An approval request will send a copy of your campaign along with a feedback form to an individual approver or an approval group. They will respond by either approving or rejecting the campaign, this feedback is reported back to Adestra which can trigger or stop a launch.
Using approval requests you can attain confirmation that your campaign is ready to launch, ensuring your work is as accurate and effective as possible.
For help on how to nominate Approval Users or creating an approval group please read the relevant documentation.
On this page:
Requesting Approval
You can request approvals from within the campaign overview using 'test and Launch'. In Step 4 'Setup Launch' click the 'Request Approval' tab, which will give you the option to enter approval details.
Note: Some users will not have the 'Launch' tab at this stage; therefore, the 'Request Approval' tab may be your default.
To create the automatic approval process you will need to complete this form, some of these options may be pre-defined depending on your account set up.
Approval Settings
- Group: The drop down box allows you to pick which approval group the request will be sent to.
- Threshold: You can either specify the number of approvals that must be met before the campaign can be launched, or select 'All Users Must Approve'.
- Notes: Here you can add notes to the approval request which will be displayed on the request form.
Notification Settings
You will receive an automated email to inform you whether a campaign has been approved or rejected, selecting 'yes' in this option will send the same notification to the approval group.
You can also select in the drop-down box if you would like to notify a different group. This can be useful, for example, to inform management of the approvals outcome.
Launch Settings
This option determines how to launch a campaign once it has been approved.
- Automatic Launch: will expand the screen for you to schedule the launch. Send as Soon as Approved will send the campaign 15 minutes after approval; whereas Send at a Specified Time allows you to schedule when the campaign will launch.
- Manual Launch: allows you to schedule the launch after the campaign has been approved, in the approval settings.
Authorisation
You can create a password that will need to be entered when opening approval requests, this option is not required.
Requesting Split Test Approval
The form for a split test approval differs slightly, with an additional section at the bottom entitled "Split Test Options". This mirrors the launch options for a standard split test launch.
Awaiting Responses
Once the request has been sent to approval users the campaign will be locked until the required number of approvals is met, or an approval user rejects the campaign.
The campaign overview will display a notification banner with the status of the request and the 'Approval Settings' and 'Close Approval' buttons.
Clicking the 'Approval Settings' button will display the requests status, a list of the users sent a campaign and any responses.
While the approval request is open, no changes can be made. If you wish to make changes to the campaign, the approval request must be closed and the process started again.
Note: The threshold you set, whether some or all of your approval users, will be nullified by a rejection. Rejection responses take precedence and will prevent you from launching.
Approved
If the request is approved you will receive an email informing you of this and the campaign will be able to launch. Depending on which option you chose in the approval set up, the campaign will either launch automatically or require manual launching.
Automatic launch
Campaigns set to launch automatically will be scheduled for the time specified in the approval setup, or 15 minutes after approval if no launch time was provided. The projected launch time will be displayed in the campaign's notification banner.
Until the launch begins sending the approval status will be set to 'Waiting', during which time the launch can still be cancelled by a rejection.
If the automatic launch details are incorrect you will need to cancel the launch by closing the approval, in this instance you will need to repeat the approval process.
Manual launch
Approved campaigns set to be launched manually will have their status set to 'Approved' and can be launched either immediately or scheduled to launch later from the approval settings page.
As with automatic launches, until the launch has actually started sending, approval users may still reject the approval request preventing the launch.
Rejected
Rejected approval requests will simply wait with a status of 'Rejected'. They cannot be launched or edited without first closing the approval request.
Rejection responses take precedence over approvals. This means, no matter the threshold set for approval, if there is one rejection the campaign will received a 'Rejected' status.
When an approval user rejects a request they are required to provide a comment in the response notes. You can view the responses and attached notes in approval settings.
Once a request has been rejected, the response cannot be overridden. The approval request must be closed and the process started again.
FAQ
What happens if I get a rejection?
No matter what your threshold for approval, a rejection response always takes precedence. Should you receive a rejection automatic and manual launch will be prevented until amendments are made and a new request for approval is approved.
Can I cancel an automatic launch that has been approved?
Yes, as long as the campaign has not begun launching you are able to cancel it at any time using the 'Close Approval' button.
What happens if an approval user responds to a request that has been closed, or after the campaign has launched?
If approval users attempt to respond after you have closed the approval, they will be directed to a page stating 'This approval request has either been completed or cancelled.'
Why are there two launch options when I want a Split Test Approval?
These launch options refer to two separate processes of the approval for a split test. The first, which is used in a normal approval request, launches the campaign once it has been approved. In this case it would then send out the split test campaign. The second, which is specific to split tests and seen on a normal split test launch, determines whether the best performing variant is sent automatically (or not) to the remainder of the list.
My campaign is scheduled but not yet approved, what will happen if it is not approved in time to launch?
Don't worry! If a scheduled campaign is not approved before the scheduled time, it will launch as soon as approval is granted.