The recovery message has gone to the person who used to work here. It is a small detail to discover when the campaign is ready, the graphic has been approved and the remaining team cannot reach the setting it needs. In this imagined handover, nothing has gone wrong with the creative. The problem is an arrangement nobody thought to explain while it was working.
I find that dependency more concerning than an untidy password list. Someone may know how to publish without knowing who controls permissions or recovery. The business can appear to run its own channel until it needs to do something slightly different.
There need not be an unhelpful former employee in this story. People change jobs and phones. Old agency contacts stop checking an inbox. I would want the handover to work while everyone is cooperating, rather than discover its weaknesses when asking for help has become difficult.
Access and ownership need separate answers
Being able to publish a post does not establish who controls permissions, billing or recovery. Those capabilities can belong to different accounts and roles. An asset register needs to capture that difference, using the current rules for each platform.
YouTube offers a useful documented example. Its channel permissions allow people to work on a channel through assigned roles without receiving the underlying Google account credentials. The roles carry different capabilities. A person who can edit content should not be assumed to have every administrative power. YouTube's permissions guide.
That is a reason to use delegated access where the platform supports it and choose the required role carefully. It is not a set of instructions for transferring ownership on every social network. Each service needs to be checked individually.
Make an inventory someone else can use
Start with the assets needed to run a normal campaign. Include the social channels and advertising accounts, but also analytics, the website domain, landing pages and the location of editable creative files. A company can retain its Instagram access and still lose the practical ability to update the destination its ads point to.
For each asset, record:
- The business owner and exact account or asset identifier.
- Who can administer access, and who provides suitable backup.
- Which employees and agencies have which roles.
- Who controls recovery and relevant billing arrangements.
- When access was last checked and what must happen during a handover.
The register should describe control, not become a spreadsheet full of passwords. Store credentials through the organization's approved system and follow its security process for recovery information.
For example, a hypothetical retailer might have access to its social profile but discover that an important landing page sits in an account managed solely by the agency. The right next step is to establish the supported ownership or handover arrangement and test continuity. Simply removing the agency could interrupt the very campaign the retailer wants to preserve.
Creative files deserve a separate check. Having exported videos does not necessarily mean the team has the editable projects or the right to reuse every element. Record what will be delivered and what permissions accompany it. That conversation can happen alongside the account review without assuming every asset has identical terms.
“The agency has everything” would leave me with another question: which part could we keep running tomorrow without asking it to do the work? The answer may reveal a perfectly reasonable arrangement. It may also reveal an unresolved dependency. Put a name and a resolution date beside that item while the right people are still available to discuss it.
Check the handover before the last day
Have the continuing team confirm its own access and the capabilities it actually needs. Check that business recovery routes remain available. Establish any required ownership changes through the platform's supported process before removing the departing person's access. Then review old permissions and revoke what is no longer appropriate.
A sensible check goes beyond opening a profile. Can the right person manage permissions? Can the team find source files? Does someone know which account pays for the campaign? Record the gaps while the person who understands the setup can still help explain them.
For the final handover check, someone from the continuing team should try the ordinary work with their own access. Open the campaign, find the file, check the recovery route. A signed document saying access was handed over is less reassuring than watching the next person use it successfully.