A spreadsheet calendar falls apart when a second person edits it or a third brand joins. Moving off it takes about a week: audit the columns, set up one brand, copy two weeks of posts, run both side by side, then retire the sheet. You don't need to bring the history across.
TLDR: Keep only the columns you actually use (brand, date, channel, copy, asset, status, approver). Move one brand first, rebuild only the next 2 to 4 weeks, run the sheet and the new calendar side by side for one week, then archive the sheet.
Step 1: count the signs the sheet is failing
You don't need a crisis to move. Any one of these is enough:
- Two people have edited the same row and one change was lost.
- A post went out on the wrong brand's account.
- Someone asked "is this approved?" and had to scroll through email to find out.
- Nobody trusts the "status" column.
If none of these apply, a sheet is fine. If one does, the cost is already showing up in rework.
Step 2: keep seven columns, drop the rest
Spreadsheets grow columns nobody reads. List what your team really uses and carry only those over.
| Keep | Why |
|---|---|
| Brand | The filter that makes multi-brand work |
| Date and time | Becomes the calendar slot |
| Channel | Decides ratio and caption limit |
| Copy | The caption, per channel if it differs |
| Asset | The file or a link to it |
| Status | Draft, in review, approved, scheduled |
| Approver | One named person per brand |
Anything else (campaign notes, old comments, links to tabs) goes in a brief or in a comment on the post.
Step 3: set up one brand first
Don't move all your brands on day one. Pick the one with the most posts and the most confusion. Connect its accounts, set its approver and recreate the next 2 to 4 weeks of posts. In Mydrop, workspaces and brands keep each brand's accounts and team separate, while the multi-brand calendar lets you view them one at a time or together. If you have a stack of rows to bring over, bulk creation saves you retyping them.
Step 4: run both for one week
For seven days, publish from the new calendar but keep the sheet open. At the end of the week, compare: did every post go out on the right account at the right time? Did anyone ask "is this approved?" The answers tell you whether to move the next brand or fix something first.
Approvals are usually the biggest win. With approval flows and a no-login client portal, the status sits on the post itself, not in an email thread. In Mydrop's data on posts that went through client approval, the median time from submission to approval was 6 hours.
Step 5: retire the sheet on a fixed date
Pick a date, tell the team, and make the old sheet read-only. Leave it editable and someone will update it while nobody checks it. Move the remaining brands one per week, using the same checklist each time.
Mistakes to avoid during the switch
Moving everything at once. Three brands in one day means three sets of mistakes at the same time. One brand per week is slower and far safer.
Copying the old chaos. If the sheet had nine status labels, don't recreate nine. Use four: draft, in review, approved, scheduled.
Skipping the owner for each brand. A calendar with no named approver per brand soon becomes the same pile of waiting posts, just with a nicer look.
Forgetting the clients. If clients used to comment in the sheet, tell them where to go instead. A no-login review link is easier for them than a new account.
Start this week with your messiest brand
Today, pick the brand that caused the last mix-up and write out its seven columns. Tomorrow, start free with Mydrop, connect its accounts and rebuild two weeks of posts. For how to keep the calendar itself clean once it's set up, see a repeatable content calendar for multiple brands.
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