If campaign launches stall whenever one senior person is out of office, the problem is not the person. It is that the approval depends on one name with no backup and no time limit. The fix has three parts: a named backup for every approver, a 24-hour response rule, and a short written scope for what the approver is actually checking.
TLDR: For every brand, write down the approver, a backup and a time limit. Split approvals into "must be seen by a senior" and "can be approved by anyone on the list". Then replace approval meetings with approvals inside the post itself.
Mydrop data, September 2026: on posts that went through a client approval on Mydrop, the median time from submission to approval was 6 hours, and 66% were approved within 24 hours. Method in the Mydrop social media benchmarks.
Why one person becomes the bottleneck
It usually starts reasonably: the senior campaign manager catches mistakes, so everything goes to them. As brands multiply, every post needs their eyes. When they travel, take leave or sit in meetings, the whole calendar waits, and teams respond by scheduling meetings to chase approvals. That is the second symptom: managers spend more time talking about approvals than building campaigns.
Step 1: Name a backup for every approver
Make a table, one row per brand or campaign type.
| Brand | Approver | Backup | Escalation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand A | Senior campaign manager | Account lead | Head of marketing |
| Brand B | Brand manager | Senior campaign manager | Head of marketing |
| Brand C (small) | Account lead | Any manager on the list | n/a |
The backup should be someone with the same authority for that brand, not a more junior person. Add the backup as an approver in your tool ahead of time, so you are not granting access during a crisis.
Step 2: Split approvals into two tiers
Not every post deserves senior review. Sort them:
- Tier 1, senior must see: new campaigns, anything with a price, a claim or a named person, crisis or sensitive posts.
- Tier 2, any listed approver: routine posts from an agreed content plan, reposts of approved assets, scheduled reminders.
In our experience, once routine posts move to tier 2, the senior approver's queue drops sharply, and the out-of-office problem shrinks with it.
Step 3: Add a time limit and what happens at the limit
Write the rule into the process: "Approvers respond within 24 hours on working days. After that, the post moves to the backup."
For reference, in Mydrop's data on posts that went through client approval with both timestamps recorded, the median time from submission to approval was 6 hours and 66% were approved within 24 hours.
Set a dated "approval holiday plan" too. Before any planned absence, the approver names which backup is active and which scheduled posts they have already approved.
Step 4: Replace the approval meeting with comments on the post
Meetings about approvals are a sign that feedback lives in the wrong place. Move it to the post itself:
- One comment thread per post, with the post, preview and date visible.
- The approver says approved or lists changes, once.
- Anything that needs discussion gets a 15-minute slot, not a standing meeting.
Mydrop's approval workflows keep the post, comments and sign-off together, and roles and comments let you decide who can approve for each brand. The calendar shows which posts are still waiting.
What it looks like on the day
The senior manager is out for a week. Their Brand A launch posts were already approved the Friday before, using the holiday plan. A new tier 2 post comes in on Tuesday, waits 24 hours, and moves to the account lead, who approves it in ten minutes. A tier 1 post for Brand B goes to the named backup the same day. Nobody calls a meeting, and the calendar does not move.
Step 5: Review stuck posts weekly
Every Monday, look at the posts that waited more than 24 hours last week. Ask one question: why? The causes are almost always the same few: no backup, too many reviewers, unclear scope, or feedback in email. Fix the cause once and the delays stop repeating.
For a wider look at why campaigns stall, see why multi-brand campaigns stall after launch and the approval debt audit.
Next step: build the backup table for your two busiest brands today and add the backups as approvers before the next planned absence. To set up approvals per brand, start free with Mydrop.
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