What are the most effective ways to review and approve social media content?

I think having your brands own unique voice helps. There is no one size fits all approach in Social media. Staying true to what you believe in and stand and having that reflect in your social strategy will surely go a long way in creating content that's well accepted.

Setting clear standards is the bedrock of producing and maintaining high-quality social media content. By aligning these criteria with your brand's overall content strategy and voice, you meet and exceed audience expectations while staying within legal and ethical boundaries. Tools like a content style guide, checklist, or scorecard are invaluable for ensuring everyone involved is on the same page, enhancing the efficiency and consistency of your social media efforts.

In my opinion, the first thing to do before starting a content strategy is to define a Brand Vision and What is the Social Vision for the brand. Both are key to establishing audience needs, content pillars, etc. If the Brand and Agency agree on these, the creation and reviews of content will increase the percentage of approvals.

This is where moodboards and brand kits have their time to shine. Consistency in content, brand identity, voice, niche, and values is vital. These are what can make your brand an authority as well as build consumer trust since predictability is cultivated. We all know what the SUPREME logo looks like and what kind of collaborations they get into. It is a streetwear luxury brand that reflects itself that way through brand identity and exclusivity. We know the doc marten logo and their values: going against the grain. If you do not define your brand down to it's last detail and stay consistent with it? Your values and presence may be confusing for consumers which is a huge turn off.

- Use a Content Calendar: Plan content in advance for efficient review cycles. - Implement a Workflow Tool: Utilize platforms like Trello, Asana, or Hootsuite for streamlined approval processes. - Set Clear Guidelines: Establish content criteria and brand voice guidelines to ensure consistency. - Assign Roles: Clearly define who is responsible for creating, reviewing, and approving content. - Feedback Loops: Encourage constructive feedback and make it easy for reviewers to suggest edits. - Batch Approvals: Review and approve content in batches to save time and maintain a consistent posting schedule. - Leverage Analytics: Use past performance data to guide the approval of future content, ensuring it aligns with goals.

Reviewing and approving social media content can be a tedious task without the right tools! Two of the best social media management tools I have used are Hootsuite and Sprout Social. Both offer a range of options and integrations that allow you to manage, review and approve content within your team, automate posting, review detailed insights, and enable social listening. Sprout Social seemed to be more robust with a better support team, but Hootsuite worked perfectly while I managed less pages and platforms. The top 3 items to consider when determining the right tool for any company is (1) whether it supports the team's workflow, (2) whether the capabilities align with the business objectives, (3) budget (of course!).

Choosing the right CRM is a given. Many are stand-alone but many allow plug-ins to speed up and condense marketing output: Email marketing, social reach, branding etc. Force24 is a fantastic email marketing tool, for example. Research and mapping tools are a great way to ensure good, relevant data.

Of the tools I have used, Airtable and Planable are the most turnkey solutions that allow content entry, editing and deployment. Find a process that works for your organization’s needs!

Depending on your requirements, opt for tools like content management systems (CMS) for creating, storing, and managing content across platforms. Content collaboration platforms facilitate seamless sharing, commenting, editing, and approval with team members and stakeholders. Utilize content automation tools to generate, optimize, and schedule content based on data and insights. Incorporate content testing tools to measure and enhance the performance and impact of your social media content. Carefully chosen tools contribute to a streamlined and organized review and approval workflow.

A CMS tool goes without saying for many of the reasons listed; analytical reporting, approval systems, automation and scheduling, inbox capabilities similar to meta. It’s packed with everything you need. However, in some scenarios you may want to brainstorm/draft and plan away from this utilising a tool like Asana allowing you to follow a ‘process’. It also allows you, and your team to see an overview of all your marketing efforts at a glance in once space.

Having a clear approval path with clear roles of each approver helps a great deal. In addition, keeping everyone in the loop from ideation to completion helps gain a vested interest in the success of the piece (including the approval step!) from the get-go. It usually ensures a higher quality piece, too! Collaboration like this may take a bit longer - however it also builds trust - which speeds up future content approvals in the long-run.

Having clearly defined roles, stakeholders, and QA requirements before sending content live is vitally important to ensure the content is correct & effective.

Having *one* approver for content is always best. Having multiple approvers often gets messy, as people have different perspectives and preferences on the types of content and the approach. The time to include other team members is in the ideation, creation, and analytics stages.

Define individuals responsible for content creation, editing, approval, and publishing, outlining their specific tasks and expectations. Establish a well-defined workflow and process for each stage of the content lifecycle, ensuring transparent communication with all involved parties. This proactive approach minimizes confusion, prevents duplication of efforts, and reduces delays in the production and delivery of your social media content.

Deadlines should be established across roles in this order: 1. When is creative due from the social media and/or creative team? 2. When is content due from the social media creator? 3. When does content need to be reviewed by the manager? Assign clear deadlines for each of these points that allow team members to work in unison. If there is any break within this chain it's when the dominos start to fall down. Remember that social media is a daily game. Project management, internal comms, all play large roles in bringing creativity to the table for your social media team. When they focus less on when and how things are approved, they find greater success.

1. Actively leverage the tool selected and populated within the marketing team. 2. Create a simple yet extensive content calendar that includes new and repurposed content along with the formats, objective and timelines. 3. Include your content distribution calendar (social calendar) so the respective stakeholders within the team can keep track. 4. Conduct a weekly team sync to everyone's on the same page and aware of the changes in schedule.

