This article explains what subscriptions are, why they are useful, and how to start using them by setting up your Subscription Center.

Subscriptions are another way to organize your audience, in addition to groups and segments. But unlike groups and segments, subscriptions give your contacts control over their preferences. Contacts can use the Subscription Center to update their contact information and to add or remove themselves from your subscriptions. This is a great way to give contacts alternatives to opting out entirely, while also making sure their group assignments remain unchanged.

In this article Video tutorial Subscriptions vs. groups Subscription counts How to create a subscription How to add contacts to a subscription Add from a group Add from a form Add from a recent import How to import contacts directly into a subscription How to edit subscriptions from a contact's record Subscriptions and segments How to manage subscription details The Subscription Center What is the Subscription Center? How to modify the Subscription Center Additional resources

Watch a quick video tutorial on subscriptions

Subscriptions vs. groups

Both groups and subscriptions allow you to organize your audience, thus giving you control over what content each section of your audience receives. But the main advantage of using subscriptions over groups is that it puts the control of their permission into the subscriber’s hands while you retain the ability to market to them. Giving your contacts more control over what type of content they receive from you generally has a very positive effect on your audience engagement, which is why some prefer to use subscriptions instead of groups.

Ⓘ	If you send a campaign to a group and a subscription, active contacts who are in the group will still receive the mailing, even if they are unsubscribed from the subscription.

Subscription counts

Similar to segments, subscriptions are always refreshing behind the scenes, but not in the user interface. Emma's user interface will not update to show the current number of contacts in each subscription unless you manually refresh them. You can refresh your subscriptions by clicking on the Update subscription count button. However, you do not need to refresh your subscriptions in order for Emma to know the contacts who are currently in them. Even if you never refresh your subscriptions in the UI, Emma will continue to keep track of them on the backend and will send to the most current version, regardless of what the UI says.

Subscribers vs. unsubscribes

Subscription counts are divided into two sections: Subscribers and unsubscribes. Subscribers counts anyone who is part of that subscription in the Active status; it does not include anyone in the Error or Opt-out statuses or anyone who has unsubscribed from that subscription. Unsubscribes counts anyone who was part of that subscription and has unsubscribed or opted out entirely.

How to create a subscription

1. Navigate to your Audience tab.
2. Click on the Subscriptions section in the panel on the left.
3. Click on the Create new subscription button on the right.
4. In the pop-up window that appears, enter a name and a description for your new subscription.
   • Both the name and description will be visible to contacts in the Subscription Center.
   • Subscription names are limited to 35 characters.
5. Click on the Create subscription button.

How to add contacts to a subscription

Once you have at least one subscription set up, you can add contacts to it. To do this, click on the dropdown arrow that corresponds to the desired subscription. Select Add subscribers from the dropdown menu. A pop-up window will appear with the following options:

Add from a group

The Add from a group option allows you to select one or more groups of contacts and add them to the subscription. It's important to note, this method will only add contacts who are in the Active status and in the selected group(s) at the current time - contacts who are added to this group in the future will not be automatically added to this subscription. Similarly, contacts who are removed from the selected group(s) will not be automatically removed from the subscription.

1. Select Add from a group.
2. Click on the Next button.
3. On the next screen, check the box next to each group that you'd like to add to this subscription.
4. Once you've made your selections, click on the Add from groups button.

Back on the main Subscriptions page, you'll see a loading animation in the row that corresponds to the subscription that you just added contacts to. Depending on how many contacts you added, it may take some time for the process to complete. During this time, you won't be able to add contacts to any other subscriptions, as this could cause delays for the process that is currently in progress.

Once the process is complete, the loading animation will end and the total number of subscribers for that subscription will update. If the number doesn't perfectly match the number of contacts in the group(s) that you added, that may be due to there being overlap between the groups. Additionally, some of those contacts may already be in this subscription. As a result the total number of subscribers might be less than if you were to sum up all of the contacts in the individual groups.

Add from a form

The Add from a form option allows you to select one or more signup forms so that contacts who fill out these forms will automatically be added to this subscription. You also have the option to add contacts who have previously signed up through the selected form(s), although this option is only available for regular signup forms, not for lightbox forms.

1. Select Add from a form.
2. Click on the Next button.
3. On the next screen, check the box next to each form that you'd like to add to this subscription.
4. If desired, check the Also add subscribers who previously signed up box.
5. Once you've made your selections, click on the Add from form button.

Add from a recent import

The Add from a recent import option allows you to select one or more of your 10 most recent imports from the past 30 days. Only imports that were done through the user interface are eligible, so imports through the API or an integration will not be available.

1. Select Add from a recent import.
2. Click on the Next button.
3. On the next screen, check the box next to each import that you'd like to add to this subscription.
4. Once you've made your selections, click on the Import csv button.

How to import contacts directly into a subscription

You can also add contacts to a subscription during the import process by following the instructions below:

1. Navigate to your Audience tab.
2. Click on the Imports section in the panel on the left.
3. Click on the Import contacts button on the right.
4. Follow the prompts to select your file, map your fields, and choose at least one group to add the contacts to.
5. Once you've chosen at least one group, the next screen will allow you select one or more subscriptions. Check the box next to each subscription you'd like these contacts to join.
6. Click on the Continue button and follow the prompts to complete your import.

