Selling & Business Models
How do I give someone access to social-media accounts without sharing passwords?
The short answer
Keep the account owned by the business and invite each person through the platform’s role or business-management system. Give the least access needed, require multifactor authentication, and remove access promptly when the work ends.
Use named access
On Meta, the client can add a person to its Business Portfolio and assign specific assets such as a Page or ad account (Meta’s access instructions). Other major platforms offer page roles, channel permissions, business centers, or partner access. Use the current official instructions for each platform.
Do not create one shared “marketing” login used by five people. Shared credentials make it difficult to see who changed something, remove one person safely, or recover the account.
Grant the minimum role
Write down what the manager must do: draft posts, publish, reply, read analytics, run ads, or manage billing. Choose the role that permits those tasks and nothing more. Full control should remain with at least two trusted people inside the client’s organization when practical.
Require unique passwords and multifactor authentication. CISA recommends MFA because it helps protect an account even if a password is stolen (CISA MFA guidance). Store recovery codes with the client, not only on the freelancer’s device.
Keep an access register
Record platform, asset, owner, invited email, role, date granted, MFA status, and removal date. Review it quarterly and whenever a contractor changes roles. Never send backup codes, passwords, or identity documents through ordinary chat without a secure, necessary process.
At offboarding, transfer scheduled content and files, remove the person from every asset, rotate any secret that was exposed, and check connected apps. Confirm the client can still log in before access is removed.
If an account has already been shared, move ownership to a client-controlled email, add proper roles, turn on MFA, update recovery contacts, and then retire the shared credential.
Sources and further reading
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Related Questions
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Related WAHMN resource
If you want to build a repeatable social-media process for your own business or clients, this system takes you through the larger workflow. See Social Media Marketing Manager Business.