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Priority (Waterfall)

Priority (Waterfall) lead distribution in Lead Distro AI — try the highest-priority buyer first, overflow to the next when caps fill or filters reject. Best for maximizing revenue from your top-paying buyer.

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What is Priority Distribution?

Priority distribution (also called Waterfall) tries to send every lead to Buyer #1 first. If Buyer #1 can't take it (cap hit, filter rejection, paused), the lead overflows to Buyer #2. If #2 can't take it either, it cascades to #3 — and so on down the priority list until a buyer accepts or the lead is marked UNMATCHED.

It's the right method when revenue maximization matters more than fairness. Your top buyer pays the most per lead and converts at the highest rate, so you want them to receive every lead they can handle. Lower-priority buyers exist to absorb overflow — they get whatever the top buyer can't take.

When to Use Priority

  • Top buyer pays significantly more per lead than the rest — sending leads anywhere else first leaves money on the table.
  • Top buyer has limited capacity — they cap at 50/day, but you generate 200/day, so the other 150 overflow to lower-priority buyers.
  • Top buyer has strict filters — they only accept certain states or case types; everything else cascades to a less-strict buyer.
  • You're testing a new buyer by giving them only the overflow — they get leads your primary buyer can't take, letting you evaluate without risking your top relationship.

How to Configure

  • Go to your Campaign and open Distribution settings.
  • Set Distribution Method to Priority.
  • Order buyers by priority rank: drag them into the order you want leads to be attempted. Rank 1 is tried first, then 2, then 3, etc.
  • Set per-buyer daily caps — caps are what trigger overflow to the next priority. Without caps, the top buyer would receive every lead and lower buyers would never get any.
  • (Optional) Add state filters or custom field filters so high-priority buyers only get leads matching their criteria — non-matching leads naturally overflow.

Example: 3-Buyer Waterfall

RankBuyerPrice/LeadDaily CapBehavior
1Premium law firm$15030 leads/dayGets every eligible lead until cap is hit at lead #30
2Mid-tier firm$8050 leads/dayGets leads #31-80 (overflow from #1) — caps out at lead #80 cumulative
3Bulk volume buyer$40No capGets every lead from #81 onward until the day ends

Priority + Caps = The Waterfall

The waterfall behavior depends entirely on caps. Without caps, the highest-priority buyer would receive every single lead and lower-priority buyers would receive zero. Caps create the overflow trigger: when Buyer #1 hits its cap, the next eligible lead 'falls' to Buyer #2.

If your top buyer has no cap, lower-priority buyers will never receive leads. Always set caps on every Priority-distribution buyer except (optionally) the lowest-priority overflow buyer, who absorbs everything that doesn't fit elsewhere.

How Priority Handles Edge Cases

ScenarioWhat Happens
Buyer #1 hits daily capLead cascades to Buyer #2 for the rest of the day. Cap resets at midnight; the next day starts at Buyer #1 again.
Buyer #1 filters reject the leadLead cascades to Buyer #2 for that specific lead. Buyer #1 stays at rank 1 for the next eligible lead.
All buyers paused or cappedLead is marked UNMATCHED. Held in the dashboard for manual routing or fallback automation.
Priority ranks tiedTreat ties as a sub-priority tie — Lead Distro AI assigns deterministically by buyer creation order. Avoid ties by ranking explicitly.
New buyer added mid-dayInsert into the priority list at the rank you choose. Existing buyers shift down — overflow behavior resumes from the new position.

Combine Priority with the **Notifications tab** to get a Slack alert when Buyer #1 hits its daily cap — that's your signal that overflow has begun, useful for spotting demand surges before the dashboard shows them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between Priority and Waterfall?
They're the same thing — two names for the same distribution method. 'Priority' describes the configuration (you rank buyers by priority); 'Waterfall' describes the runtime behavior (leads 'fall' from top buyer to the next when caps or filters block). Lead Distro AI uses 'Priority' as the official term but you'll see 'Waterfall' in industry discussions of the same model.
If Buyer #1 has no cap, will Buyer #2 ever receive leads in Priority mode?
No — Buyer #1 would receive every lead. Caps are what trigger the cascade. If your top buyer truly has unlimited capacity but lower-priority buyers should still get some volume, switch to [Weighted distribution](/docs/distribution-weighted) (e.g., 80/20) instead of Priority.
Can I have multiple overflow tiers in Priority?
Yes — Priority supports unlimited tiers. Common patterns: 3-tier (premium / mid / bulk), 4-tier (premium / mid / test / overflow), or even 5+. Each tier overflows to the next when its cap is hit. The lowest tier typically has no cap, acting as the catch-all for leads that exceed every higher tier's capacity.
How does Priority handle state filters and custom field filters?
Filters compose with Priority — Lead Distro AI evaluates filters first to determine which buyers are *eligible* for the lead, then walks the priority list of eligible buyers in rank order. A Texas-only Buyer #1 is skipped for a California lead, which cascades to the next eligible buyer (e.g., a multi-state Buyer #2). Filters don't change the rank order; they just determine eligibility.
What happens at the end of the day when caps reset?
At midnight in your account timezone, daily caps reset to zero for all buyers. The next lead at 12:01am is offered to Buyer #1 again, restarting the waterfall from the top. Weekly and monthly caps reset on their respective cycles independently — a buyer might have its daily cap reset but still be paused for the week if it hit a weekly cap.
Can I temporarily promote a lower-priority buyer above Buyer #1?
Yes — drag buyers in the Priority UI to reorder. The change takes effect on the next ingested lead. Use this to give a buyer a one-day test at the top, then drag them back down. Schedule changes aren't supported natively but you can approximate with the Notifications tab + a calendar reminder.
Is Priority the same as ping-post?
No. Priority routes leads in rank order to one buyer based on caps and filters. [Ping-Post](/docs/ping-post) is a two-step protocol where every eligible buyer is *asked* if they want the lead (possibly with a bid price) before any lead is sent — the winner is decided by their response, not by a pre-configured rank. You can combine them: a campaign can be Priority for ordering with ping-post enabled per-buyer so the chosen buyer is also pinged before the full lead is sent.

Related Articles

Round Robin
Round Robin lead distribution in Lead Distro AI — rotate leads equally across every eligible buyer. Best for fair distribution when buyers have similar capacity and pricing.
Weighted
Weighted lead distribution in Lead Distro AI — assign percentages per buyer (60/40, 50/30/20, etc.) so buyers with more capacity or higher prices get a larger share of leads.
Ping-Post Guide
How ping-post lead distribution works in Lead Distro AI. Supplier-side and buyer-side flows, real-time bidding, partial data pings, post-acceptance payloads, and pricing negotiation for competitive lead verticals.

If you have any questions, send us an email at support@leaddistro.ai

WeightedPing-Post Guide