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The post approval workflow adds a review step between content creation and publishing. When a team member submits a post for approval, a designated reviewer receives a notification to inspect the content and either approve it for scheduling or reject it with feedback. No post goes live until it has been approved. This workflow is especially valuable for agencies managing client social accounts, teams with brand guidelines requiring sign-off, and any situation where more than one person is involved in social content decisions.

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How the approval workflow works

1

Content creator writes a post

A team member creates a post in the Social Planner composer as usual — selecting platforms, writing content, adding media and hashtags, and setting a proposed publish date and time.
2

Creator submits for approval

Instead of clicking Schedule Post or Post Now, the creator selects Send Post For Approval. A dialog appears where they can:
  • Confirm the proposed publish date and time
  • Select one or more team members as approvers
  • Add an internal note explaining any context or instructions for the reviewer
3

Approver receives a notification

The designated approver receives an email notification with a link to review the post. The email can be customized with your branding. The approver can also find pending posts in the Social Planner Approval tab.
4

Approver reviews the post

In the Approval tab, the approver sees the post content, media, proposed date, and any notes from the creator. The approver can:
  • Approve — the post moves to Scheduled status and will publish at the specified time
  • Edit then approve — make changes directly in the composer, then approve the updated version
  • Reject — add written rejection feedback and return the post to the creator
5

Creator is notified of the outcome

If approved, the post is scheduled automatically. If rejected, the creator receives a notification with the rejection comments and the post returns to draft status for revision.

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Accessing the approval tab

Approvers find all posts awaiting their review in the Approval tab of the Social Planner. The tab is visible to any team member who has been designated as an approver on at least one pending post. The Approval tab shows:
  • Post content and media preview
  • Proposed publish date and time
  • Target social accounts
  • Submitting team member
  • Submission date
  • Internal notes from the creator

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Submitting a CSV batch for approval

When using bulk CSV scheduling to import many posts at once, you can submit the entire batch for approval during the upload step. Select an approver from the Send for Approval dropdown before confirming the upload. All posts in the batch will be submitted to that approver and none will publish until each post is individually reviewed and approved.

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Approval status in the calendar

Posts awaiting approval appear on the Social Planner calendar with a Pending Approval badge. This allows the entire team — not just approvers — to see what content is in the review pipeline and on what dates it is intended to publish. Once a post is approved, the badge changes to Scheduled. If rejected, the post remains on the calendar as a draft until the creator makes edits and resubmits.

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Email notification customization

The approval request email sent to reviewers uses your account’s default email branding. To customize the sender name, logo, and colors, update your email settings under Settings > Email Configuration.
Add a clear internal naming convention to your posts (for example, include the client name or campaign code in the post caption notes) so approvers can quickly identify which client or campaign each pending post belongs to when reviewing a long approval queue.

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Who can approve posts?

Any team member with access to the Social Planner can be designated as an approver when submitting a post. There is no special “Approver” role required — the submitter selects the reviewer by name when creating the approval request. Approvers can only approve or reject posts submitted directly to them. They do not see posts assigned to other team members.

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Best practices for approval workflows

  • Set clear turnaround expectations — communicate to approvers how quickly posts need to be reviewed, especially for time-sensitive scheduled content. A post waiting in the Pending state past its intended publish date will not auto-publish without approval.
  • Use internal notes — the notes field is the right place to explain the context, the campaign it belongs to, or any specific elements the approver should focus on.
  • Review on mobile — approvers can review and approve posts from the HoopAI mobile app, making it easy to keep the content pipeline moving even when away from a desktop.

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Frequently asked questions

If a post in Pending Approval status reaches its scheduled publish time without being approved, it does not publish. The post remains in the Pending state on the calendar. The creator and approver should coordinate on turnaround time to avoid missed publish windows. You can update the proposed publish date at any point before approval without resubmitting the post.
Yes. You can select multiple approvers when submitting a post. Any one of the designated approvers can approve or reject the post — it does not require unanimous agreement. Once one approver acts, the post moves forward or returns to draft.
No. Team members cannot approve posts they themselves submitted. The approval must come from a different designated team member.
Yes. Approvers can click Edit in the Approval tab to open the post in the composer, make any changes they need, and then approve the updated version. The creator can see the final approved version to understand what changed.
Yes. Each post’s audit history records the submitter, the approver, the decision (approved or rejected), the timestamp, and any rejection notes. This provides a clear trail for accountability and client reporting.
Last modified on March 5, 2026