We Have to Talk About Your Passwords

November 3, 2025

This may seem like a funny topic for a marketing consultant, but it’s an issue that I’ve been running into more and more frequently. Password management. Two-factor authentication. Admin access. Whether driven by mandatory upgrades to Windows 11 or cumulative angst over technology, business owners are losing access to important marketing assets and likely many other business assets.

I’m not an IT expert nor do I want to be one. I know one. She’s seeing it too. We’re just not keeping track well.

When I give public talks and reveal that I work in marketing, people sidle up to me afterwards. “Can you help me? I can’t access my (fill in the blank here).” It’s epidemic. And there’s no customer service at Google or Meta who will help you.

One client recently rattled off not one, not two but 6 different Google accounts he used to access a linked account. He had the passwords for none of them. So he just kept creating new ones every time he needed access to various services. Cray-cray!

Same with social media accounts. Change agencies, lose an employee and voila, there goes access to your Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. and the years you spent building a following. Why?

And let’s not even talk about back ups. Yes, you need cloud back ups of everything on your computer and your network. And your employees’ computers. Ideally multiple backups. Whether it’s having to reload all your files after a Windows 11 upgrade or a ransomware attack, it’s not a matter of if but when you’ll need to retrieve your files. BTW, you’ll need a password for your cloud backup too.

Here are a few suggestions for business owners:

  1. Check to be sure you are the admin of all your social media accounts. Not your agency. Not an employee. Definitely not a former agency or employee. Even if you part ways amicably, a locked account is at best a nuisance if not an emergency. Remember to ask me about the (literal) clown who took over an attraction’s Facebook page after he was fired for inappropriate behavior. It’s true! Don’t give clowns your business assets.
  2. Use a password locker. There are a million of them. Consider Last Pass.
  3. Use Google Password Manager. If you use Chrome as your browser, it will suggest a “strong password” when you are prompted to create one. Accept it and also ask it to save it to “Google Password Manager.” This will follow you on any device with Chrome. Lifesaver!
  4. Maintain an encrypted Excel sheet with every marketing account that is accessible by the management team. One client I have stored this in their shared Dropbox file and included accounts such as web hosting, social media, Slack accounts, domain registrations, EVERYTHING. Despite turnover in marketing, it’s been easy to find the latest password as well as which email and person’s name is associated with each account. INVALUABLE. Of course you have to maintain the list but for this client, it works. I love them for it.

There likely is much more on this subject – just ask Chat GPT. But this is written by a real human on a Monday morning after spending waaay too much time onboarding new clients and spending hours gaining access to accounts that never should have been locked up.