A good approval process gets posts signed off quickly without endless e-mail threads. This guide covers who should approve, what they should check, how fast, and how to handle "can we change one word?".
Approval costs time on both sides. It is worth it when the brand is regulated (health, finance, alcohol), when posts mention prices, offers or people, when the client relationship is new, or when a past post caused trouble. For an established client posting evergreen content, a lighter rule may be enough: approve campaigns and offers, let routine posts through.
Write the rule into the contract or onboarding notes, so nobody is surprised when posts wait.
“The client” is not an approver; a person is. Agree on one named approver and one backup for holidays. More approvers sounds safer but usually means slower, contradictory feedback. If legal or a product team must see some posts, route only those posts to them.
Give approvers a short list so their feedback is about the things only they know:
Our approval checklist puts this on one printable page.
Agree a response time, for example two working days, and a default: posts not reviewed by the deadline move to the next slot rather than going out unapproved. Batch reviews help: one review session a week for the following week’s posts is easier for a busy client than daily requests.
“Not quite right” is hard to act on. Ask approvers to say what to change and why, in a note attached to the post. When feedback lives on the post rather than in e-mail, the writer sees it at the moment they edit, and there is a record of what was approved.
You should be able to answer “who approved this, and when?” months later. Keep approvals inside the tool you schedule with, not in chat screenshots.
On the Team plan and above, tick Posts need admin approval before publishing for a client and add the approver as a client owner or admin. They review under Approvals, and approve, request changes with a note, or reject. Anything sent back appears in the writer’s Actions list with the note. See approval workflows.
10 questions
No. It pays off for regulated brands, posts with prices, offers or people, new relationships and clients with a past incident. For established clients posting evergreen content, approving only campaigns and offers may be enough.
One named approver and one backup for holidays. More approvers usually means slower, contradictory feedback; route only specific posts to legal or product teams.
Facts, claims, people and permissions, brand and tone, and accessibility: the things only the client can confirm. Our approval checklist puts them on one page.
Two working days is a common starting point. Agree it in writing, together with what happens when a post is not reviewed in time.
Move it to the next free slot rather than publishing it unapproved. Say so in the onboarding notes so nobody is surprised.
Ask approvers to leave a note on the post itself. The writer sees it at the moment they edit, and you keep a record of what was approved.
Treat a meaningful change as a new version that goes back for approval. Fixing a typo is usually fine; changing a price or a claim is not.
Batches are easier for busy clients: one review session a week for the following week's posts. Keep a fast lane for time-sensitive posts.
At least as long as the content stays online and the contract runs. You should be able to say who approved a post and when, months later.
Yes. Approvers sign in as client users with the Owner or Admin role, which records who approved what. Approvals are included from the Team plan.
Start on the Free plan with one client. Upgrade when you need approvals, more people or more clients.
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