The workflow is the main hub for campaign management in Later Influence™ (formerly Mavrck).
An in-depth understanding of workflow functionality can help you optimize campaigns and inspire new efficiencies.
Getting started:
- Campaign Workflow Basics: Overview of workflow functionality and links to instructions
- Workflow Stage Guides: Dedicated articles for each stage of the workflow
- Customizing the Workflow: Capabilities and instructions to customize campaigns
- Using Workflow Automation: Capabilities and instructions to automate campaigns
This article goes into greater detail on the logic and functionality of workflow. It's intended as a reference document to provide technical guidance if any questions arise.
Overview
The workflow is designed to organize the normal steps of any influencer marketing campaign. Influencers move through each stage in sequence as they complete tasks or receive approvals.
Any stages that are not applicable to your campaigns can be easily removed. Other campaign functions, like content binding and incentive fulfillment, are closely linked with the workflow.
Workflow Stages
The workflow includes 12 default stages, which can be enabled or disabled and combined with custom stages as needed.
During the campaign setup process, determine which stages are relevant to your campaign and disable any you don't need in order to streamline the workflow. See Recommended Workflow Configurations for suggestions and ideas.
There are three required stages which can't be disabled: Content Creation, Complete, and Dropped.
Workflow Phases
Workflow stages are categorized into phases that reflect the influencers' status in the campaign at a higher level, from Candidates to Participants to Complete, as well as Dropped.
Phases are included in the table of default stages and further detailed below.
Reference Table
Each of the default workflow stages is summarized below. Click each stage name to learn more about its specific capabilities, when to use it, and how to optimize the process it represents:
| Phase | Stage | These are influencers... | How do influencers move to the next stage? | Relevant message template | Stage requirement |
| Candidates phase | Candidates | ...you have added from search | You select who to invite and promote them manually | — | Optional |
| Invited | ...you have invited | Influencers submit applications | Invitation | Optional | |
| Applied | ...that have submitted applications | You review and accept applicants | — |
Optional |
|
| Participants phase | Confirmation | ...you have accepted | Influencers confirm their participation | Member Accepted | Optional |
| Pre-Payment | ...that have confirmed participation and are ready to be paid | You fulfill pre-payment incentives | You're Confirmed | Optional | |
| Draft | ...that need to upload draft content | Influencers submit draft content | Draft Submission | Optional | |
| Draft Review | ...that have submitted drafts for review | You review and approve drafts | Draft Neds Revisions, if applicable | Optional | |
| Content Creation | ...that are ready to create content | Influencers complete deliverables | Posting Instructions or Draft Approval, if applicable | Required | |
| Complete phase | Post Review | ...that have created content to review | You review content and approve | — | Optional |
| Post-Payment | ...that have met deliverables and are ready to be paid | You fulfill post-payment incentives | — | Optional | |
| Complete | ...that have completed all steps | — | Post Complete | Required | |
| Dropped phase | Dropped | ...that have been rejected or opted-out |
— You can move Dropped influencers back to any stage |
— |
Default |
| Not Eligible* | ...that are not TCM-eligible |
— |
— |
Default |
* The Not Eligible stage is only applicable in campaigns that utilized the TikTok Creator Marketplace (TCM) integration.
Custom Workflow Stages
You can also add custom workflow stages and position them among the default workflow stages to suit the needs of your particular campaign. See Custom Workflow Stages for a complete overview of custom workflow stage options.
A few key things to know about custom workflow stages:
- Custom stages can only be added while a campaign is in Draft mode
- Custom stages can be used to trigger message templates to send automatically
- Promoting influencers out of custom stages must be done manually
Like default stages, custom stages are organized into phases. Custom stages take on the phase of the default stage that immediately precedes them. See Workflow Phases for more details.
Default workflow stages cannot be customized by renaming or reordering.
Editing Workflow Stages in an Active Campaign
Once a campaign has been set to Live mode and influencers have begun to move through the workflow stages, limited updates can be made to your workflow setup.
