Messaging Topics and Subscriptions
Messaging topics are mailing lists that people can subscribe to and unsubscribe from. Use them to organise your communications by subject and to respect people's choices about what they hear from you.
What is a topic?
A topic is a category of communication, for example:
- "Weekly Newsletter"
- "Event Announcements"
- "Night Shift Updates"
- "Product News"
Each profile has a Messaging Topics field listing the topics it's subscribed to. When you send a campaign, an email or an SMS, you can address it to everyone subscribed to a topic.
Creating a topic
- Go to Comms in the sidebar.
- In the Messaging Topics panel, click New Topic.
- Give it a clear title and a short Description. Subscribers see both when they manage their preferences, so describe what they'll receive.
- Save.
To see every topic, use the Messaging topics link at the bottom of the Communications page.
Managing subscribers
Viewing subscribers
Open a topic to see its Subscribers: every profile currently subscribed to it.
Adding and removing subscribers
- On a profile: edit the person and add or remove topics in their Messaging Topics field.
- In bulk: select several profiles and use batch editing to change Messaging Topics for all of them. See bulk editing.
- Through forms: on a form field that captures a person's profile, set Profile › Add Topics or Profile › Remove Topics. The person is subscribed or unsubscribed when they submit.
- By the recipient: every email has its own preferences page, which templates can link to with the
{{unsubscribeURL}}merge field. There, the recipient can subscribe to or unsubscribe from each of your topics. - In your own apps: signed-in app users can manage the topics for their own profiles, if your app includes a preferences screen.
Topic opt-outs vs unsubscribing from everything
Unsubscribing from a topic only removes that topic from the person's profile. On the same preferences page, they can also choose to stop all email communications. That puts their email address on your organisation's unsubscribe list, which campaigns respect no matter which topic they target. See Unsubscribes and Suppressions for exactly what each kind of opt-out blocks.
Sending to a topic
In the Messaging Topics panel on the Communications page, each topic has a Message ▾ menu:
- New campaign: creates a campaign targeted at the topic's subscribers. See Email Campaigns.
- New email or New SMS: a quick one-off message to every subscriber. See Sending Emails and Sending SMS.
Inside a campaign, you can also choose a topic on the Recipients tab. A topic is a complete audience on its own and can't be combined with a smart list.
Topics vs smart lists
| Feature | Topics | Smart lists |
|---|---|---|
| Who's included | People who are subscribed | People who match filter rules |
| Best for | Opt-in, consent-based communications | Data-driven targeting |
| How membership changes | Subscriptions are added or removed | Updates automatically as data changes |
Tips
- Create a topic for each distinct kind of message rather than one catch-all topic.
- Use clear titles and descriptions so people know what they're signing up for.
- Use Profile › Add Topics on sign-up forms where subscribing is the purpose of the form, such as a newsletter sign-up. It subscribes everyone who submits.
- Include
{{unsubscribeURL}}in your campaign templates so recipients can always manage their preferences.