ApproveThis manages your Hootsuite approvals.

Why This Integration Isn’t Just Another Buzzword

Let’s cut through the noise: social media moves fast, but most approval processes don’t. Hootsuite helps you schedule posts across 20+ platforms. ApproveThis makes sure the right people actually approve those posts before they go live. Together? They turn your social media calendar from a potential liability into a well-oiled machine.

Here’s the ugly truth most mid-sized companies face:

• Marketing teams waste hours chasing down approvals in Slack/email
• Legal constantly misses review deadlines because requests get buried
• Regional managers accidentally approve posts for wrong locations

This integration through Zapier fixes that by creating a clear chain of command inside your existing Hootsuite workflow. No more “I thought Karen approved that!” moments.

Real-World Uses That Don’t Suck

Use Case 1: No More Rogue Tweets

When your social media coordinator schedules a post in Hootsuite, ApproveThis automatically:

• Routes it to the right approvers based on campaign type (ex: legal for compliance issues, regional manager for location-specific posts)
• Sends email/Slack reminders if approvals stall
• Blocks auto-posting until all required sign-offs are in

Who actually uses this?

A healthcare company we work with auto-routes any post containing medical claims through legal + compliance teams. Their social media manager told us: “Before, we’d find out about compliance issues after posts went live. Now? Zero red flags in 8 months.”

Use Case 2: Approval ≠ Action

When an ApproveThis request gets greenlit, Zapier automatically:

• Pushes the approved content back to Hootsuite
• Updates scheduling based on approver feedback (ex: delaying a product launch post if legal requests edits)
• Logs every approval decision with timestamps in both systems

Why this matters:

An e-commerce client handles 500+ Black Friday posts across 12 regions. Their VP of Marketing said: “Last year, we had stores running promotions for wrong time zones. This year? Each regional lead gets their own approval queue. Simple fix, massive results.”

Setup That Won’t Make You Want to Quit

If you’ve used Zapier before, this takes 9 minutes. If not? Maybe 12.

1. Connect Hootsuite and ApproveThis to your Zapier account
2. Choose your trigger: “New Post Scheduled” in Hootsuite
3. Set conditions: Route posts to different approval workflows based on:
   • Campaign tags (ex: #holiday2024 goes to CMO + Legal)
   • Post type (ex: Instagram Reels need brand team approval)
   • Budget thresholds (ex: Any post mentioning $100+ discounts needs CFO sign-off)
4. Test with a dummy post

Pro Tip: Use ApproveThis’ calculated fields to auto-flag posts that mention specific keywords (ex: “sale”, “limited time”) for extra scrutiny.

Department-Specific Wins

Marketing Teams: Stop Playing Approval Tag

Your social media manager isn’t paid to babysit execs for approvals. With vacation delegation:

• If the CMO is out, requests auto-reassign to the CCO
• Approval thresholds mean small-budget posts (<$500) skip straight to publishing
• Real-time dashboards show exactly where each post is stuck

Legal/Compliance: Sleep Better at Night

Auto-route any post containing regulated terms (ex: “FDA-approved”, “results guaranteed”) through legal. They can:

• Approve/reject via email without logging into Hootsuite
• Set mandatory comment fields for rejections (“Specify which claim violates FTC guidelines”)
• Get audit trails showing exactly who approved what

External Teams: Clients Who Can’t Mess Things Up

Agencies love this part: client approvers don’t need Hootsuite logins. Send them an ApproveThis link where they can:

• View the scheduled post exactly as it’ll appear online
• Approve/request changes without accidentally editing the copy
• Get automatic reminders 24/48 hours before deadlines

Why This Beats “Just Using Hootsuite’s Built-In Approvals”

Hootsuite’s native approval system works… if you have 3 users and post twice a week. For companies scaling beyond that:

• No conditional logic: Every post goes to the same people
• No email approvals: Approvers must log into Hootsuite
• No audit trails: Can’t prove who approved controversial posts

ApproveThis adds layers Hootsuite can’t:

• Multi-step approvals (ex: Creative Director → Legal → CMO)
• Auto-escalation if deadlines pass
• Dynamic fields that adjust based on post content

Ready to Stop Playing Whack-a-Mole with Approvals?

If your social media process involves more back-and-forth than actual strategy, it’s time to fix the bottleneck. This integration isn’t magic—it’s just smart workflow design.

Next steps:

• Register for ApproveThis (free 14-day trial)
• Book a 20-minute demo to see custom approval flows for your Hootsuite setup
• Forward this to your social media manager before they burn out

Because let’s be real—nobody got into marketing to chase down approvals all day.