Non-required default stages can be disabled in a Live campaign as long as no influencers have been added to the stage.
To preserve their history, you cannot disable any stage that has contained any influencers at any point. If a stage is linked with a message template to deliver automatically, the template must be updated to a different delivery method before the relevant stage can be disabled.
Custom workflow stages cannot be added or moved once a campaign has been set Live.
See Customizing the Workflow for more details.
Workflow Phases
Workflow stages are grouped into four logical phases to reflect the status of an influencer's participation in the campaign at a high level.
The workflow phase that an influencer is in is relevant to several campaign functions, including automatic content binding and incentive fulfillment.
Workflow phases are detailed below. Click any phase to expand its details including capabilities and limitations.
Candidates Phase: Influencers have been added to the campaign, but not selected as participants.
Influencers who have not opted into your program cannot be promoted past the Candidates phase of any campaign, because they haven't chosen to participate yet.
When an influencer is in the Candidates phase of the workflow, no content can be bound to their profile and incentives cannot be fulfilled.
When influencer deliverables are edited in a Live campaign, changes are only applied to influencers in the Candidates phase. To edit deliverables for an influencer who has been promoted further in the workflow, move them back to the Candidates phase, and then back to the relevant later stage.
Workflow stages in the Candidates phase:
- Candidates: Added to the campaign but not invited.
- Invited: Invited but have not applied.
- Applied: Application submitted but not yet accepted.
Participants Phase: Influencers have opted in and been selected to participate in the campaign.
Influencers are considered Participants in a campaign once they are promoted past the Applied stage. If a campaign has disabled the Applied stage, they are considered Participants when they are added to any stage which follows Applied in the default workflow.
All campaign functions such as content binding and incentive fulfillment are fully enabled for influencers in the Participants phase.
Note that influencers are considered Participants in this phase even if their confirmation status is still pending. To read more about influencer confirmation, see Confirming Participation.
Workflow stages in the Participants phase:
- Confirmation: The influencer has been asked to participate in the campaign, pending their confirmation.
- Pre-Payment through Content Creation: Influencers are actively participating in the campaign.
Complete Phase: Influencers have completed participation.
Influencers are considered to be in the Complete phase once they have fulfilled all deliverables included in the setup of the campaign, which triggers auto-promotion to the next stage after Content Creation.
All campaign functions such as content binding and incentive fulfillment are fully enabled for influencers in the Complete phase.
If Post Review and/or Post-Payment are enabled, influencers will pass through those stages before they enter the Complete workflow stage, but any stage following Content Creation is in the Complete phase.
Workflow stages in the Complete phase:
- Post Review: All deliverables have been fulfilled but a human review is needed.
- Post-Payment: Influencer is ready to be paid.
- Complete: Influencer has completed all deliverables and received all payments, if applicable.
Dropped Phase: Influencers have been removed from the campaign.
Campaign functions such as content binding and incentive fulfillment are disabled for influencers in the Dropped phase. Influencers can still be messaged or promoted back to any other stage.
Influencers enter the Dropped phase when their campaign applications are rejected, they opt out of the campaign through the confirmation process, or they are manually moved to the Dropped stage.
If a Dropped influencer attempts to access the campaign’s details through the ICM, they will see a message letting them know the campaign is no longer available.
No content can be bound from influencers in the Dropped phase. Incentives can still be fulfilled for influencers in the Dropped phase as long as they have not also been removed from your database or unsubscribed.
Workflow stages in the Dropped phase:
- Dropped: Influencer has been dropped or opted out of the campaign via the confirmation process.
- Not Eligible: TCM-enabled campaigns only. Influencer is not eligible to join the TCM.
Phases for Custom Workflow Stages
Custom workflow stages take on the phase of whichever default stage immediately precedes them. For example, a custom stage positioned immediately after Applied would be in the Candidates phase, even if the Applied stage is not enabled.
