How to let contacts choose which types of email they receive (subscription categories)
Go to Settings › Preference Management Hub and create subscription types (newsletter, promotions, events…). When sending a campaign, pick the category under Send or Schedule. Anyone who opts out of a category is automatically left out of future sends in that category while still receiving the others.
Updated on
Before you start
- You need access to Settings in your account.
- Heads up: once enabled, preference management cannot be turned off. Enable it only when you are ready to use it.
- Think about the categories that make sense for your business (for example: Newsletter, Promotions, Event updates). No categories exist by default.
Where to find it
Settings › Preference Management Hub › + Create Subscription Type
Step by step
Create the subscription types
- In the left menu, open Settings and click Preference Management Hub.
- Click + Create Subscription Type.
- Enter a clear name your contacts will understand (up to 100 characters) and a description.
- Click Save and confirm.
- Repeat for every category you want to offer. You can edit, disable or delete categories later.
Link a campaign to a category
- Open Marketing › Emails › Campaigns and the campaign you are about to send.
- Click Send or Schedule.
- In the Preference Type field, choose the category this email belongs to.
- Finish the send as usual. Contacts who opted out of that category are removed from the audience automatically, even if they are on the chosen list.
View or change a contact's preferences
- Open Contacts and the contact record.
- On the DND panel, click Subscription Status.
- In the Manage Email Subscriptions window, set each type to Subscribed or Unsubscribed.
- To resubscribe a category that was unsubscribed, the system asks for a legal basis (the reason that justifies consent). Fill it in and save.
- The change is logged in the contact's Conversations so your team can see the context.
Tips
- With preference management on, the unsubscribe link in your emails also includes Manage your preferences, where contacts choose for themselves what they want to receive.
- Opting out of a category removes the contact from that topic only. The global unsubscribe still exists and removes them from all marketing email.
- Emails sent by workflows respect categories too: a contact who opted out of "Promotions" won't get campaigns in that category, wherever they come from.
Common problems
- The contact is on the list but didn't get the campaign → They opted out of the category the campaign is linked to. Check Subscription Status on their record.
- I can't resubscribe a category for a contact → A legal basis is required before the subscription can be restored. Fill in the field and save.
- I want to turn preference management off → Not possible: once enabled, it stays on. You can, however, disable or archive categories you no longer use.
- I archived every category and the screen is empty → The system shows a message prompting you to create or restore a category. Create at least one to use the feature again.
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