The short version
- A social media checklist for small business fits in about 1 hour a week: 5 minutes a day, 30 minutes weekly and 30 minutes monthly.
- Daily is for replying. Weekly is for posting. Monthly is for planning and checking.
- Check your page like a customer would: hours, phone number, photos and your top post.
- Copy the template into your notes app and tick it off. Short lists get done.
Social media feels like a job you can never finish, so you do it in bursts and then forget it. A social media checklist for small business turns it into small, repeatable chores.
Here's what to do each day, week and month, in about an hour total (an estimate).
Daily social media checklist for small business (5 minutes)
Do this once a day, ideally at the same time. Coffee works.
- Reply to new comments and messages. See how to reply to Facebook comments as a business.
- Thank anyone who shared or tagged you.
- Look at your page as a customer would: is anything wrong or out of date?
- Snap one photo of today's work for later.
Weekly social media checklist (30 minutes)
Pick one slot a week. Sunday evening or Monday morning works for most owners.
- Check what's scheduled for this week. Fix anything out of date.
- Post or schedule your 2 to 3 posts. Need a rhythm? See our weekly Facebook posting schedule.
- Pick your best photo from the week and match it to a post.
- Ask 1 happy customer for a review.
- Answer any messages you missed.
- Write down 3 post ideas for next week.
Stuck on the ideas? What to post when you have nothing to say has 20 prompts.
Monthly social media checklist (30 minutes)
- Plan the next 4 weeks on one page. Here's a content calendar for small business you can build in 30 minutes.
- Check your hours, phone number, address and website on your Page.
- Update your cover photo if the season changed.
- Look at which posts got the most likes, comments and shares. Write down the top 2.
- Reply to old reviews you missed.
- Mark holidays and local events for next month.
The whole checklist at a glance
| When | Time (estimate) | Main job |
|---|---|---|
| Every day | 5 minutes | Reply and check |
| Every week | 30 minutes | Post and ask for reviews |
| Every month | 30 minutes | Plan and tidy |
That's a little over 1 hour a week (an estimate). Doing everything by hand with no system can run to 10 or more hours a week (an estimate).
A copyable social media checklist template
Social media checklist
DAILY (5 minutes) [ ] Reply to comments and messages [ ] Thank anyone who shared or tagged us [ ] Check the page like a customer [ ] Take 1 photo of today's work WEEKLY (30 minutes) [ ] Review what's scheduled [ ] Post or schedule [2 or 3] posts [ ] Match a photo to each post [ ] Ask 1 customer for a review [ ] Write down 3 ideas for next week MONTHLY (30 minutes) [ ] Plan the next 4 weeks [ ] Check hours, phone, address, website [ ] Update cover photo if needed [ ] Note the top 2 posts [ ] Reply to old reviews [ ] Mark holidays and local events
Paste this into your notes app and reset it each week.
A quick page health check
Once a month, open your Page in a private window or on a friend's phone. That's what a new customer sees first.
- The top post is from the last 2 weeks.
- Your phone number, hours and address are right.
- The profile picture is your logo or your face, not a blurry crop.
- The cover photo shows your work or your shop. Sizes are in our guide to Facebook cover photo and profile picture sizes.
- Your website link works.
- Your 3 newest reviews have a reply.
- No old holiday or sale post is still sitting on top.
What you can skip as a small business
A long checklist online will tell you to track a dozen numbers and post on 6 networks. For most local owners, that's noise. Facebook Pages is where your customers look you up.
- Daily number checking. Look once a month.
- Posting every day. A steady 2 or 3 a week is enough.
- Hashtag research. See whether hashtags work on Facebook before you spend time on it.
- Chasing followers from far away. Your customers live near you.
Checklist habits that keep it from dying
Do
- Attach each list to something you already do, like morning coffee.
- Skip a task before skipping the whole list.
- Batch the weekly part. Here's [how to batch social media posts](/articles/how-to-batch-social-media-posts).
Don't
- Add 20 tasks. Short lists get done.
- Ignore comments for a week.
- Check numbers every day. Monthly is enough.