1. Objective

This SOP defines how a Virtual Assistant (VA) builds and maintains a monthly social media content calendar — so the agent shows up consistently on every platform without having to think about it week to week.

Social media consistency is a compounding asset. An agent who posts twice a week for a year builds meaningful brand recognition. An agent who posts in bursts and goes silent loses credibility between the bursts. The VA's job is to make consistency automatic — by planning a full month in advance, scheduling content through an approved tool, and ensuring nothing goes out that hasn't been checked against the brand guide.

The standard: Every post is on-brand, pre-approved, and goes out on schedule. The agent should be able to ignore their social media on a busy transaction day and know the VA has it handled.

Where this SOP starts: The agent onboards and the VA establishes which platforms are active, what tools are in use, and what the agent's content preferences are.
Where this SOP ends: The monthly calendar is built, approved, scheduled, and publishing runs automatically.

Success looks like: The agent gets a monthly calendar to review and approve — not a daily stream of individual post requests.

2. Your Role & Boundaries

2a. What you handle independently

• Building the monthly content calendar by the last week of each month for the following month
• Creating graphics using the Canva Brand Kit from Brand Style Guide Creation & Maintenance
• Writing first-draft captions for all content types
• Scheduling all approved content through the confirmed scheduling tool
• Monitoring comments on all platforms and responding to standard engagement per agent instruction
• Preparing the monthly performance report for agent review

2b. What requires agent approval before acting

• Every piece of content before it is scheduled — the agent reviews and approves the full monthly calendar
• Any personal or behind-the-scenes content featuring the agent or their team
• Any market data or statistics used in posts — the agent confirms accuracy before publishing
• Any response to a comment or DM that goes beyond a simple acknowledgment (e.g., answering a market question, responding to a complaint)
• Any content related to a specific listing — see Listing Marketing Campaign (Pre-Launch through Just Sold) and Just Listed Campaign (Social + Email + Postcard) for listing content protocols
• Any paid social media advertising — see Paid Social Media Ad Management for paid ad management

Meta Special Ad Category — Housing: Any paid advertisement on Facebook or Instagram for a real estate property must be created under the Special Ad Category: Housing in Meta Ads Manager. This is required by Meta policy and by fair housing law. Standard audience targeting (age, gender, geographic radius) is restricted under this category. Do not use standard targeting for real estate ads — always select Housing when creating or reviewing any Meta paid ad campaign for a property.

2c. What you never do

• You never negotiate on the agent's behalf under any circumstances.
• You never provide pricing, legal, or strategic opinions to any party.
• You never sign or initial any document on behalf of the agent, client, or any party.
• You never communicate directly with the other party's client.
• You never publish content that has not been approved by the agent.
• You never respond to a DM on behalf of the agent without the agent's instruction — forward DMs to the agent immediately.
• You never post content that makes market predictions or investment recommendations.
• You never post content involving a client (photo, testimonial, story) without confirmed permission from that client.

When in doubt: Draft it, send it to the agent for approval. Never post first and ask later.

3. Schedule & Trigger

Trigger: Agent onboarding — platform setup and content preferences established. Then monthly, on the last week of each month, the next month's calendar is built and sent to the agent for approval.

Monthly build deadline: The calendar for Month N must be approved and fully scheduled before the first day of Month N.

Ongoing: Listing-related content (Just Listed, open house, price reduction, Just Sold) is inserted into the calendar in real time per Listing Marketing Campaign (Pre-Launch through Just Sold) and Just Listed Campaign (Social + Email + Postcard). Listing content takes priority over general scheduled content on launch days — confirm with agent if a scheduling conflict arises.

If you are unable to complete this task: Notify the agent at the start of your absence or as soon as possible. Flag any open or time-sensitive items. The agent will determine whether to delegate or defer. Never let a recurring deadline pass without flagging it to the agent in advance.

4. Platform Overview

Confirm during onboarding which platforms the agent actively maintains. Not every agent uses every platform — only manage what the agent has confirmed.

Confirm with agent: Which platforms are active? Does the agent post to all platforms from the same content or does each platform get customized captions? Customize per-platform captions if the agent's audience and voice are meaningfully different between platforms.

5. Content Categories

A strong social media feed mixes content types. Use the following framework to build a balanced monthly calendar.

Listing-heavy months: When the agent has multiple active listings, listing content will dominate the feed. That is appropriate — it signals market activity. Maintain at least one non-listing post per week so the feed doesn't feel like a one-note ad board.

Low-listing months: Lean harder into market, community, and educational content to maintain presence and brand awareness even when nothing is listed.

