Operations
Part of Run social media agencies operations that clients renew against
Why a social media agencies operating workflow needs weekly checks
A practical how-to for building a social media agencies operating workflow: intake, owners, approvals, scheduling and a weekly compliance checklist.
What to take away
- The ASA runs a Copy Advice service for pre-publication checks, so a claim caught before it goes live is cheaper to fix than one caught after.
- One owner per stage. If intake, drafting, approval and scheduling all sit with one person, the workflow is a diary, not a process.
- Keep evidence of every approval with the asset. Regulators ask what was claimed and when.
- Review the workflow weekly against a short checklist, not quarterly against a long document.
- Treat the workflow as client-facing. Buyers renew against predictable delivery, which is set out in the social media agencies operations and delivery guide.
Map the stages
An operating workflow is the fixed sequence a piece of client work travels through. It usually runs in two halves: intake, drafting and internal review, then client approval, scheduling and reporting.
Workflow stages and outputs
- Intake -> signed-off brief
- Drafting -> copy and assets
- Internal review -> marked-up version
- Client approval -> written consent
- Scheduling -> queue entry
Write each stage as a noun phrase with an owner and an output. Intake ends with a signed-off brief; drafting ends with copy and assets. Internal review produces a marked-up version, client approval produces written consent, and scheduling produces a queue entry.
If a stage has no output, it is a conversation, not a stage. Remove it or give it one.
Set the intake rules
Most workflow failures start at intake. A client asks for a post in a message thread, someone drafts it, and no one knows whether it was approved.
Intake form fields
- Requester
- Objective
- Channel
- Date needed
- Regulated claims
For regulated sectors, flag claims at intake rather than at review. The ASA's Copy Advice service offers pre-publication checks, which is the point at which a claim is still cheap to change.
Assign one owner per stage
Name a person, not a team.
A typical split for a small agency: an account manager owns intake, a writer owns drafting and a senior editor owns internal review. Client approval returns to the account manager, and a scheduler owns the queue.
Where one person holds two stages, note the risk in the workflow document. Self-approval is a common cause of unverified claims reaching a client.
Record the split in a table.
| Stage | Owner | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Intake | Account manager | Signed brief |
| Drafting | Writer | Copy and assets |
| Internal review | Senior editor | Marked-up draft |
| Client approval | Account manager | Written consent |
| Scheduling | Scheduler | Queue entry |
Build the approval record
Approval must be written and attached to the asset. A thumbs-up in a call is not a record.
Keep the approved version, the date, the approver's name and any conditions. If the post changes after approval, it returns to review.
For email and messaging campaigns, the ICO direct marketing checklist sets out the consent and opt-out points to confirm before a send, which is a useful gate before scheduling.
Run the weekly checklist
Set a fixed slot each week. Thirty minutes is enough if the checks are specific.
- Every scheduled post has a named approver and a dated approval.
- No post contains a claim without a source or a substantiation note.
- Consent status is current for every contact list used that week.
- Scheduled times match the client's agreed calendar.
- Rejected drafts have a reason recorded, not just a status change.
- Any new channel needs a live, complete profile before the first post. For LinkedIn, that means a finished company page built through the process for creating a LinkedIn company page.
- Last week's actions are closed or reassigned.
If you operate across more than one nation, check the launch requirements that apply to your setup, summarised in social media agencies launch review in England.
Fix the handovers
Handovers are where work stalls. Give each one a maximum wait time and an escalation point.
For example, a team might set a 24-hour maximum for internal review and a 48-hour maximum for client approval, with anything older escalated to the account lead.
Measure the waits, not just the output. A workflow that produces good work slowly still loses retainers.
Common questions
How long should a workflow review take?
Thirty minutes weekly is enough for most small agencies. Problems surface in the gaps between stages, so cadence matters more than depth.
Who should own client approval?
The account manager usually owns it, because they hold the client relationship. Whoever owns it must be able to send work back to drafting without negotiation.
Do we need written approval for every post?
Yes. Written approval is the only record that survives a staffing change or a complaint. Batch approvals are acceptable if the approved assets are listed with a date.
What if a client refuses to follow the workflow?
Escalate once, in writing, and record the risk. If the client still bypasses intake, price the extra coordination or decline the work.
