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Overview

Multi-level approval lets you send a promotion through more than one reviewer instead of a single approver. It works well when a submission needs sign-off from several teams — for example Marketing, Compliance, Admin, or Legal.

Parallel review

Reviewers work at the same time. Neither has to wait for the other to finish.

Sequential review

Reviewers work one after another in a set order. Each step waits for the previous one.
This guide is written for marketers submitting promotions and for admins setting up review flows. If anything here differs from earlier internal notes, this guide takes priority.

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The four things to understand

A reviewer preset is a saved review path you set up once and reuse. Presets are created in Settings, in the reviewer preset section. Each preset defines:
  • Which roles take part (Marketing, Compliance, Admin, Legal, and so on)
  • Whether the flow is parallel or sequential
  • The order of steps (for sequential flows)
Once saved, presets appear when someone submits a promotion. There is also a default preset, which is chosen automatically unless the submitter picks a different one.
Only admins can create reviewer presets.
In a parallel flow, reviewers do not block each other. For example, Marketing and Compliance can both review at the same time. Neither has to wait for the other to finish first.This is useful when you want answers quickly and the teams do not depend on each other’s decision.
In a sequential flow, reviews happen in order. Step 2 does not start until Step 1 is done. Step 3 does not start until Step 2 is done, and so on.This is useful when one team’s review should happen before the next — for example Marketing first, then Compliance, then Legal.
Presets are built around roles (Marketing, Compliance, and so on), not fixed names. When submitting a promotion, the person uploading can choose the actual people within each role who should review.That way you are not automatically sending the promotion to everyone in a role — only the people you tick.
Users can leave role selection open. If no specific people are ticked, anyone with that role and the correct permissions can review.
The same role can appear more than once in a single preset. This is useful for sequential flows where a role needs to review at multiple steps.

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When to use each type

Use parallel review when:
  • More than one team can review on their own
  • One reviewer does not need to finish before another starts
Example: Marketing and Compliance review at the same time.

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How admins set up a reviewer preset

1

Open reviewer presets

Go to Settings and open the reviewer preset section.
2

Create a new preset

Select Add new.
3

Choose the review type

Pick Sequential or Parallel.
4

Add the roles

Add each role group that should take part — for example Marketing, Compliance, Admin, Legal.
5

Set the order (sequential only)

For sequential flows, put the steps in the right order, for example:
  1. Marketing
  2. Compliance
  3. Legal
6

Save

Save the preset. It will then be available when promotions are submitted. You can also set which preset is the default.

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How to use a preset when submitting a promotion

1

Start a new promotion

Create your promotion as usual.
2

Open reviewer selection

In the submission flow, use the reviewer selection dropdown in the bottom-right area of the screen.
3

Choose how to assign reviewers

You can either:
  • Pick a single individual reviewer (the usual one-reviewer path), or
  • Pick a reviewer preset (multi-level path)
4

Select a preset

Choose the default preset, or switch to another one if needed.
5

Expand the role groups

Open each group inside the preset to see the people available in that role.
6

Choose specific people

Use the tick boxes to select exactly who should review from each group. This lets you narrow things down — for example, if Marketing is in the flow, you might choose one person, two people, or everyone eligible in Marketing, depending on what you need.Selecting specific people is optional. Leaving the selection open means anyone with that role and the correct permissions can review.
7

Submit

Submit the promotion. The approval flow can start at the upload stage or the submission stage, depending on how your team works.
A preset cannot be un-applied once it has been applied to a submission.

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What happens after submission

After submission, the screen is updated to show the review flow more clearly. You should be able to see:
  • The approval steps in the flow
  • The current step
  • Whose turn it is to review (especially in sequential flows)
Assigned reviewers get a notification when it is their turn to review.

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Approve, Reject, and Request Changes in a multi-level flow

Multi-level approval uses the same three decisions as normal Adclear review. The difference is what they mean when several people are involved.
In a sequential flow: Your approval completes your step. The promotion moves to the next person in the order. It is not fully approved until the last required step is approved.In a parallel flow: Your approval counts toward your part of the flow. The promotion is only fully approved when every required step in that parallel flow has been approved.
The promotion did not pass review. The flow stops. The promotion goes back to the marketing team with your comments, as it does today.
Specific changes are needed before the promotion can be approved. Like Reject, it stops the flow and sends the promotion back to marketing with your feedback.
Clicking Approve on an early step does not mean the promotion is cleared for use. Only full approval at the end of the flow means it is approved.

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Example workflows

Goal: Get Marketing and Compliance sign-off as quickly as possible.Setup:
  • Review type: Parallel
  • Reviewers: Marketing and Compliance
What happens:
  • Both teams are notified
  • Both can review straight away
  • Neither has to wait for the other
  • The promotion is fully approved once both have approved

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When marketing sends a new version

If a promotion was Rejected or Changes Needed and marketing uploads a fixed version, review starts again — usually from the step where things were blocked. It is the uploader’s choice whether to request re-approval from people who have previously approved. If earlier reviewers already approved and little has changed, the uploader can decide whether those approvals still count, so people are not asked to repeat work unnecessarily.

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Best practices

  • Use parallel review when teams can review on their own and you want faster turnaround.
  • Use sequential review when order matters and later reviewers should build on earlier ones.
  • Save common flows as presets so people do not rebuild the same review path every time.
  • Use individual selection within role groups so you only involve the people who need to review — not the whole role.
  • Before making a preset the default, check that it matches how your business actually approves content.

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Admin setup checklist

Before rolling this out to your team, confirm:
  • Reviewer presets are created in Settings
  • The right roles have been assigned to users
  • Users understand parallel vs sequential review
  • The right people can be selected within each role group

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Quick summary

Single reviewerMulti-level approval
Who reviews?One personSeveral people, in a set flow
How is it set up?Pick one reviewerPick a preset (or use the default)
Approve means…Promotion is approvedYour step is done; others may still need to review
Reject / Request ChangesSends back to marketingSame — stops the whole flow
Best for…Simple sign-offMarketing + Compliance + Legal (or similar)
In short: Multi-level approval routes a promotion through the right people — in parallel or in order — using the same Approve, Reject, and Request Changes decisions you already know. The promotion is only fully approved when every required step in that flow is complete.

Self-Approval

The single-approver add-on for permitted users on permitted promotions.

Feature catalog

Every Adclear feature in one place, including where multi-level approval sits as an add-on.

How roles work

Understand the different roles in Adclear and what each one can do.

Settings

Configure reviewer presets and other workspace settings.

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Still need help?

Contact support at support@adclear.ai.