Social media approval checklist (free template)

The checklist

Work through it on the exact text and media that will publish, not on an earlier draft. Each item is one line, so a reviewer can finish in a few minutes. The groups run in order of cost: a post on the wrong account does more damage than a typo, so the account comes first.

That’s why the last group records which version was approved. A change made after sign-off needs a new sign-off.

1. Account and business

• The post belongs to this business and suits this business’s audience.
• The platform and the handle are the ones you mean. Read the handle; don’t go by the profile picture.
• If a tool will publish it, the tool shows the same account you approved.

Wrong-account posts are the costliest slip, and an easy one to make. A small-business reviewer on G2 wrote that posting directly through Meta Business Suite is where “it’s much easier to accidentally post to the wrong account” (G2 review of Hootsuite, 5 August 2026). If it happens anyway, here’s what to do after posting on the wrong account.

2. Copy

• Spelling, grammar and the names of people, products and places are right.
• Every claim can be proved: numbers, results, “best”, “first”, reviews and quotes.
• Prices, dates, times, offers and codes match the source: the website, the menu, the contract.
• The voice fits the brand, and nothing comes from its do-not-say list.
• Hashtags and @mentions are spelled right. A mistyped handle tags a stranger.
• Nothing reads badly out of context, or next to today’s news.

3. Links

• Every link opens and lands on the right page, on a phone as well as a laptop.
• Links carry tracking tags (UTM) where you measure clicks.
• No staging, draft, preview or internal links.
• If the post points to a link in the bio or in a first comment, that link is updated too.

4. Media

• It’s the right file, in its final version.
• Format, size and length are within the platform’s limits, and the crop works in the feed and on the profile.
• Video has captions; images have alt text where the platform offers it.
• You have the right to use every image, clip, font and piece of music, including customer content you’re resharing.
• Nothing private is in the frame: screens, documents, other people’s details.

5. Timing

• Date, time and time zone are right for the audience, not just for you.
• It doesn’t land during a sensitive event, or on a day the brand would stay quiet.
• It doesn’t clash with another post for the same business.
• Whatever it announces (a launch, an offer, an opening) will be live when it posts.

6. Compliance

• Ads, sponsorships, gifts and partnerships are disclosed, with the platform’s own tool where there is one.
• Regulated claims (health, finance, legal, alcohol, competitions) are checked by the person who signs them off.
• People shown or quoted have agreed to it.

Platforms build disclosure into their tools. On YouTube, for example, “selecting the paid promotion button adds a disclosure label that appears at the beginning of your video” (YouTube Help, read 22 October 2026). In regulated work the stakes are plain. As a marketing planner put it in a G2 review of Hootsuite (26 June 2026): “one unapproved post can be a legal headache.”

7. Sign-off

• Who approved it, and when.
• Which version: the approval covers this exact text and media. Any change after approval goes back for approval.
• Where the approval is recorded (the tool, the email thread, the ticket), so you can find it later.

Who signs off what

Not every post needs the same check. Sort posts into three groups, decide them once for each business, and write them down where the team works.

Start strict. Move a kind of post into “allowed automatically” only after it has gone out cleanly under approval many times, and only for the business where that’s true. The guide to setting up a social media approval process covers choosing approvers, backups and turnaround times.

Copy the social media post approval template

Select the list, copy it, and paste it into a doc, a task template or the description of your approval step. Replace the words in brackets with your own.

1. Account: right business, right platform, right handle (handle read, not the picture).
2. Account: the post suits this business’s audience.
3. Copy: spelling, grammar and names checked.
4. Copy: every claim can be proved; prices, dates and offers match the source.
5. Copy: brand voice; nothing from the do-not-say list [link to your list].
6. Copy: hashtags and @mentions spelled right.
7. Links: open and land on the right page, on a phone too.
8. Links: tracked (UTM) where we measure; no staging or draft links.
9. Media: right file, final version.
10. Media: format, size and length within the platform’s limits; crop checked.
11. Media: captions or alt text added.
12. Media: rights to images, video, music and fonts confirmed.
13. Timing: date, time and time zone right for the audience.
14. Timing: no sensitive event; no clash with another post for this business.
15. Compliance: ad, sponsorship or partnership disclosed with the platform’s tool.
16. Compliance: regulated claims signed off by [name].
17. Sign-off: approved by [name] on [date and time].
18. Sign-off: this exact version approved; any later change approved again.

Using the checklist with a tool

Any tool works: a shared document, a project board, or a social media tool with an approval step. Two things matter more than the tool. The approver sees the post exactly as it will publish, including the account it goes to, and the approval is recorded against that version.

In Growfinch, a campaign belongs to one business and can only use that business’s connected accounts, and the approval lists the platform and handle of every post before anyone approves it. Where a business requires approval, only a person in the console can give it: see how the approval workflow works.

For what to post in the first place, read the playbook of social media success stories.