Most local businesses book a repost campaign expecting a single event: the post goes out, the crowd shows up. In practice, a campaign is a sequence of stages, and understanding the sequence is what separates a campaign that fizzles from one that compounds.
Stage 1: Booking and briefing (day 0)
You choose the post, the target market and the package size. The most important decision here is the hero: one post, one offer, one job. Campaigns built around a single clear ask outperform campaigns that try to promote everything at once, every time. If you're torn between three posts, pick the one with the clearest reason to act — the event date, the limited offer, the new thing.
Stage 2: Account matching (days 1–2)
This is the invisible work that decides the outcome. Accounts are matched to your market — not just your city, but your neighborhoods, your customer type, your dining or walk-in radius. A boutique in Laguna Beach needs different accounts than a taco shop in Highland Park, even at the same package size. Generic distribution is what bot networks sell; the matching is what you're actually paying for.
Stage 3: Delivery wave (days 2–7)
Reposts go out across the network. Delivery is deliberately spread rather than dumped all at once — a post shared by thirty accounts in one hour looks coordinated; the same thirty spread across several days looks like a genuine groundswell. Most packages complete within 3–7 days depending on size.
- Front-load the announcement, spread the reminder. Time-sensitive posts (events, drops) should concentrate delivery in the decision window — the days right before people act.
- Watch, don't hover. You'll see shares landing across the week. Resist the urge to judge the campaign on day one; the wave builds.
Stage 4: The echo (days 7–14)
The part most businesses miss: reposts keep working after delivery ends. Shared posts get saved, sent to friends, and surfaced by the algorithm to people who missed the first pass. A good campaign has a two-week tail. This is when "mention this post" redemptions and profile-visit spikes show up — track them.
Stage 5: Review and repeat (day 14+)
Look at what actually happened: profile visits, follows, redemptions, foot traffic, DMs. Then decide the next wave — same hero with a new angle, or a new hero entirely. The businesses that win with reposts treat them as a rhythm, not a one-off. Monthly waves beat annual shouts.
How to schedule around your business calendar
The timeline above is the default — but smart businesses sync it to their own calendar. Work backward from the date that matters: the event, the menu launch, the seasonal push. Delivery takes 3–7 days and the echo lasts two weeks, so a campaign booked three weeks before the date lands perfectly, while one booked three days before is fighting the clock. As a rule of thumb, add a one-week buffer to whatever feels comfortable. The businesses that report the best results are the ones that planned the campaign around the calendar instead of squeezing it in.
What can delay a campaign (and how to avoid it)
Two things slow campaigns down: indecision about the hero post, and a post that isn't ready to be shared. Both are avoidable. Decide the hero before you book — not after — and run it through the share test: clear offer, clear location, clear next step. A campaign held up waiting for final creative loses its best scheduling slots. Book when the post is ready, and the whole timeline runs the way it's supposed to.