What do you include in your client intakes/workshops to inform a social playbook?

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I'd bring things to react to, because startup founders answer a draft faster than an open question. Three sample posts in different tones ("which one sounds like you?") and two or three accounts they like or hate cover voice in ten minutes. I'd leave open who the customer is, what they can't say publicly, and who approves posts.

Ask about approvals early. A founder who needs a week to sign off can't support a daily plan.

What saved us the most time was bringing things to react to instead of questions. We put 6 to 8 real posts from competitors and adjacent brands on screen and have them call each one "us" or "not us" and say why. That surfaces voice faster than any adjective exercise. The only open questions we keep are who actually approves posts, what they'd hate to see go out, and what one result would make the next 90 days a win. Everything else we draft and let them mark up.

I'd add one short comment-response scenario alongside the sample posts: a customer complains publicly, or asks a question the social person can't answer. Who acknowledges it, who owns the answer, and when does it move to a private support channel?

You can settle that with one example in a few minutes, then put the response owner and escalation path in the playbook. Posting approvals are only half the workflow if nobody is responsible for the conversation after publication. Ask which recurring questions they want the community to be able to answer for each other too.

One thing worth adding when you formalize this: separate collecting materials from the conversation. Send a short async form a few days before the session that asks for the raw stuff - brand docs, past posts that performed, product photos, and real customer language from reviews or support chats. Then the session gets spent on judgment calls instead of hunting for files.

With limited time, the questions that do the most work:

• Who actually approves posts, and what turnaround you both agree to. Get that stated explicitly, otherwise slow approvals quietly stall the whole calendar.
• What can we never say: competitors, pricing, legal, topics the founder hates.
• Who the real customer is and what they complain about.

React-to material beats open questions for voice: two or three sample tones or competitor posts and have them pick which sounds like them. Keep the customer definition and the approval chain as open discussion, since those need talking through, not selecting.

On access: use the intake to map which accounts and permissions you will need, then have the client grant them through role-based invites or a password manager. Passwords, 2FA codes and recovery codes should never go into an intake form, email or notes.