Unsubscribe Handling

Comply with mailbox-provider unsubscribe standards with Inbox Unsubscribe Handling. This type of unsubscribe allows a user to unsubscribe from a specific sending address from their mailbox’s manage subscriptions page or the inbox unsubscribe, not all your messaging, so they can choose exactly what marketing messages they’d like to see in their inbox.

Enable Inbox Unsubscribe Handling

Inbox Unsubscribe Handling is turned on and off for your verified email addresses by your account administrator with a toggle. When you toggle it on, a user will be able to use one-click unsubscribe from their inbox to unsubscribe from that specific From address. They will remain opted-in on other From addresses you use while unsubscribing from others.

Note: Global opt-out will always override From address suppression.

Enable Inbox Unsubscribe Handling from the Verified Email page. Ask your account administrator to toggle Inbox Unsubscribe Handling on for any From address you want to opt-in. You’ll be able to see which From addresses are opted in, but only the administrator will be able to toggle the setting.

Note: From addresses that don’t have the toggle enabled will continue to operate as they do today, for example setting the user to a global opt-out (optout marketing).

(In Sailthru: Settings > Setup > Verified Email)

There are new fields in the verified emails table.

What to expect with enablement

There are a few steps to complete inbox unsubscribe handling enablement.

• If you have any new From addresses to add, they will have to be added and verified before the toggle can be enabled.
• Once the toggle is enabled, you’ll need to update any existing templates or campaigns that need to use that From address.

Why use inbox unsubscribe handling?

While you may conceptualize users as members of lists, email providers do not. Providers want users to be able to unsubscribe from anything sent by a specific email address. Inbox unsubscribe handling supports this type of unsubscribe behavior, keeping you in compliance with their standards. This also gives you the option to organize your sends into clear and meaningful mailstreams for your subscribers.

Mailstreams are distinct flows of email serving a specific purpose that subscribers understand when they opt in. You may have different mailstreams for newsletters, promotions, product updates, and transactional messaging.

For example, promotions@sailthru.com will only include promotional messaging while productupdates@sailthru.com will only include messaging like new feature announcements. The mailstreams are on the same domain, but the From address shows subscribers exactly what messaging they’ll receive when subscribing.

Note: Inbox unsubscribe handling only affects your marketing emails. Transactional emails are not affected.

Key points to consider

There are some key points to consider when enabling inbox unsubscribe handling. These may affect your mailing strategy.

• Review your mailstreams and associated From addresses.
• Align your From addresses with your mailstreams. Each From address should represent a distinct mailstream.
• Review your preference center and make note of any changes needed so subscribers can select the messaging they want to receive. You will not need to make changes during the Early Access period, but you may want to be aware of changes you will want to make with future releases.
• Match opt-ins with the mailstreams you send.
• Mailbox providers monitor sender behavior closely. Ensure that each From address reflects a distinct, legitimate mailstream. Rotating or creating multiple From addresses for one mailstream will negatively affect your sender reputation.

Aligning From addresses with mailstreams

Each From address should be aligned with a distinct mailstream that matches subscriber expectations. This does not mean that each newsletter, for example, needs its own From address.

When aligning From addresses with mailstreams, consider:

• Do these emails serve different purposes?
• Did subscribers explicitly opt-in to each type?
• Would subscribers expect unsubscribing from one to affect the others?

Reporting

• Email Summary now includes a From address column so you can see the From address associated with each send.
• Email Summary also includes:
  • From address unsubscribes: the count of users who unsubscribed with the ISP header link or the Gmail manage subscriptions page and were added to the suppression list.
  • From unsubscribe rate: the count of users divided by the delivered count.
• If you use Data Exporter, you can see suppressed users in the Profile Data Sets list_signup{} data.
• The User Profile page includes which From address suppression lists a user belongs to from the Apps/Lists tab.

Suppression lists

When a subscriber unsubscribes from the Gmail manage subscriptions page or the inbox unsubscribe, they are added to a specific suppression list for the From address. That suppression list will remain in your account even if you deactivate inbox unsubscribe handling for that address or delete it from your account. Any subscribers who unsubscribe from that From address after it’s deactivated or deleted will continue to be suppressed from that from address.

More to know about suppression lists:

• Once a user is suppressed, they cannot be removed from the list. This includes any test email accounts you may use. If a user is on a From address suppression list and you send to them from that address, it will immediately go into their spam folder. Be deliberate about testing this feature to protect your sender reputation.
• From address suppression lists apply across any accounts sharing that From address. If you have more than one account using the same From address (for example, support@example.com) then a user unsubscribing from it will be unsubscribed across all your accounts.
• From address suppression lists are fully system-managed. You cannot write to these lists through the UI or the API. They are noted as system managed in the UI and in exports. Users can only be added to a suppression list by unsubscribing in their inbox or manage subscriptions page.
• Hosted pages and preference centers will still route to the global opt-out.
• Users who are added to a From address suppression list will not be removed from your sending lists. Your lists have no impact on From address suppression.
  • During a send, Sailthru will review the From address and will automatically suppress any users on the associated suppression list. You will not have to add the From address suppression list to your campaign.
  • You can use the suppression lists as suppression lists in other campaigns using different addresses if you choose to.

Unsubscribe handling with the Settings API

Toggle unsubscribe handling on and off for verified emails through the Settings API.

Example call:

{
  "from_based_unsubscribes": [
    {
      "email": "<verified_from_email>",
      "from_email_unsubscribe_enabled": true
    }
  ]
}