Why approvals stall
- Too many reviewers. The marketing manager approves, then the founder sees it and wants changes.
- One post at a time. Twenty separate approval requests a month means twenty chances to be forgotten.
- No deadline. Without a review window, "I'll look at it this week" becomes next week.
- Feedback in five places. Comments in email, chat, a spreadsheet and a voice note, some contradicting each other.
- Hard to picture. A caption in a spreadsheet is harder to approve than a post that looks like the real thing.
A monthly approval workflow
- Agree the monthly plan: themes, campaigns, key dates and post count.
- Build the content calendar with captions, visuals and target dates.
- Run an internal review for brand, accuracy and disclosure.
- Send the batch to one client approver with a review deadline.
- Collect consolidated feedback and make one round of revisions.
- Record final approval, then schedule the posts.
- Report results and feed what worked into next month's plan.
A practical rhythm is to agree next month's themes in the first week, send the full calendar for approval in the second or third week, finish revisions by the end of the third week, and schedule in the fourth. Clients with weekly content can use the same steps on a shorter cycle.
Write the workflow down as an SOP so every account manager runs it the same way. It also makes onboarding new team members much faster.
Rules to agree in the contract
The approval process works best when the client agreed to it before the first post. Put these in your proposal or statement of work:
- Named approver. One person who gives final sign-off, and who they consult internally.
- Review window. For example, three working days from when the batch is sent.
- Late feedback. What happens if the window passes: the post moves to the next slot, or is dropped from the month. Some agencies agree that silence counts as approval; if you do, say so explicitly and keep it for low-risk content.
- Revision rounds. One or two per batch, and what counts as a revision.
- Changes after approval. Treated as new content, swapped for something in the allowance or quoted.
Our guide to preventing scope creep covers how to handle the requests that fall outside these rules.
Getting useful feedback
Ask for feedback per post, in one place, with a clear choice: approve, or request changes with a comment. Free-form replies like "looks good but maybe make it pop" are hard to act on. A short guide helps, such as: say what to change, why, and how important it is.
Show posts as they will appear on each platform, with the caption, visual, hashtags and link together. Clients approve faster and with fewer surprises when they can see the real thing. And resist sending work that is not ready; a half-finished draft invites rewrites.
A fast lane for reactive posts
Trends and news do not wait for a monthly review. Agree a separate lane for reactive content: a direct channel to the approver, a same-day turnaround, and clear limits on what can go through it, such as no offers, prices, claims or sensitive topics. Anything outside those limits goes through the normal process. Record these approvals too, even if it is only a quick note against the post.
Disclosure and compliance checks
Your internal review should catch problems before the client sees them. Check facts, claims, prices, offer terms, image rights and music licences. For paid partnerships, gifted products and affiliate links, check disclosure. In the US, the FTC's Endorsement Guides expect material connections to be disclosed clearly. In the UK, the ASA and CMA expect ads to be obviously identifiable. EU countries, Australia, the UAE and others have their own advertising and influencer rules, and some sectors, such as finance, health and alcohol, have extra restrictions.
Keep the approved version of each post and the approval record. If a post is questioned later, it shows what the client signed off and when.
Scoping the retainer
Social media retainers drift when the allowance is vague. Define posts per platform per month, stories or short videos, community management hours, reporting, and what is excluded, such as paid ad management, shoots or influencer outreach. The retainer pricing calculator turns hours, rates and a margin target into a monthly fee, and its worked example is a content and social media retainer.
Bill on the same date each month, and send the next month's plan with the invoice or just before it. Clients are more comfortable paying when they can see what is coming.
Spreadsheets and chat threads, or approvals with a record
Many social teams plan in a spreadsheet, collect feedback in chat and email, and track approvals in their heads. Arpixa keeps the monthly project, the deliverables, the client's approvals and revision requests, and the retainer invoice together. Keep your scheduler for publishing.
Content calendar
Designs
Feedback
Post pipeline
Briefs
ArpixaAll of it, connectedRunning approvals in Arpixa
Arpixa does not schedule or publish posts. It runs the agency side. Each client's month can be a project with tasks, owners, milestones and due dates, built from a template. Content batches go to the client as deliverables in the client portal, where the client can approve or request revisions with written feedback and a priority. Approval is final, which gives you a clear record of what was signed off and when.
Briefs can be collected with the Brief Builder, retainers billed with recurring invoices, and monthly review calls booked through the calendar with a Google Meet link.
Get content approved without the chase
Start free in minutes, or log in to your Arpixa workspace. See pricing for plan details.
Advertising and disclosure rules differ by country and change over time. This guide is general information, not legal advice. The pricing page is the source of truth for current Arpixa plan limits.
Frequently asked questions
What is a content approval workflow?
A content approval workflow is the agreed set of steps a post goes through before it is published: drafting, internal review, client review, revisions and final sign-off. It defines who reviews, in what order, by when, and how approval is recorded. For agencies, it is what stops posts going out with errors, and what stops a month of content from stalling in a client's inbox.
How far in advance should social media content be approved?
Many agencies plan and approve a month at a time, sending the next month's calendar in the second or third week of the current month. That leaves time for revisions and scheduling. Reactive or trend-based posts need a faster lane, such as a same-day approval channel with clear limits on what can be posted without full review.
How do you get clients to approve content faster?
Send content in one batch on a known day, give a clear review window such as three working days, ask for feedback from one named approver, and make approving easy, ideally one click per post with a place for comments. Show posts as they will look, not as a spreadsheet of captions. Agree in the contract what happens if the window passes without feedback.
How many revision rounds should a social media retainer include?
One or two rounds per monthly batch is common. Define a revision as changes within the agreed brief, such as wording or crops, rather than new concepts. New ideas after approval are treated as new content, which either replaces something in the month's allowance or is quoted separately.
Do sponsored posts need a disclosure?
Usually yes. In the US, the FTC's Endorsement Guides expect clear disclosure of material connections such as payment or free products. In the UK, the ASA and CMA expect ads to be obviously identifiable, often with a label like "Ad". Other countries, including EU member states, Australia and the UAE, have their own advertising and influencer rules. Add a disclosure check to your internal review before content goes to the client.
Can Arpixa schedule social media posts?
No. Arpixa is not a social media scheduling or publishing tool. It handles the agency side: client records, proposals and contracts, monthly projects and tasks, deliverable approvals through a client portal, invoices and meetings. Keep your scheduling tool for publishing, and use Arpixa to plan, approve, bill and keep a record of what was signed off.