Set up an unsubscribe link in emails

Adding an unsubscribe link in each email is important to ensure its successful delivery. Emails that do not contain unsubscribe links can be blocked by the marketing email provider.

The unsubscribe link is required in the email template. If you try to save a template without an unsubscribe link, it will be added to the template automatically.

After clicking the unsubscribe link, recipients are forwarded to the URL of the unsubscribe page. You can either generate it on your web site or use the Creatio pre-configured page. If you decide to use your own page, make sure you specify its URL in Creatio. Before the unsubscribe page is displayed, a recipient is automatically forwarded to the Creatio server, where the information about the canceled subscription is stored.

Set up a redirection page for the recipients who unsubscribed 

You can use the following options for an unsubscribe page:

• Auto-generated Creatio unsubscribe page containing text: “You have unsubscribed from further emails. Your email was successfully deleted from our mailing list."

• any other page configured on your web site. There are no specific requirements for the design of this page. The recipient unsubscribes upon clicking the unsubscribe link. The “Do not use email” checkbox is selected automatically on the contact page.

If you have your own unsubscribe page, you need to specify the address in Creatio. To do so:

1. Open the system designer by clicking the button.

2. Click “System settings” in the “System setup” block.

3. In the “Email section settings” folder, open the “Website to redirect the unsubscribed” (RedirectUnsuscribersTo) system setting.

4. In the Default value field, specify the URL of your unsubscribe page, e.g., http://www.mysite.com/act/unsubscribe/ and save the setting.
   The value of this system setting is not populated by default. To redirect the unsubscribed, Creatio uses the auto-generated unsubscribe page.
   If you clear the value in the "Website to redirect the unsubscribed” system setting, the unsubscribed link will open a default auto-generated page without any additional settings.

Add an unsubscribe link to a template 

There are certain aspects of adding the unsubscribe links that depend on the method used for creating email templates.

You can use a default template or use any existing template by clicking the Select from the lookup button. These templates contain embedded unsubscribe links and enclosed text. The unsubscribe block looks as follows: "You have received this email as you are subscribed to Company Name emails. If you do not want to receive emails, click here to unsubscribe." If you use such a template for your email, you can personalize the unsubscribe block in the Content Designer using macros.

You can set up the contents of the unsubscribe block that is added automatically in the Content blocks library lookup. To do this, open the Footer: Unsubscribed (default) block, edit it and save the changes.

The unsubscribe macro is added to marketing emails automatically if it is not done while creating a template. In this case, Creatio will notify you about this and offer to add the unsubscribe macro automatically. The template will not be saved without the unsubscribe link.

If you need to configure a custom unsubscribe block for the current template, add the unsubscribe link as the #Unsubscribe.URL# macro. The unsubscribe link can be displayed as either a URL or a text hyperlink.

Add an unsubscribe macro as a URL 

1. Open the email template in the Content Designer.

2. Set the cursor where you want to place an unsubscribe link.

3. Click and select Standard macro.

4. Select the "URL" unsubscribe macro and then click the Select button (Fig. 1).

   Fig. 1 Adding an unsubscribe macro

   

5. Save the template.

   As a result, the URL unsubscribe macro will be added to the email template. When sending emails, the unsubscribe macro is converted into an unsubscribe link, e.g., http://www.mysite.com/act/unsubscribe/.

Add an unsubscribe macro as a hypertext link 

1. Open the email template in the Content Designer.

2. Select the text that serves as a hyperlink to the unsubscribe page.

3. Click the button in the appeared toolbox.

4. Specify the #Unsubscribe.URL# macros in the Link field and click OK (Fig. 2).

   Fig. 2 Adding an unsubscribe macro as a hypertext link

   

As a result, the selected text will serve as a hyperlink to the unsubscribe page.

You can also import templates as HTML elements into the Content Designer if a complicated HTML layout is used. You need to specify the unsubscribe link as a text macro #Unsubscribe.URL#. When sending emails, the unsubscribe macro is converted into an unsubscribe link, e.g., http://www.mysite.com/act/unsubscribe/.