Giving Recipients the Choice to Opt Out of Some Communications with Message Groups

Updated April 06, 2023 19:00

Expand-All Collapse-All

By default (and by law), all email communications delivered by Slate include an unsubscribe link. When a recipient clicks the link, they're directed to a landing page, where they complete a form to finalize their decision to unsubscribe from all non-transactional email communications from your institution.

Message recipients feel empowered when they have control over the types of communications they receive, and they're less likely to blanketly unsubscribe from all communications when given a choice to unsubscribe from specific message groups. When you create message groups in Slate, your unsubscribe landing page is updated to include those groups as options from which recipients can unsubscribe.

These options can be as broad or narrow as you like. Tailor your email communications to prospective students or applicants' interests and preferences by providing the option to unsubscribe from specific message groups that reflect those interests. Some examples include: Undergraduate Admissions, Graduate Admissions, Financial Aid, or more granular, department-specific groups.

Message groups give applicants control over which communications they receive.

Three steps to configuring message groups:

1. Brainstorm a list all required groups for your institution.
2. Create those message groups in Slate.
3. Assign communications to those message groups as needed in Deliver.

Creating a message group

Once you've determined the types of message groups you want to include on your unsubscribe page, you can create them in Slate. To create a message group:

From the main navigation, click Database.
Under Communications, click Message Groups. You'll see the default message group
Click Insert. A pop-up appears.
Configure the following settings:
- Status: Active
- Name: Enter an internal name for the message group.
- Unsubscribe Organization: (Optional) To comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, you may need to include an organization name and address. Confirm with your legal team whether this requirement applies in your country.
- Unsubscribe Group: Enter the name of the message group as it will be displayed to recipients on the unsubscribe page.
- Unsubscribe Message: Enter optional text to be displayed at the top of the unsubscribe page.
- Unsubscribe Form: Lists all forms with a scope of Unsubscribe Survey. Select the form to be shown to users unsubscribing from the selected message group.
  (Refer to the Custom Unsubscribe Follow-Up Form Knowledge Base article for information on Unsubscribe Forms.)

4. Click Save.

Repeat for as many message groups as are required for your communications plan.

Adding a message group to a mailing

With your message groups created, you can begin adding them to mailings:

From the main navigation, click Deliver.
Select the mailing to add the message group.
Click Edit in the top right corner.
Under Opt Out, select the message group.
Click Save.

Scroll down to see the message preview, and you'll see the default unsubscribe message in the footer has been replaced with the message group you selected:

Sending a test message and clicking the link (the link in the message preview won't work), you'll see your new message group presented as an additional option to select or deselect:

Unsetting Message Groups

Records can be unsubscribed from a Message Group by either:

the student going back to a previous email sent from your institution from that specific message group and updating their unsubscribe request, or
administratively on the person's record, click on the specific message group present on the Dashboard tab of their record and click "ok" when prompted with the question "Do you want to change this unsubscribe preference?"