To follow and approve social media content efficiently, leverage scheduling tools like Hootsuite or Buffer for streamlined organization. Set dedicated time blocks for review, prioritize urgent posts, and establish clear approval workflows with team members. Regularly communicate deadlines and updates to ensure smooth collaboration. Lastly, stay flexible and adapt to changes while maintaining consistency in content quality and brand voice. ????

A content calendar will help outline what to post, on which platform and when. But make sure you're creating your content ahead of schedule to leave room for reviews and approvals. Try to work 1-2 weeks in advance of when content will be created. Are there overarching moments that you know for sure will happen and that you'll want to post about them? Outline and create those in advance, so they are ready to go live as soon as they happen. Maybe it's around a sports moment (like your local team winning championship), a brand moment (like an anniversary) or a cultural moment (like the Eras Tour coming to town). Stay ahead of key moments, get things approved in advance and you'll have a better chance of being "in the moment" on social.

Establish a structured timeline and schedule for reviewing and approving social media content. Set deadlines for content submission, review cycles, and publishing dates to ensure timely delivery and consistency in your social media posting schedule. Adhere to the schedule to maintain momentum and avoid delays in content publication.

Your content calendar should detail the creation, publication, and responsible parties for each piece of content, while your schedule incorporates deadlines and milestones for the review and approval stages. Additionally, define the frequency and duration of feedback and revision cycles. Adhering to this structured approach allows for proactive planning, effective prioritization, and efficient time and resource management, ensuring a smooth and timely content production and approval workflow.

Use analytics to monitor the performance of your posts. This not only helps in understanding what content resonates with your audience but also informs future content creation and approval strategies by highlighting what works and what doesn't.

Having a strong understanding of what the metrics are, how to make sense of it and most importantly how to read and summarize the insights on how well the content performed online is extremely crucial. No matter how great the designs are and the campaign idea is, but with no results its just a piece of content ready to get lost in the abundantly flooded platform.

Monitor your adherence to criteria, process, and goals, regularly collecting and analyzing feedback and data from team members, stakeholders, and your audience. Utilize this information to iteratively improve content quality, consistency, and compliance. Document and report your progress and results, taking time to celebrate successes and derive valuable lessons from encountered challenges. This ongoing evaluation and refinement contribute to an optimized and effective social media content review and approval workflow.

Tracking progress, analyzing feedback, and optimizing for continuous improvement are key traits for the long run success on social media.

Measurement is essential; however, it can only be meaningful when aligned with previously communicated objectives. I firmly believe that well-defined objectives facilitate the definition of relevant metrics, ensuring alignment with the overall success of the campaign.

Continuously evaluate and refine your social media content review and approval practices based on feedback, performance data, and evolving industry trends. Identify areas for improvement, such as streamlining workflows, optimizing communication channels, or enhancing collaboration processes. Adapt your practices to address challenges and capitalize on opportunities for greater efficiency and effectiveness.

Regularly review and revise criteria, tools, roles, schedule, and progress, aligning them with the evolving needs and expectations of your content strategy, brand, and audience. Stay informed about the latest trends and best practices in social media content, drawing insights from the experiences of other content professionals and organizations. This commitment to ongoing improvement ensures that your review and approval practices remain adaptable, efficient, and aligned with current industry standards and audience preferences.

Social media changes at lightening speed, with new tools, platforms, and, importantly, expectations, diverting all the time. Following recognised industry experts and progressive tech firms and content is important to stay ahead of the game. And don't underestimate the value in trying new things, split-testing, and ongoing measurement.

Effectively reviewing and approving social media content entails establishing clear guidelines, assigning roles and responsibilities, and utilizing appropriate management tools. It's crucial to create an editorial calendar to plan content in advance and establish a structured review process, involving team collaboration and final approval by a supervisor. Furthermore, fostering internal communication and providing regular training to keep the team informed about social media policies and best practices is essential. Monitoring and analyzing the performance of published content allows for strategy adjustments and making more informed decisions in the review and approval process.

When seeking for approval for social content create a RACI for all your stakeholders and make sure everyone understands the requirements. For example technical content approval is different to brand approval.

Embrace the "less is more" approach. In today's fast-paced digital landscape, overwhelming audiences with excessive content can backfire. Prioritize quality over quantity and focus on creating fewer, more impactful pieces that leave a lasting impression.

In my journey through social media strategy, I've uncovered an important factor often overlooked by many: Employee Training and Development: It's not only about producing and evaluating content efficiently. It's about empowering the team with a blend of skills and insights to keep up with the constantly changing social media scene. This way, they're not only following a set formula, they're adapting, innovating, and making sure that every piece of content not only hits the target but also raises the bar for engagement and relevance.

If content is not time sensitive, have a contingency plan if it is not approved in time. Try to have evergreen posts that can be repurposed and are already approved if there is a problem in the approval process. Having those in your back pocket will help you stay consistent and also see if the post performs different the next go round.

In my experience, one of the ways brands get behind social media, is that they take too much time in order to approve content. Specially trend focused one. If possible, avoid having a committee driven approval process. And open your mind to content that feels natural to social media, that play with cultural and digital codes within each social plattform. Not everything that you produce has to sell people something. You can also talk to them, play with them, educate them, entertain them, and even sometimes be silly.