Process family
Marketing approval process: five templates for content, PR and creators
Five swimlane flowcharts for the approvals a marketing team runs: web content, social posts, press releases, influencer content and customer case studies, each with its own reviewers, loops and exceptions.
Marketing work is published under the company's name, so almost every piece passes through someone who is not the author: an editor, a lawyer, a spokesperson, a creator's agent or the customer in the story. This family gathers the five approval charts that cover those routes, so each team can see who may say no, how many rounds are allowed and what happens when the answer is a refusal.
The routes differ in where the authority sits. Content approval is the editorial pipeline for web and lifecycle content, with specialist reviewers for brand, search, legal and subject matter and a refresh review after publication. Social media approval tiers posts by risk so routine posts do not queue behind legal, and gives real-time replies a fast lane with a review afterwards. Press release approval adds quote-by-quote sign-off and an embargo date that cannot slip.
Two charts put the final say outside the company. Influencer content approval caps the revision loop for a creator who is not an employee and releases payment only against compliant publication. Case study approval sends the draft to a customer whose legal or communications team may edit, delay or decline, and draws the withdrawal and re-approval paths that follow. In both, an approval is a record that a named person agreed to a named version, not a thread that went quiet.
These charts stop at publication. Running a launch across channels, handling a request queue or answering a public incident are in campaign delivery, and a contract with a creator or a customer's permission to use their name belongs to the contract lifecycle charts rather than here. Rules such as disclosure labels, consent for quotes or embargo conventions differ by country and by contract, so treat every threshold and day count on these charts as a placeholder to replace with your own policy.
Templates in this family
- Content approval process flowchart (brief to publish and refresh) — Content approval process flowchart template: brief, draft, editor check, brand, SEO, subject-matter and legal reviews, final approval, scheduled publishing and a refresh or retire review after launch.
- Social media approval process flowchart (calendar to publish) — Social media approval process template: calendar slot, draft post, risk tiering so routine posts skip legal, tiered review, scheduling, an urgent fast lane with after-the-fact review, and comment hand-off.
- Press release approval process flowchart (news to correction path) — Press release approval flowchart template: newsworthiness test, draft, fact and claims check, quote-by-quote sign-off, legal and disclosure review, embargo decision, release and corrections.
- Influencer content approval process flowchart (brief to payment) — Influencer content approval flowchart template: creator shortlist and contract, brief with prohibited claims, capped revision loop, disclosure check, go-live verification and payment on compliant posting.
- Case study approval process flowchart (customer consent to sales enablement) — Case study approval process flowchart template: customer selection and consent, interview, draft, internal review, customer approval with decline and expiry paths, quote verification, publishing and sales enablement.
Related guides
- How to map an external approval loop — How to map an external approval loop: draw the outside party as its own lane, add decline and withdraw exits, handle expiry and re-approval, and cap revision rounds.
- How to create a content approval workflow — How to create a content approval workflow: scope each reviewer, run reviews in parallel, consolidate comments into one list and set a refresh date. Live example.