The bottleneck created by a campaign’s approvals process is the greatest barrier to an effective social media and content strategy. We’ve previously shared ways to speed up the process, but speed is only part of the problem.
The hidden cost of an approvals process is the beige-washing of your content. When posts need sign off, your team stops writing for voters and instead writes for the approver. They quickly learn which topics and phrasing gets a quick yes and what results in delays or ongoing email threads. On the other end of that process is content that is safe and forgettable.
Moving the process upstream can help keep content sharp without giving up control.
Bland By Design
Campaigns don’t decide to post boring content, but it happens to many. Someone who got told no two times for posts they worked hard on but had an edge soon learns that bland is the way to go. Over time, a campaign’s posts start reading like they were carefully drafted by a committee because they are.
Simply speeding up the committee can never fix this. Nobody wants to take the blame for a post that causes headaches, everybody wants things crossed off their to-do list, and some people need to prove their worth so they suggest edits that aren’t needed.
Green, Yellow, Red
Instead, the campaign team and candidate should spend some time together and brainstorm through all of the topics that might be posted about then sort them into three buckets.
- Green topics you can post without asking: core issues, events, endorsements, and anything the candidate has already said publicly.
- Yellow topics need a second person’s eyes before they go out: contrast with an opponent, reaction to breaking news, or a meme.
- Red topics should always go to the candidate: personal life, something needing legal review, or an emerging topic.
Maintain A Phrasebook
Combine this with a living document language that lists all of the phrases and terms the campaign uses, those it never does, and the words that always get rewritten in review. Most edits are usually word choice rather than substance, so a written list turns those into something that can be checked before hitting post.
This document becomes your approvals process for most of what you publish so using a Google Doc or Slack Canvas keeps it updated and accessible.
Said Once, Approved Forever
In the candidate said it on the record, it’s approved. A forum answer or an op-ed can be clipped and reposted without another round of review, and the same goes for anything said to a reporter – gaffes excepted.
This is why debates and forums can produce so much usable content – roughly an hour of pre-approved material on camera.
Name Names
For your yellow and red topics, write down the names of who has to see it and who gets the final call if there’s disagreement. One approver per piece is the goal and two is the maximum, because every extra person in the chain feels obligated to leave a mark whether or not they have a strong opinion.
After that, put a clock on it that means turning silence into a “yes” rather than chasing down people for answers.
Keep Track
Having a dedicated Slack channel or a simple Google Sheet is the best way to keep track of approvals so you always know who needs to approve something. Seeing who creates the bottleneck helps the conversation about revising the process.
Conclusion
It’s tempting to think about approvals only about making it faster, but the better goal is that we need fewer of them. A topic guide and phrasebook can clear most of your content before it’s written so the review time is spent on those that actually deserve attention.