The Goal: Understand exactly what happens to a contact’s email preferences when they click the unsubscribe/opt-out link in an email you send.
Before You Begin:
- Confirm your unsubscribe message is configured (see Configure your Unsubscribe Message). This message is appended to the emails you send to your lists/committees and to mass emails.
- Know which of your lists/committees are configured as Disallow Opt-out, since that setting overrides a recipient’s preference.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- When you send out emails to your lists/committees or send mass emails, the unsubscribe message you have configured in your settings is appended to those emails. A recipient can set restrictions on the use of the email by clicking the link included in the message.
- The recipient can set the following restrictions:
- Continue Receiving Emails from {Your Organization Name}: Selecting this option does NOT unsubscribe the recipient from the group email list.
- Unsubscribe me from {Group Name}: Selecting this option will mark the recipient email as Do Not Email within the group. NOTE: It will NOT remove the recipient from the group. An email will be sent to those staff members who have subscribed to the Receive Notice When Users Unsubscribe From Email notification.
- Do not email me at this address except for transactional emails: If this option is selected, the email will be marked as Only Transactional Emails. This ensures that the recipient does not receive any mass emails (including from your lists/committees as well as any mass emails you may be sending to dynamically created groups). However, any “transactional” type emails that you send, for example, invoices, will continue to be sent. This will unsubscribe the member from ALL group communication. The recipient is NOT removed from the group.
- Update my preferences: When this option is selected, the recipient will see a list of the groups that they are currently subscribed to. They can select or deselect the lists/committees that they wish to receive emails from. The recipient's email address will be marked as Do Not Email for those groups deselected.
- If the recipient chooses Update my preferences, they may deselect the check-boxes for the groups they no longer wish to be subscribed to. The recipient will be marked as Do Not Contact within the group, but will NOT be removed from the group.
- After making a choice, the recipient clicks Submit. A confirmation of changes will be displayed.
Common Pitfalls
- Assuming an opt-out removes the contact: When a recipient unsubscribes from a group, they are NOT removed or inactivated in the group — the email is simply set to Do Not Email.
- Forgetting the Dis-allow Opt-out override: If the recipient wishes to unsubscribe from a list/committee that you have configured as Dis-allow Opt-out, this setting will trump the recipient’s preference.
- Confusing Do Not Email with Do Not Contact: Only staff can set an email address as Do Not Contact. When this is set, NO emails — including transactional emails — will be sent to the email address.
- Overlooking integration sync: If you have integrated to Constant Contact or Mailchimp, when someone unsubscribes to all messages in Constant Contact or Mailchimp, the contact’s email address will be set to No Mass Emails in the appropriate lists/committees.