The slowest part of onboarding a client is usually not the strategy. It’s getting into their accounts. Someone has to find the login, someone else has to remember which email it was, and the two-factor code goes to a phone in another time zone.
A client connect link replaces all of that with a single click on the client’s side. The mechanics are covered on the Client connect links feature page, which is also where you create one. This post is about the part the product can’t do for you: running the onboarding so the link actually gets used.
A worked example
Say you run social for Harbor Coffee, a small chain. They have an Instagram account, a Facebook Page, a Google Business Profile, and a TikTok that the owner’s nephew set up two years ago. You’re on a Pro plan.
Before you send anything, count. Pro allows 2 channels per platform, and you already manage two other Instagram accounts. Harbor’s Instagram would be your third, so Instagram would be greyed out on the client’s page and the link would dead-end for them. Clear a slot or buy an extra one first. Doing this check takes thirty seconds. Skipping it costs you a round trip and an awkward “it didn’t work” message from a client.
Create four links, not one. Each link connects exactly one account, so name them for the job: “Harbor Coffee Instagram”, “Harbor Coffee Facebook”, and so on. The name is only for you, but it becomes the Client: label on the channel, which is what lets you tell Harbor’s Instagram from the other forty channels in the list later.
Send them in order of how much the client cares. Instagram first. If the first one goes smoothly, the other three feel easy. If you send four links in one message, the likeliest outcome is that one gets done.
Write the message like a person. Something like:
Hi Maria, this is the link I mentioned for connecting Harbor’s Instagram to our scheduling tool. It takes about a minute. You’ll sign in on Instagram’s own page, so we never see your password. Please choose the Harbor Coffee account, not your personal profile. The link works once and expires in a week.
That message does three jobs. It says who you are, so the link isn’t mistaken for phishing. It tells the client which account to pick, which is the single most common mistake. And it explains why the link is safe to click.
Check back the next day. Each client gets a card on the Channels page, and the status on each link tells you what to do next.
Reading a stalled link
| What you see | What probably happened | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Waiting for client | They haven’t opened it, or they’ve lost the message | Resend your message by another route, not the same one. If it’s near its 7-day expiry, make a new link |
| Connecting | They clicked through and are on the platform’s sign-in or approval screen | Wait a few minutes. Don’t remove it yet |
| Not completed | They clicked a platform, then closed the tab or hit an error | Send a fresh link and ask what they saw |
| Expired | Seven days passed | New link, shorter message, and ask for a specific day to do it |
| Connected | Done | Check the channel carries the right Client: label |
The “Not completed” case deserves a note. A link is spent the moment the client is sent off to the platform, not when they finish. That’s deliberate: it means one link can never produce two accounts, even if it’s opened in two tabs. The price is that an abandoned attempt needs a new link. For Bluesky and Mastodon, the link is only spent after the client types their handle or server name, so a typo there is free.
Which platform needs a different plan of attack
Most platforms work the same way: the client picks one, signs in on its own page, and approves. A few don’t fit that pattern, and knowing which saves you a failed attempt.
- Facebook adds a step. After signing in, the client picks which of their Pages to connect. If they manage several, tell them which one.
- Bluesky asks for a handle such as alice.bsky.social first. Mastodon asks for the address of the server, such as mastodon.social. Warn the client to have both to hand, because plenty of people don’t know their server’s name.
- Telegram can’t go through a link at all. It needs a bot token, which is a secret, and the page a client lands on is deliberately not a place to collect secrets. Connect Telegram yourself.
- Instagram and Facebook are separate decisions. They are listed as separate platforms on the client’s page, so the client connects each one in its own pass. Create a link for each if they want both.
Mistakes that cost a day
Letting the client pick the wrong account. They sign in as whoever their browser already has signed in. A founder who is signed in to a personal profile will connect that profile unless you’ve said otherwise. Name the account in your message, every time.
Sending a link from a workspace the client doesn’t recognize. The page shows your workspace name. If it’s “Workspace 3” or a personal email, a cautious client will ignore it or report it. Rename the workspace to your agency’s name before the first link goes out.
Reusing a link for a second account. It won’t work, and the confusion that follows is worse than the cost of making another. One account, one link.
Treating Revoke as Remove Channel. Revoking a link stops it being used. It never touches an account the link already connected. If you want the account gone, remove the channel.
Forgetting who can send links. Owners, admins, approvers and contributors can create one. Viewers can’t. If a freelancer says the button is missing, check their role before anything else.
Expecting it on every plan. Client connect links are on Pro and Business. Free and Lifetime workspaces don’t include them, and links stop working if a workspace drops below Pro.
A checklist you can paste into your onboarding doc
- Count the client’s accounts per platform against your channel limits.
- Rename your workspace to something the client recognizes.
- Create one link per account, each named for the client and platform.
- Send them one at a time, with the message above and the exact account to choose.
- Connect any Telegram channel yourself.
- Next day: check the status of each link and resend where it says Not completed.
- Once connected, confirm each channel has the right Client: label.
After the accounts are in
A connected client account behaves like any other channel. It counts toward your plan’s limits, you can schedule to it, and you can group it with the rest of that client’s accounts into channel sets per brand. The client can then approve posts through a review link without needing an account either, and internal notes keep your onboarding context next to the work.
If you onboard clients from a form or a CRM, links can also be created through the API and the assistant integrations. The link comes back once, at creation, and can’t be retrieved later. The API guides cover authentication.
Plan facts
BulkPublish supports 15 platforms: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Discord, Telegram, Tumblr and Snapchat. Fourteen of them can be connected through a client link; Telegram is the exception.
- Client connect links: Free: not included. Pro: included. Business: included.
- Channels: Free: 3 (1 per platform). Pro: 30 (2 per platform). Business: 75 (5 per platform).
- Posts: Free: 3/day. Pro: 30/day. Business: unlimited.
- Extra channel slots: $2.99/mo each.
See pricing for the full comparison.
The short version
Count your slots, send one link per account, tell the client exactly which account to choose, and check the next day. That is the whole job. The links do the secure part. The message does the rest.
Start free and see the rest of the workflow, then add a Pro plan when you have clients to onboard.