The calendar that is still in draft on the 29th
The social team finishes next month's calendar for a client: thirty posts with copy, visuals and hashtags, laid out in a Google Sheet with image links. It goes to the client's marketing manager on the 20th. She replies on the 27th with "looks good, a few comments" and a PDF with notes scribbled on four posts. Her boss replies separately about a fifth post. The product team asks to swap a whole week because a launch moved.
On the 30th the social executive is scheduling posts from three versions of the sheet, a PDF and two email threads, hoping she has applied every change. On the 3rd a post goes out with a price that was changed in one of those threads.
Why sign-off keeps slipping
- The calendar is sent as one big document, so the client puts off reviewing it until they have a free hour.
- Feedback comes back in whatever format is easiest for the client, rarely in the file itself.
- More than one person at the client has a view, and they do not see each other's comments.
- There is no clear deadline, or the deadline has no consequence, so approval drifts to the last moment.
- Approval is for "the calendar", so one disputed post holds up the other twenty-nine.
The agency ends up acting as the switchboard between the client's own stakeholders, which it is not paid for.
What late approval costs
Posts are scheduled in a rush and mistakes get through. The social team works late at the end of every month. Clients occasionally claim they never approved a post that caused a problem, and the agency has no clean record. Planned posts tied to dates, like events and launches, are missed because the approval came after the moment passed.
The approval flow we build
- Posts are created in one place, either your social scheduling tool or a simple content board we set up, with copy, visual, channel and planned date.
- The client receives a link to a review page for the month, one post per card, showing the post as it will appear on each channel.
- Each post can be approved, marked with a change request against a specific part, or rejected. Several people at the client can review, and they see each other's comments.
- Deadlines are set per batch. Reminders go to reviewers who have not acted, and the account manager sees who is holding things up.
- Only approved posts move to scheduling, either pushed to your scheduling tool's API or listed for the social executive to queue.
- Every decision is stored with the name, time and version, so the record of what the client approved is clear.
| Step | Before | With the flow |
|---|---|---|
| Sending the calendar | Spreadsheet or PDF attachment | Review link, one card per post |
| Client feedback | Email, PDF notes, calls | On the post it refers to |
| Several reviewers | Separate threads | One shared view |
| One disputed post | Holds up the month | Only that post waits |
| Proof of approval | Search the inbox | Stored with each post |
If your scheduling tool already has a client approval feature that fits how your clients work, we will say so and help you set it up rather than build a replacement.
The end of the month with approvals in order
By the deadline most of the month is approved. Two posts have change requests, which the social executive fixes on the card and resubmits, and one is rejected with a reason. Approved posts are already in the schedule. The account manager can see the client's marketing manager has approved and her boss has not yet looked, and chases one person instead of the whole thread.
Is your social team here?
- Social calendars go to clients as spreadsheets or PDFs.
- Feedback arrives by email, phone and scribbled notes.
- Posts are scheduled from whichever version looks newest.
- One disputed post holds up the whole month.
- You have been asked to prove a client approved a post.