Get started with journeys & campaigns approval send-proofs

Learn how to assign approval-related permissions

1. In the Permissions product, go to the Roles tab and select the desired Role.

2. Click Edit to modify the permissions.

3. Add the Campaigns resource, then select Approve & publish Campaigns from the drop-down menu.

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4. Add the Journeys resource, then select Approve & publish Journeys from the drop-down menu.

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5. Click Save to apply changes.

Any users already assigned to this role will have their permissions automatically updated.

1. To assign this role to new users, navigate to the Users tab within the Roles dashboard and click Add User.

2. Enter the user’s name, email address, or choose from the list, then click Save.

3. If the user was not previously created, refer to this documentation.

The user will receive an email with instructions to access your instance.

Do I need to create an approval policy for every campaign or journey?

No. Approval policies are conditional. You only need to create a policy if you want to enforce review for a specific set of campaigns or journeys (e.g., all scheduled campaigns created by a specific team). If no policy applies to a campaign or journey, the creator can publish directly without requesting approval.

What happens if the approver is unavailable?

The request stays “In Review” until an approver acts on it. You can cancel the request (returning the item to “Draft”) and resubmit once the right approver is available. Admins can also update the approval policy to add additional approvers.

Can I edit a campaign or journey while it is pending approval?

No. Once submitted for approval, the campaign or journey is in a locked “In Review” state. To make changes, the creator or an approver must cancel the request first. The item returns to “Draft” and can be edited before resubmitting.

I don't see the Approve & publish permission in the drop-down — what should I check?

Ensure you are adding the correct resource first. The Approve & publish Campaigns permission requires the Campaigns resource to be added to the role, and Approve & publish Journeys requires the Journeys resource. Both must be added separately. Learn how to assign approval-related permissions

How does Journey Optimizer determine which approval policy applies if more than one policy could match?

When several active approval policies could apply to the same journey or campaign, the policy that was activated most recently takes precedence. The approver user groups defined in that policy are the ones that are notified and that govern the request.

Learn more

If a requestor belongs to multiple user groups, can they choose which group the approval request is sent to?

No. Requestors cannot manually select which user group receives or routes the approval request. The user groups specified in the approval policy that applies—according to policy precedence—are notified automatically.

AI Knowledge Reference

This section contains structured knowledge intended to support interpretation, retrieval, and question answering related to this topic.

For complete understanding, this information should be combined with the documentation on this page. Neither source is intended to stand alone; the page describes the feature, while this section provides additional context that helps disambiguate terminology, intent, applicability, and constraints.

• TL;DR: This page introduces the embedded approval process in Journey Optimizer, covering the permissions it requires, the end-to-end policy-to-publish workflow, and how to monitor requests so stakeholders sign off before journeys and campaigns go live.

Intents:

• Understand the embedded approval process that keeps journeys and campaigns locked during review
• Assign the Approve & publish Campaigns and Approve & publish Journeys permissions
• Follow the workflow from approval policy setup to submission, review, and activation
• Monitor approval and change requests using the Show Audit Trail icon
• Understand which policy applies when several active policies could match

Glossary:

• Approval policy: A policy that defines the conditions under which a journey or campaign requires approval before it can go live. (product-specific)
• In Review: The locked state a campaign or journey enters after submission, during which no edits can be made unless the request is canceled. (product-specific)
• Show Audit Trail: An icon on the journey canvas or campaign review screen used to monitor the approval and change requests submitted for an object. (product-specific)
• Approve & publish Campaigns / Approve & publish Journeys: The permissions required to approve and publish campaigns and journeys respectively. (product-specific)

Guardrails:

• To approve and publish journeys and campaigns, users need the Approve & publish Campaigns and Approve & publish Journeys permissions.
• Campaigns and journeys only need to be submitted for approval if an approval policy is in place; if no policy applies, the creator can publish directly.
• During review, campaigns and journeys remain in a locked state so that no changes or unintended activations occur before all approvals are in place.
• When several active approval policies could apply to the same object, the policy activated most recently takes precedence.

Terminology:

• Canonical name: approval process — variants: approval workflow
• Do not confuse: “Draft” (editable state, and the state an object returns to when a request is canceled or changes are requested) ≠ “In Review” (locked state during approval)
• Do not confuse: “Approve & publish Campaigns” (requires the Campaigns resource) ≠ “Approve & publish Journeys” (requires the Journeys resource)

FAQ:

• Q: Do I need an approval policy for every campaign or journey? — No. Policies are conditional; create one only to enforce review for a specific set. If no policy applies, the creator can publish directly.
• Q: What happens if the approver is unavailable? — The request stays In Review until an approver acts. You can cancel it, returning the item to Draft, and resubmit, or an admin can add additional approvers to the policy.
• Q: Can I edit a campaign or journey while it is pending approval? — No. It is in a locked In Review state; the creator or an approver must cancel the request first, which returns it to Draft.
• Q: Which policy applies when more than one could match? — The policy activated most recently takes precedence, and its approver user groups are the ones notified and governing the request.
• Q: If a requestor belongs to multiple user groups, can they choose which group receives the request? — No. The user groups specified in the applicable policy are notified automatically.