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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. The remaining steps follow the same pattern.This is useful when one team’s review should happen before the next — for example Marketing first, then Compliance, then Legal.
Presets save roles (Marketing, Compliance, and Legal) or teams and their step order, not fixed names. Teams are an add-on to roles: a preset step can point at a team instead of a role, and applies the same way. See Teams for how teams are created and managed.When applying a preset to a promotion, the person submitting chooses the actual people within each role or team group who should review. That way you are not automatically sending the promotion to everyone in a role or team. Only the people you tick are involved.
Users can leave a role or team selection open. If no specific people are ticked, anyone with that role, or anyone currently in that team, and with the correct permissions, can review.
External Reviewer steps are different, whether the step is a role or a team. When you apply the preset, you must select one or more named external reviewers because Anyone is unavailable for that step. Each selected person also needs permission for the promotion’s jurisdiction. See External reviewer access.
A team step can also block submission on its own: if nobody in the team has access to the promotion’s workspace, Adclear won’t let you apply that step until an admin adds an eligible member to the team, or you switch to individual reviewers for that step instead.
The same role or team can appear more than once in a single preset. This is useful for sequential flows where a group needs to review at multiple steps.

Add-on feature, feature flagged

Jurisdiction autoapply is not available by default. It is enabled per organisation under controlled rollout. Speak to your Adclear contact about whether it is the right fit for your team.
Admins can link a jurisdiction (country) to a specific preset so that whenever a promotion targets that jurisdiction, the correct preset is applied automatically. The submitter does not need to pick one manually.These links are configured per workspace inside the preset create or edit dialog. If a jurisdiction is already linked to a different preset, the admin sees a conflict indicator and can choose to reassign it.When a jurisdiction is linked to a preset:
  • The preset selector is locked at upload and shows a “Required by” label.
  • The submitter cannot change the preset for that jurisdiction.
  • Adclear enforces the preset at submission time, even if no preset was applied at draft.
See Jurisdiction autoapply below for the full lifecycle.

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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 > Organisation > Reviewer Presets.
2

Create a new preset

Select Add new.
3

Choose the review type

Pick Sequential or Parallel.
4

Add roles and teams

Add each role or team group that should take part. Use the Roles tab for role groups such as Marketing, Compliance, Admin, or Legal. Use the Teams tab to add a team as a step instead of a role.If the flow needs an outside partner, add External Reviewer from the Roles tab. You will select the specific external partners later, when you apply the preset to a promotion.
5

Set the order (sequential only)

For sequential flows, put the steps in the right order. Steps can mix roles and teams, for example:
  1. Marketing
  2. Compliance team
  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.
7

Assign jurisdictions (optional, add-on)

If jurisdiction autoapply is enabled, the preset dialog includes a Jurisdiction Auto-Apply panel. Select which jurisdictions (per workspace) should use this preset automatically. If a jurisdiction is already linked to another preset, Adclear shows a conflict badge and asks you to confirm the reassignment.

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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.
If your admin has linked the promotion’s jurisdiction to a specific preset, that preset is selected automatically and the selector is locked. You will see a “Required by” label indicating which jurisdiction triggered it.
5

Expand the role or team groups

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

Choose specific people

Use the tick boxes to select exactly who should review from each group. For example, if Marketing is in the flow, you might choose one person, two people, or everyone eligible in Marketing.Selecting specific people is optional. Leaving the selection open means anyone with that role and the correct permissions can review.
When applying a preset, selecting specific people is required for an External Reviewer group. Adclear blocks submission if the step has no named candidate or a selected reviewer lacks the promotion’s jurisdiction.
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 from the step where the previous review stopped. 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.
If jurisdiction autoapply is enabled and your admin changed which preset is linked to the jurisdiction between versions, the new version uses the updated preset instead of carrying over the previous one. If the linked preset was deleted or deactivated, the submitter picks a preset freely.

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Jurisdiction autoapply

Add-on feature, feature flagged

Jurisdiction autoapply is not available by default. It is enabled per organisation under controlled rollout. Speak to your Adclear contact about whether it is the right fit for your team.
Jurisdiction autoapply lets admins link a jurisdiction to a preset so the correct review flow is enforced automatically at every stage of a promotion’s lifecycle. Once configured, no manual preset selection is needed for linked jurisdictions.
Open an existing preset (or create a new one) in Settings. The Jurisdiction Auto-Apply panel appears at the bottom of the dialog. For each workspace, select the jurisdictions that should use this preset. If a jurisdiction is already linked to a different preset, a conflict badge appears and Adclear asks you to confirm the reassignment.When a preset is deactivated or deleted, Adclear removes its jurisdiction links automatically.
When a submitter selects a jurisdiction that is linked to a preset, the preset is applied to the draft automatically. The preset selector is locked and displays a “Required by” label. This applies to single uploads, batch uploads, and carousels.
If a promotion reaches submission with no preset applied (for example, because it was created before the preset was configured for that jurisdiction), Adclear applies the correct preset automatically as a fallback. If the submitter explicitly chooses a different preset that conflicts, the submission is rejected.
External and integration submissions follow the same logic. If the jurisdiction is linked to a preset, that preset is applied automatically before the submission reaches review.
When a new version is created, Adclear checks which preset the jurisdiction is currently linked to. If the link changed since the previous version (for example, the admin reassigned the jurisdiction to a different preset), the new version gets the updated preset. The previous chain is not carried over blindly. If the linked preset was deleted or deactivated, the submitter picks a preset freely.
When a jurisdiction is linked to a preset, the preset selector and reviewer field on the promotion viewer are locked. The reviewer can see which preset is active but cannot change it.

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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. Avoid assigning the whole role.
  • When applying a preset, always select named candidates for External Reviewer steps and confirm their jurisdiction permissions.
  • 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
  • Submitters know they must select named candidates when applying a preset that contains an External Reviewer step
  • If jurisdiction autoapply is enabled, jurisdictions are linked to the correct presets per workspace

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Quick summary

In short: Multi-level approval routes a promotion through the right people in parallel or in order. It uses 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.

External reviewer access

Invite external reviewers and assign promotions to them.

Settings

Configure reviewer presets and other organisation settings.

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Still need help?

Contact support at support@adclear.ai.