Workflow Connection with Other Functions
As mentioned above, workflow functionality is a pillar of the Later Influence™ (formerly Mavrck) platform and is linked with many other campaign features, including content, reporting, and payments.
The following is a list of other functions that interact with workflow, including key information to know and links to more detailed resources.
Messages
Message templates can be set to send automatically based on workflow stage triggers. See Using Workflow Automation for more details.
Messages from influencers are routed into campaign-specific folders when they are sent in direct reply to an email sent from a campaign. Influencers must be added to the campaign workflow to receive a message from a campaign.
Campaign Applications
To enable influencers to complete the campaign application, the Invited & Applied stages of the workflow must be enabled.
Influencer Campaign Manager (ICM)
In campaigns where the influencer campaign manager (ICM) is enabled, the visibility of the campaign is dependent on the influencer's workflow stage. At most stages, influencers will also see an alert for their next step at the top of the page. If the influencer has been Dropped, they will see a message letting them know the campaign is no longer available.
An overview of the ICM is available in the article Influencer Campaign Manager Overview.
The appearance of the campaign to influencers at each stage is included in each stage-specific article in the Workflow Stage Guides section.
Draft Review
To utilize the draft review process, including draft submission links, both the Draft & Draft Review stages of the workflow must be enabled.
See Collecting and Reviewing Draft Content for more details on the draft review process.
Automatic Content Binding
Content binding describes Later Influence's ability to track content created by influencers and store it within campaigns in the platform. See Collecting Campaign Content for more details.
Influencers must be in the Participants or Complete phases of the workflow for the platform to track their content in campaigns automatically or allow them to self-report content.
Content can be manually bound to influencers in the Dropped phase, but not automatically bound or self-reported.
No content can be bound to influencers in the Candidates phase, whether automatically, manually, or self-reported.
Amplify Content Tracking Links
If an Amplify Content deliverable has been added to the campaign setup, tracking links are generated for influencers when they reach the Participants phase of the campaign.
Influencer-specific tracking links can be added to influencers in the Participants or Complete phase and unique links are generated at the time they are added.
See Amplify Content Tracking Links for more details.
Incentive Fulfillment
Movement through the workflow can update the fulfillment status of an influencer's incentives. In certain cases where incentives are fulfilled using an integration, incentive fulfillment can also trigger movement through the workflow.
Incentives can be fulfilled for influencers in any workflow stage past the Candidates phase, including Dropped.
See Incentive Fulfillment for more details.
My Members Database
Influencers become 'members' of your program when they opt-in through a campaign application or other link.
Becoming a member is not directly tied to workflow; rather, memberships are created when influencers log in using Facebook or log in with an email and create a password.
Influencers can become members without completing campaign applications, meaning they will appear in your My Members database without appearing in the workflow of a campaign. Completing an application ensures that they both become a member and reach the Applied stage of the workflow.
Influencers who have not opted-in to your program yet, or non-members, cannot be promoted past the Applied stage as they cannot enter the Participants phase without opting in.
Dropping an influencer from a campaign does not affect an influencer's membership. Vice versa, removing an influencer's membership does move them to the Dropped stage of any campaigns where they are already a participant. Influencers who unsubscribe are removed from your Members database but are not dropped from campaigns where they are already a participant. See Removing an Influencer for more details.
Instagram Token Reminder Notifications
The platform will notify influencers when their Instagram account connection expires if they are participating in a campaign with an Instagram deliverable at the time. Reminders are only sent to influencers in the Participants phase.
See Instagram Account Authentication & Token Overview for more details.
Workflow Webhook
The Workflow Webhook is an API tool that can be added on to your Later Influence subscription. The Workflow Webhook notifies external programs when an influencer's workflow stage has changed, allowing you to trigger actions in other platforms programmatically.
Use this tool to unlock scale for complex processes that rely on Later Influence status data. See API Integrations for more details.
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