6. Building the Monthly Content Calendar

Step 1: Content Audit

At the start of each monthly build:
- Review the agent's active listings — what listing content will be needed next month?
- Review any confirmed open houses or events
- Check for upcoming market report data (e.g., monthly MLS stats available date)
- Ask the agent: any milestones, announcements, or personal content planned for next month?

Step 2: Draft the Calendar

Use the following calendar template structure. Build in a Google Sheet or document that the agent can review and comment on.

Column headers: Date | Platform(s) | Content Category | Draft Caption | Graphic Description | Status (Draft / Approved / Scheduled / Posted)

Posting frequency recommendation:

Confirm the agent's preferred frequency during onboarding — some agents prefer less frequent, higher-quality posts over daily posting.

Step 3: Write Draft Captions

Write first-draft captions for all posts. Use the brand voice established in Brand Style Guide as the filter for every word.

Caption structure:
1. Hook — lead with what stops the scroll (question, bold statement, visual description)
2. Body — the substance of the post (1–3 sentences for social; longer for Facebook if appropriate)
3. CTA — one clear action (comment, share, DM, visit link, call)

Hashtag guidance:
- Local hashtags: #[City]RealEstate #[Neighborhood]Homes #[City]Living
- Property-type hashtags: #JustListed #OpenHouse #JustSold #HomeBuyers #HomeSellers
- Agent brand hashtags: The agent's personal or brokerage hashtag — confirm during onboarding
- Instagram: 5–10 hashtags (placed in caption or first comment per agent preference)
- Facebook: 2–4 hashtags maximum
- LinkedIn: 3–5 hashtags

Step 4: Build Graphics

Build all graphics using the Canva Brand Kit. File all graphics to Marketing / Social Graphics / [Month-Year].

Use approved Canva templates for each content type — do not create new layouts from scratch. If a content type does not have an approved template, flag it to the agent before designing.

Step 5: Submit for Agent Approval

Send the completed calendar to the agent by the 25th of each month for the following month:

Hi [Agent Name] — here is the [Month] social media calendar for your review.

[Link to Google Sheet or doc]

Total posts planned: [X] across [platforms]
Listing content included: [list any listing-specific posts]
Needs your input: [flag any posts where you need agent details — market stats, personal stories, etc.]

Please review and approve by [date — at least 3 days before end of month so scheduling can be completed]. Comments on the sheet are the easiest way to mark any changes.

[VA Name]

Step 6: Schedule Approved Content

After agent approval, schedule all posts through the confirmed scheduling tool (Later, Buffer, Meta Business Suite, or equivalent). Confirm during onboarding which tool the agent uses and that the VA has scheduling access.

Posting times: Schedule based on platform best practices — Tuesday through Friday, mid-morning (9–11 AM local time) typically performs well for real estate audiences. Adjust based on what the agent's analytics show over time.

7. Engagement Management

The VA monitors all platforms daily and handles standard engagement. Agent handles anything substantive.

The goal is responsiveness — comments and DMs should not sit unacknowledged for more than 24 hours. If the agent is unavailable, a brief holding response ("Thanks for reaching out! We'll be in touch shortly.") can buy time — confirm with agent whether this is appropriate.

8. Monthly Performance Review

At the end of each month, compile a brief social media performance summary for the agent. Keep it short — the agent wants the headline numbers, not a marketing degree thesis.

Report format:

[Month] Social Media Summary — [Agent Name]

Posts published: [X] across [platforms]

Top performing posts:
1. [Post description] — [X] reach / [X] engagement
2. [Post description] — [X] reach / [X] engagement

Follower growth: [Start] → [End] ([+/- X] total)

DMs received: [X] | Forwarded to agent: [X]

Notes for next month: [Any content type that performed well to repeat / anything to stop]

File the report to Marketing / Social Media / Performance Reports.

9. Checklist

Monthly Calendar Build
- ☐ Content audit complete — listings, events, milestones identified
- ☐ Calendar drafted for full month with all content categories represented
- ☐ First-draft captions written and checked against Brand Style Guide
- ☐ Graphics built using Canva Brand Kit
- ☐ Calendar submitted to agent by the 25th of prior month
- ☐ Agent approval received
- ☐ All posts scheduled through scheduling tool

Daily
- ☐ All platforms checked for comments and DMs
- ☐ Standard engagement responded to
- ☐ Any substantive questions or DMs forwarded to agent

Monthly
- ☐ Performance report compiled and sent to agent
- ☐ Content for next month begins immediately after report

10. Tools & Access