When you send a campaign, you can filter it by topic so it only reaches contacts who want that kind of email.
Why use it
Contacts who just want fewer emails can turn off one topic instead of unsubscribing from all of your emails.
Fewer unwanted emails means fewer spam complaints and a healthier sender reputation.
You can target campaigns by interest, so each email goes to the people who asked for it.
Before you start
The Preference Center is being turned on team by team. If you don't see Unsubscribe > Preference Center
in Settings, contact SendX support and ask for it to be enabled for your team.
You need Admin access to create topics and edit the preference page
Step 1: Create your email topics
Go to Settings > Unsubscribe > Preference Center > Toggle the enable button on.
Navigate to Topics section.
Click Email Topics > New email topic.
Enter a topic name. Use a name your contacts will recognize, such as Product updates rather than an internal code.
Choose the topic's visibility:
Public: the topic appears on your preference page, and contacts can turn it on or off themselves.
Private: the topic is hidden from the preference page. Use it for topics your team manages, such as an internal beta group. Your team can still change a contact's status for a private topic from the contact panel.
Click Create button.
Tip: Start with a few broad topics. A short list is easier for contacts to understand than a long one.
Step 2: Brand your preference page
Go to Settings > Preference Center page.
Add your logo and brand colors.
Edit the page copy, such as the Page Heading and introduction.
Preview the page, then click Save.
Your preference page shows:
each public topic with an on/off toggle
an Unsubscribe from all option for contacts who want no more emails
Contacts reach the page from the unsubscribe link in your email footer.
Step 3: Filter a campaign by topic
The campaign editor has six steps: Sender > Design > Content > Recipients > Review & Confirm > Schedule. You choose topics on the Recipients step.
Create a new campaign or edit a draft, and go to the Recipients step.
Under Include, select the lists, tags or segments to send to. Anyone in any of them is added to the audience, and each contact is counted once.
Under Filter by topic (optional), click + Filter by topic and choose one or more topics. A contact must be subscribed to at least one of the selected topics to stay in the audience. Leave this blank to skip the topic filter.
Under Exclude (optional), select any lists, tags or segments to remove. Anyone in them is removed from the audience after everything else.
Check the Will receive this blast panel on the right. It updates as you edit and shows:
Reach (before filter): everyone in your Include selection
Audience: the contacts who will get the campaign after all filters
Click Next: Review & Confirm.
Bounced, unsubscribed and spam-marked contacts are always removed automatically, whether or not you use a topic filter.
Example. You include your Customers list and filter by Product updates and Webinars:
Contact's topic settings | Gets the campaign? |
Subscribed to Product updates and Webinars | Yes |
Subscribed to Webinars only | Yes, because they are subscribed to at least one selected topic |
Opted out of both topics | No |
Clicked Unsubscribe from all | No |
What happens when a contact changes their preferences
They turn off a topic. They stay subscribed to your other emails. They are left out of any campaign filtered by that topic, unless they are subscribed to another topic selected on the same campaign.
They turn a topic back on. They are included again in future campaigns filtered by that topic.
They click Unsubscribe from all. This works like a regular unsubscribe, and they won't receive your campaigns.
When changes apply. Changes affect future sends.
Check or change a contact's topic preferences
You can see and edit each contact's topic settings, for example when a contact emails your support team and asks to stop one type of email.
Go to Contacts and open the contact.
In the profile page, find the Topics section. It lists each topic and whether the contact is subscribed.
Turn a topic on or off.
Only change a contact's preferences when they have asked you to.
FAQ
If a contact turns off one topic, will they stop getting all my emails? No. They only stop getting campaigns filtered by that topic. They stay subscribed to everything else unless they click Unsubscribe from all.
What happens if I don't choose a topic for a campaign? The topic filter is skipped. The campaign goes to everyone in your Include selection, minus anyone you exclude and any bounced, unsubscribed or spam-marked contacts.
I selected two topics. Who gets the campaign? Anyone subscribed to at least one of the two topics. A contact doesn't need to be subscribed to both.
Can contacts see private topics? No. Private topics don't appear on the preference page. Only your team can change them, from the contact panel.
Can I use topics in drips or automations? Yes, you can.