Social media post approval process and SOP template
This social media approval process shows how a post goes from draft to published on a company account. It has three lanes, **Social Media Coordinator**, **Marketing Manager** and **Legal**, and three decisions: whether the manager approves, whether the post needs legal review, and whether Legal clears it. Below the diagram is a short SOP you can copy. It is for social media and marketing managers who want fast approvals with a record of who signed off.
Example: Swimlane diagram for social media post approval: click to open it in the editor and change it.
Lanes and steps in order
- Draft or revise post & visual (Social Media Coordinator): copy, image or video, channel, date and link.
- Review post (Marketing Manager): checks brand, tone and accuracy.
- Approve? (Marketing Manager, decision): No goes back to the coordinator to revise, then to review again. Yes continues.
- Needs legal review? (Marketing Manager, decision): Yes for product claims, prices, contests or paid partnerships. No goes straight to scheduling.
- Check claims & disclosures (Legal): Legal checks claims, contest rules and disclosures.
- Cleared? (Legal, decision): No goes back for revision. Yes goes to scheduling.
- Schedule post (Social Media Coordinator): the post is scheduled and the approver recorded.
- Monitor comments for 24 h (Social Media Coordinator): replies, complaints and escalations.
Hand-offs and decision points
The Needs legal review? decision keeps everyday posts fast. Only posts with claims, promotions or partnerships wait for Legal. Every rejected post goes back through the manager, so the approved version is always the one that gets published.
Where this process usually slows down
- Review post: managers review in batches once a week. Agree a review time, such as 1 business day.
- Check claims & disclosures: Legal sees posts too close to the publish date. Send them at least 3 days ahead.
- Draft or revise post & visual: feedback arrives in chat, email and comments at once. Keep it in one place, on the draft.
How to adapt it for your company
- Add a fast path for replies and reposts that the coordinator can publish without review.
- Add a crisis path that skips scheduling and goes to a named approver.
- Add a client approval lane if you are an agency posting for clients.
- Add a regional review lane for posts in other markets or languages.
Tip: Keep a short list of words and claims that always need legal review, such as "best", "guaranteed", prices and giveaways, so the manager can decide in seconds.
Standard operating procedure
Purpose: Publish on-brand, accurate and compliant social posts quickly, with a clear record of who approved them.
Scope: Covers posts on company social accounts. Starts with a draft and ends 24 hours after publishing.
Roles
- Social Media Coordinator: Drafts, revises, schedules and monitors posts.
- Marketing Manager: Reviews and approves posts, and decides when legal review is needed.
- Legal: Checks claims, promotions and disclosures.
Procedure
- Social Media Coordinator: Draft the post copy and visual in the content calendar, with the channel, date and link.
- Marketing Manager: Review the post for brand, tone and accuracy within 1 business day.
- Marketing Manager: Approve, or return it with specific changes. The coordinator revises and sends it back for review.
- Marketing Manager: Send posts with product claims, prices, contests or paid partnerships to Legal.
- Legal: Check claims, contest rules and disclosures such as #ad. Return posts that are not cleared with comments.
- Social Media Coordinator: Schedule the approved post and record the approver in the calendar.
- Social Media Coordinator: Monitor comments for 24 hours and escalate complaints or crises to the Marketing Manager.
Process owner: Social Media Manager
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Frequently asked questions
What is a social media approval process?
The agreed steps a post goes through before it is published on a company account: drafting, manager review, legal review when needed, scheduling and monitoring.
Do social media posts need legal review?
Not all of them. Posts with product claims, prices, contests, giveaways or paid partnerships usually do, because of advertising and disclosure rules.
How do I speed up social media approvals?
Agree a review time, send only risky posts to legal, keep all feedback on the draft, and let the coordinator publish low-risk replies without review.
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