Manage Unsubscribes

```mediawiki Navigation: Main_Page > Automations > Manage Unsubscribes

How to Manage Unsubscribes and List Associations in Automations

With ActiveCampaign, managing unsubscribes effectively is crucial for maintaining a healthy relationship with your contacts and ensuring compliance with email marketing regulations. This feature allows you to control what list(s) contacts are unsubscribed from when they click the unsubscribe link in your automated emails. Understanding how to properly configure this can help you streamline your email marketing strategy and reduce the likelihood of losing contacts altogether.

Introduction

The ability to manage unsubscribes within your automations is a significant feature that aids in maintaining list hygiene and protects your sender reputation. This feature is especially relevant in light of regulations such as the CAN-SPAM Act, which mandates clarity in unsubscribe options. By improving your manageability of unsubscribes, you ensure that contacts can easily opt-out, which in turn enhances the trust in your communications.

The primary mechanism for managing unsubscribes in ActiveCampaign is through the automation list association dropdown found within the Manage Emails button. This functionality is available to users on all ActiveCampaign plans, including Starter, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise.

How to Access This Feature

To manage unsubscribes in your automations:

1. Click on Automations in the left menu. 2. Select an existing automation or create a new one. 3. Click the arrow located on the top right of the automation canvas to reveal the Settings tab.

Here, you can configure the unsubscribe settings and manage the list associations for your automation.

Step-by-Step Instructions

To manage your automation list associations effectively, follow these steps:

1. **Access Settings Tab**:

  - After creating or selecting your automation, expand the Settings tab.

2. **Configure Unsubscribe Settings**:

  - Find the section labeled If a contact unsubscribes from an email.
  - Click the Edit option.

3. **Select Lists**:

  - A dropdown menu appears. By default, Select All/None is chosen, meaning contacts will be unsubscribed from all lists.
  - To customize the lists, uncheck the Select All/None option, and then select specific lists from which contacts will be unsubscribed.

4. **Save Changes**:

  - After making your selections, click Save to apply the changes.

It is crucial to remember that managing list associations occurs at an individual automation level, so changes need to be configured within each automation separately.

Configuration Options and Settings

The key configuration options relevant to managing unsubscribes in automations include:

• If a contact unsubscribes from an email: This option determines which list(s) contacts will be unsubscribed from when they click the unsubscribe link.
• Edit option: This allows you to modify the list associations tied to the automation.
• Pre-selected associations: If certain triggers are used, they may automatically define which lists are affected by unsubscribe actions.

Knowing how these configurations interact with your automation triggers is crucial for ensuring that the desired effect is achieved when contacts unsubscribe.

Best Practices and Tips

1. **Review Access Permissions**: Ensure that users have the necessary permissions to view the lists in your automation. This avoids confusion and improves workflow efficiency.

2. **Keep Lists Updated**: Consistently review and update your list associations to reflect current marketing strategies and compliance needs.

3. **Use a Specific List Association**: Recommend manually adding a list association to automations that also have triggers with associated list associations. This guarantees that contacts entering manually will have a default unsubscribe path.

4. **Test Automations**: Regularly test your automations after making changes to ensure that the unsubscribe functionalities work as intended.

Common Use Cases with Examples

- **Campaign Feedback**: An automated series collecting feedback might unsubscribe contacts from a specific feedback list if they choose to opt-out. - **Event Promotions**: If you send promotions for a series of events, closely managing unsubscribes can help segment contacts interested only in specific events.

By strategically applying unsubscribe configurations, you can tailor your audience segmentation and improve engagement rates.

Troubleshooting

Should you encounter issues, consider the following:

• **List Visibility**: If users cannot see all lists in the dropdown, they may not have permissions for those specific lists.
• **Unsubscribe Behaviors**: Ensure that your triggers and actions do not conflict; a trigger may dictate that contacts unsubscribe from a different list than intended.

For any feature-specific issues, consult ActiveCampaign’s help documentation or reach out to support for further assistance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What happens to contacts who are not on a list that is associated with an automation that they enter? A: They will be treated as if they are subscribed to the selected list(s) in that automation. If they receive a campaign from the automation and unsubscribe, they will be unsubscribed from the selected list(s).

Q2: What happens to contacts who manually enter an automation and unsubscribe? A: They will follow the list configurations set in the automation list association dropdown. To prevent unsubscribing from all lists, it’s recommended to manually add a list association.

Q3: What happens to contacts who are currently in an automation when I change the automation list associations? A: Contacts are assigned the list associations at the time they enter the automation; thus changes will not affect them.

Q4: Why can’t a user see all my lists in the automation list association dropdown? A: If a user can’t access all lists, they likely do not have permission to view them. Check the user permissions to rectify this issue.

Q5: How does this feature affect my current automations? A: Existing automations generally remain unaffected, but this functionality allows for better control over list associations moving forward.

Q6: How does this change affect contacts who have entered an automation via a “Start an automation” action? A: These contacts will no longer carry the list associations established from a previous automation.

By leveraging the full functionality of the Manage Unsubscribes feature, you can enhance your email marketing strategy and promote a positive user experience for your contacts. ```