How to manage social media while you're on holiday or off sick

When you're away, social media splits into two jobs. Posting can be prepared in advance and mostly runs itself. Replies, messages and reviews can't, because they depend on what people say while you're gone. Most holiday problems come from treating them the same: either posting stops entirely, or nobody reads the messages.

Decide in advance what matters for your business. A café can live without new posts for a week but not without updated opening hours. An online shop can pause content but must answer order problems.

Be honest with yourself about how long you'll really be offline. Many owners plan to check messages on holiday and then don't, or check them at midnight and reply in a hurry. It's better to hand the inbox to someone for the whole time, or to set a clear away message and check once a day at a set time, than to drift between the two.

A cover plan is a single page your stand-in can follow without calling you. It works for holidays, parental leave and the sick days you can't plan for. If you already use a roles and responsibilities chart, add a cover column to it.

1. List every account, who will cover it and how they'll get in (their own access, not your password).
2. Write down how often they should check, for example once a day at lunchtime.
3. List what they can answer on their own, with saved replies for common questions.
4. List what must wait for you, and what is urgent enough to contact you about.
5. Note where scheduled posts can be paused if something goes wrong.
6. Add contact details for anyone who might be needed: your manager, your web person, your payment provider.

• Hypothetical example of what a stand-in can answer alone: opening hours, prices, stock, booking changes
• What waits for you: refunds above a set amount, partnership requests, anything involving a complaint about staff
• What justifies a call or text: safety issues, a hacked account, press enquiries, anything going viral

Schedule your posts before you leave so the account doesn't go quiet. A lighter week is fine; nobody notices one fewer post, but they do notice a month of silence. Choose evergreen posts that won't go out of date or need replies you can't give: tips, behind-the-scenes photos, customer favourites. Avoid scheduling promotions that will create questions while you're away.

In Meta Business Suite you can create and schedule posts to your Facebook Page and Instagram account, and later reschedule, move to drafts or delete them from the Content tab, which is what your stand-in needs to know if something has to stop. Other platforms have their own native schedulers with different limits; our native scheduling comparison shows what each allows.

Source: Meta Business Help Centre: Create and manage posts in Meta Business Suite on desktop, checked 15 October 2026

An away message stops customers thinking you're ignoring them. Meta Business Suite's Inbox automations include an away message for when you're not available, as well as an instant reply and answers to common questions. Say when you're back, who is answering in the meantime and where to find hours, bookings or order tracking.

If your opening hours change, update your Google Business Profile as well. Google's special hours are for holidays and temporary changes, including closures of up to six days in a row. If you'll be closed for seven days or more, Google recommends marking the business as temporarily closed instead.

• Away message: back on a date, who's covering, the fastest route for urgent issues
• Bio or Page info: a short line about reduced hours if it affects customers
• Google Business Profile: special hours for each changed day, or temporarily closed for longer gaps
• A short post before you go if customers expect to reach you, such as a holiday closure notice

Sources: Meta Business Help Centre: About Inbox automations in Meta Business Suite Inbox, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: How to set special hours, checked 15 October 2026

Don't hand over your password and your phone. Every major platform has a way to give someone their own access that you can remove later. On a Facebook Page, Facebook access lets someone switch into the Page and manage it, while task access lets them manage content, messages and community activity through tools like Meta Business Suite without switching into the Page.

Be careful with full control. Facebook says someone with full control has the same access as you and can remove anyone, including you. It also says a Page needs at least one person with Facebook access and full control to stay active, which is another reason to make sure two trusted people from the business have it.

Source: Facebook Help Centre: About Facebook Page access, checked 15 October 2026

Illness and emergencies don't come with two weeks' notice. A sick-day kit is a small set of things prepared in advance so the account can run without you for a week.

• Five to ten evergreen posts, written, designed and saved as drafts
• An away message saved and ready to switch on
• A cover person with their own access already set up
• The one-page cover plan, stored where they can find it
• A list of passwords and two-factor methods kept securely by the business, not one person

Your first day back is for catching up, not posting. Turn off the away message, read every unanswered message, comment and review, and reply to the oldest first. Ask your stand-in what came up and add any new questions to your saved replies. Then check the scheduled posts for the next fortnight and refill the sick-day kit with anything you used.

Finally, look at what the cover plan missed. If your stand-in had to message you about something, add the answer to the plan. If a customer waited too long, adjust how often the inbox is checked next time. Each absence makes the plan a little better, and the next one, planned or not, becomes easier for everyone.

Zolyp, which we make, can plan and write your posts for the weeks you're away and publish them to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads after you approve them, so you can approve a holiday's worth in one sitting. With Autopilot you choose which content pillars publish without review, and a veto window lets you pull a post before it goes live. Team members are unlimited on every plan, so a stand-in can have their own login. It doesn't answer comments, messages or reviews for you; that part stays with a person.