Pre-flight check — every post checked against the platform's rules
Each platform has its own rulebook — what’s too long, what needs a photo, what a health practice may put in a paid post. The Pre-flight check panel sits in the post window on the Calendar and checks the post against the rules of the platform it’s going to, updating as you edit. It’s free, and a post with an unfixed blocker cannot be scheduled.
Organic or boosted?
At the top of the panel, a switch asks whether the post is Organic or Boosted (paid). Organic means the post simply appears to your followers. Boosting means paying the platform to show it to more people — and the moment money is involved, the platform treats the post as an advertisement and applies its advertising rules, which are stricter for health practices. Set the switch before scheduling; once a post is scheduled you’d unschedule it first, so the right rules are checked.
The rules that only apply when boosting:
- Before-and-after photos can’t be in paid posts on Google, Facebook, or Instagram. Keep posts with before-and-after photos organic, or swap the photo before boosting.
- Adults-only audience. Facebook and Instagram require ads for cosmetic services to target people 18 and older. The app can’t set that for you — you choose the audience inside the platform’s boost screen — so it shows the reminder every time.
- Result-promising language (“guaranteed”, “perfect”, “100%”) gets flagged on any channel: ad reviewers reject health posts that promise outcomes.
Why paid posts are stricter
Platforms keep a separate, tougher rulebook for anything they’re paid to spread, and health and cosmetic services have their own chapter in it. A before-and-after photo your followers are free to see is, in a paid post, an “idealized result” the platform will reject — and repeated rejections can put the practice’s whole advertising account at risk. Checking here costs nothing; finding out from a rejection costs days.
Blockers, warnings, and reminders
- A blocker (⛔) stops scheduling until fixed — the post would be rejected by the platform, so the studio won’t queue it.
- A warning (⚠) just tells you — worth fixing, but you can schedule anyway.
- A reminder (ⓘ) is something the app can’t check for you — like the adults-only audience setting, which lives in the platform’s own boost screen — so it shows every time as a nudge.
When everything is fine, the panel says the post passes every platform rule for its channel.
What gets checked
- Length limits. A post on X is capped at 280 characters (a blocker — there’s no way to publish more). Instagram and TikTok captions cap at 2,200, LinkedIn at 3,000, a Google Business Profile update at 1,500 — those warn, since the platform cuts the text off rather than rejecting it. If your post carries more than one language, the longest version is the one measured.
- Instagram needs an image or video, and allows at most 30 hashtags — both blockers, because Instagram refuses the post otherwise.
- Phone numbers in a Google Business Profile update often get the update rejected — patients can already call from your listing’s buttons — so the panel warns you.
- The boosted-only rules above, whenever the switch is on Boosted (paid).
Worked example
The practice wants its teeth-whitening post to reach beyond its followers. The office manager opens the draft from the calendar and flips the switch to Boosted (paid). The panel immediately shows a blocker — the post carries a before-and-after photo, which Instagram doesn’t allow in paid posts — and a reminder to set the audience to 18 and older when boosting. She swaps the before-and-after pair for the bright smiling-portrait shot from the Library; the blocker disappears, the adults-only reminder stays (she’ll set that inside Instagram’s boost screen), and the post schedules. The original before-and-after post stays organic, where it’s allowed.