How to edit subscriptions from a contact's record

You can easily manage which subscriptions a subscriber belongs to by viewing their contact record. However, if a contact has removed themself from a subscription using the Subscription Center, you cannot add them back to that subscription. This is by design, and the main advantage of using subscriptions over groups as it puts the control in the subscriber’s hands while you retain the ability to market to them.

Here's how to view and edit a contact's subscriptions.

1. Navigate to your Audience tab.
2. Click on the Contacts section in the panel on the left.
3. Use the search bar to locate the contact that you'd like to edit and open the records.
4. On the left side of the record, there is a section labeled Tags. Uncheck the box next to each subscription that you would like to remove this contact from. You can also check the box next to each subscription that you would like to add this contact to, if desired.
5. Check or uncheck the boxes next to each subscription to add or remove the contact, as desired.

Subscriptions and segments

You have a lot of flexibility when choosing how you want to market to your subscriptions. Depending on how you have organized your subscriptions, you might want to create a corresponding segment for each subscription or you might want to combine subscriptions with other account data like groups, contact fields, and response history to identify a particular subset of your audience.

Additionally, it's not possible to export subscriptions or use them as the audience for an automation. If you would like to see a list of all contacts in a subscription, then the best way to do that is to create a segment for that subscription and then export that segment or add it to a group. Similarly, if you want to use a subscription as the audience for an automation, then the best way to do that is to create a segment for that subscription and then use that segment as the workflow audience.

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Content split tests and legacy* subject line split tests cannot be sent to subscriptions, only to groups and segments. If you would like to send a content split test or a legacy* subject line split test to a subscription, you will need to create a segment based on that subscription and then send the split test to that segment instead. Subject line split tests created in the new drag and drop editor can be sent to subscriptions.

 

For more information about segments and detailed instructions for creating them, check out this article.

How to manage subscription details

Once you've created a subscription, you can always edit the name and description by following the instructions below:

1. Navigate to your Audience tab.
2. Click on the Subscriptions section in the panel on the left.
3. Click on the dropdown arrow that corresponds to the desired subscription.
4. Choose Edit subscription settings from the dropdown menu.
5. In the pop-up window that appears, update the name and description as desired.
6. Click on the Save subscription button to finalize your changes.

The Subscription Center

What is the Subscription Center?

The Subscription Center is what your contacts will see when they click on the Manage preferences link or the Opt out link in the footer of your campaigns. In many ways, the Subscription Center is similar to a signup form. For example, you can choose which fields are visible, what the copy says, etc. However, unlike signup forms, the Subscription Center does not have a permalink and can only be accessed through the footer of a campaign. As a result, the Subscription Center is always personalized and will show the information of the contact who received the mailing.

Once your Subscription Center is set up, your contacts can toggle individual subscriptions on or off, or choose to unsubscribe from all subscriptions, which is the equivalent to fully opting out of your mailings. Emma will remember their preferences and keep track of everything for you. Here's an example of what a finished Subscription Center looks like to a contact:

How to modify the Subscription Center

The Subscription Center builder is made up of four steps: Add logo, Edit copy, Select contact fields, and Edit order.

The Add logo step allows you to select an image to display in your Subscription Center. The image must be less than 8 MB and either a PNG, JPG, or JPEG file. The ideal logo size is 400 px x 400 px, but it can be larger than that. To add an image, simply click on the Choose file button and follow the prompts.

The Edit copy step allows you to update the header and body text of the Subscription Center. The header is limited to 50 characters, while the body text is limited to 500 characters.

Ⓘ	The verbiage on the button that says Unsubscribe from all subscriptions cannot be modified at this time.

 

The Select contact fields step allows you to select which contact fields you'd like to include in the Subscription Center. To add a field, simply click on the Add new field button, select the desired field from the dropdown menu, and click on the Add field button. Once added, each field has a toggle next to it that you can use to make it a required field. To remove a field, simply click on the corresponding X icon on the right. You can also reorder the fields by clicking on the six dots on the far left of the row and dragging it up or down.

The Edit order step allows you to choose the order in which your subscriptions will be shown. By default, they will be listed in the order in which you created them. If you'd like to reorder them, simply click on the six dots on the far left of the row and drag that subscription up or down.

At any point in the process, you can click on the Preview subscription center button to check your work. Once you're happy with it, click on the Save and close button to publish it.

Ⓘ	All of your subscriptions will always be visible in the Subscription Center. There is no way to remove or hide a subscription, outside of deleting it.

Additional resources

• Audience tab: Overview
• Different ways to create segments
• Making the most of your audience groups
• How to add, edit, archive, delete, and restore contacts
• How to import contacts from a file

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*In April 2022, Emma's legacy editor was replaced with a new drag and drop editor. Accounts that existed prior to this change still have access to the legacy editor through their previously saved templates and campaigns, however new, from-scratch campaigns can only be created in the new drag and drop editor. Accounts that were created after this change only have access to the new drag and drop editor. Please refer to our new editor FAQ article for more information.