hours of research, collaboration, and refinement.

  • Why This Matters:

Without a clear roadmap, marketing efforts become random tactics instead of a cohesive strategy.

5. The Implementation Phase: Setting Up the Foundation

Now, we start the real work—setting up the essential marketing infrastructure.

  • What Happens in This Phase?

  • Website & SEO Optimization: Technical SEO improvements and landing page optimization.

  • Ad Account & Tracking Setup: Configuring pixels, conversion tracking, and audience segmentation.

  • Content Creation: Writing, designing, and producing high-quality assets.

  • CRM & Automation Setup: Implementing tools to streamline lead nurturing.

  • Time Investment: 25-40 hours of execution, testing, and quality assurance.

  • Why This Matters:

Without proper setup, tracking, and optimization, even the best strategy will fail.

6. The Testing & Optimization Phase: Making Sure Everything Works

Before launching anything, we rigorously test every element.

  • What Happens in This Phase?

  • A/B Testing Landing Pages & Ads: Testing different versions for optimal performance.

  • Technical Audits: Checking website speed, mobile responsiveness, and tracking accuracy.

  • Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): Refining pages for better engagement and lead generation.

  • Time Investment: 10-15 hours of testing, analyzing, and refining.

  • Why This Matters:

Even a 1% increase in conversion rate can significantly impact revenue.

7. The Launch & Monitoring Phase: Going Live with Confidence

Once everything is ready, we launch your campaigns and closely monitor performance.

  • What Happens in This Phase?

  • Campaigns Go Live: Ads, content, and automation sequences start running.

  • Daily Monitoring & Adjustments: We track key metrics and optimize in real-time.

  • First-Week Performance Review: Analyzing early results and refining strategy.

  • Time Investment: 10+ hours of monitoring and optimizing in the first week alone.

  • Why This Matters:

A hands-off launch can waste thousands in ad spend if issues aren’t caught early.

8. The Ongoing Optimization & Growth Phase

Marketing isn’t “set it and forget it“—it’s an ongoing process of testing, learning, and scaling.

  • What Happens in This Phase?

  • Monthly Performance Reports: Analyzing what’s working and where to improve.

  • Quarterly Strategy Meetings: Adjusting the plan based on new data.

  • Scaling & Optimization: Expanding top-performing campaigns while eliminating underperformers.

  • Ongoing Time Investment: 10-15 hours per month of analysis, reporting, and refinement.

  • Why This Matters:

Marketing that’s not continuously optimized loses its effectiveness.

The Big Picture: Why Quality Onboarding Takes Time & Effort

  • Total Time Investment in Onboarding One New Client:

  • Strategy & Planning: 25+ hours

  • Setup & Execution: 40+ hours

  • Troubleshooting Account Access Issues: 5-20 hours

  • Testing & Optimization: 20+ hours

  • That’s 75+ hours of dedicated work before results start rolling in!

  • Looking for an Agency That Does It Right?

We don’t cut corners. We build strategic, data-driven campaigns that deliver results.

About the Author: Clayton Patterson, Esq.

Clay Patterson is the founder and CEO of Digital Space Marketing. After spending nearly a decade developing websites and launching successful marketing campaigns for medium sized companies and startups, Clay knows what truly drives conversions and brings growth to an organization. In addition to his extensive marketing experience, Clay is a lawyer with a deep understanding of website accessibility laws and the technical requirements that all websites should abide by.
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