An approval routes a piece of marketing work to a person for sign-off before it goes live, such as a marketing director approving a tactic. The marketing team can submit a campaign, marketing program, or marketing tactic for approval. An approval is separate from a compliance review.
Required Editions
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Approvals run on Salesforce Advanced Approvals, by using three Marketing Planning and Operations flows that work together. One flow determines which approval process to use. Another routes the record to an approver for sign-off. A third looks up who that approver is. You can customize how each type of work routes.
The Approval Flows
Each flow plays a specific role, and you can customize how work routes by overriding it.
| Flow | Flow API Name | What It Does | Sample Customization |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing Planning Operations: Resolve Approval Routing | mkt_ops_flows__ResolveApprovalRouting |
Takes the record's object type and returns the approval process to run. This flow is the customization point for routing. | Override it to route each type of work differently. For example, send marketing tactics to a stricter process while campaigns keep the default. |
| Marketing Planning Operations: Route Record for Approval | mkt_ops_flows__RouteRecordForAppvl |
The approval process that runs. It routes the record to an approver and handles recall. | Build your copy to change the approval steps. For example, require two approvers instead of one. |
| Marketing Planning Operations: Get Manager for User | mkt_ops_flows__GetManagerForUser |
A background step that Route Record for Approval calls to find the submitter's manager. If there's no manager, it sends the Approver Not Configured alert. | Override it to pick the approver another way, such as by a custom field instead of the submitter's manager. |
Default Behavior
When someone submits a campaign, marketing program, or marketing tactic, the Resolve Approval Routing flow returns the approval process to run. By default, every object type returns the same one, the Route Record for Approval flow. That process launches and looks up the submitter's manager. The work then routes to the manager for sign-off. A submitter without an assigned manager gets an alert instead.
Approver Setup
Because approvals route to the submitter's manager, complete these steps so requests reach an approver:
- Assign a manager to each user who submits work for approval.
- Create a custom notification type named
Approver_Not_Configuredin Notification Builder.
Customization Options
The three flows are active, so approvals work without setup. To change how approvals route, override a flow with your own copy and point Resolve Approval Routing to the process you want it to use.
Northern Trail Outfitters wants extra sign-off on paid ads. You build a two-step legal approval process, modeled on the Route Record for Approval flow. You then override Resolve Approval Routing and set the marketing tactic branch to return the new process. Campaigns and marketing programs keep the default.
Now, when a marketer submits a paid social tactic, it routes to legal for sign-off. When they submit a campaign, it still routes to the submitter's manager.