Journey Builder - Get started with preferences

We recommend reading the Journey builder introduction before starting this guide!

In this article, you will learn about email preferences. Email preferences means that you give your subscribers the choice to decide what kind of email communication they want to receive from you. This means that, in addition to the option to completely unsubscribe, Rule also has a page to allow the customer to manage and choose their preferences, without unsubscribing.  

The main benefit of preferences is that it helps you as a business to reduce the number of people who unsubscribe from your emails. With preferences, your members can easily opt out of communications they don't want by allowing them to update their preferences instead of completely unsubscribing from your mailings. 

We will go through:

1. How to create preferences
2. How standard opt-in works and what it is
3. How to sort the order of your preferences
4. How to add your own URL
5. How to import members with existing preferences
6. How to switch on preferences in Journey Builder
7. How to add an unsubscribe link to your Journey Builder emails
8. How to add a link to the preference settings of your members

How to create preferences

Click on 'Preferences'

Then click '+ New group'

1.  Select the group name of your preference group
2. Here you fill in all the preference categories you want to include in the preference group. 

You have now created a preference group. If you want to create more preference groups, just repeat all the steps above. 

Multiple preference groups can be useful if, for example, you have several brands that you don't want to mix on your opt-in/out page because each preference group has its own unique preferences associated with it.  

How standard opt-in works and what it is

Default opt-in is a feature that allows you to decide what content to show to members who have not made an explicit choice about their preferences. If you choose to check the "Standard opt-in" box on your preferences, all members who have not opted out of those preferences will receive those emails until the member chooses to unsubscribe.

Subscribers who have no explicit preferences will by default be treated as "Opt-out", meaning that if preference X is not the default opt-in. If you import 100 members, Rule interprets this to mean that those 100 members should not receive the content for preference X. This setting can then be changed by checking the "Default opt-in" box.

When the member updates their preferences, they can choose to subscribe or unsubscribe (opt-in/opt-out) on different preferences.

How to sort the order of your preferences

Preferences can be sorted by dragging the preference row and dropping it in the new position. In "Preview" on the right, you can see the order in which preferences will be presented to your members.

Changes to sort order or preference names take effect immediately, regardless of whether the unsubscribe page is hosted on Rule or on the customer's website ("Own URL").

How to add your own URL

Rule provides a default page for members to update their preferences and unsubscribe. The default page is hosted on our server at https://app.rule.io and is designed like the Rule app.

"Custom URL" is a feature for advanced users who want to host the preference page on their own website. The technical installation requires coding skills and access to your website.

When enabled, "Custom URL" can be fully customized to your brand. Note that this only applies if you use a custom URL.

It is possible to update the styling too:

1. Buttons
2. Check marks
3. Colors and fonts. 
4. It is also possible to modify and translate the existing texts. 
5. You can even add images and longer text descriptions per preference (keep in mind that the preference order is predictable and can be changed in admin view).

Before you activate your own URL, you should add code to your website. Copy the code at the bottom of the preferences admin page and a developer can adapt the code and add it to your website. After the code is live on your site, add the link to that page in the "own URL" field.

Importing members with existing preferences

After activating preferences, "Apply preferences" will be available on the import page when importing members: for more information on how to import members, see the article Importing members.

The "Apply preferences" function on import should be used when/if your subscribers have already given their explicit preferences - outside of Rule. If members have not given their explicit preferences, you should not import preferences for these members but use the "Standard opt-in". 

How to switch on preferences in Journey Builder

To attach preferences to your content in Journey Builder, do the following:

1.  Click on the Journey builder symbol to see your Journeys. 
2. Select a lane and click on the three dots on the right side of the box. Read more about Lanes and Journeys in the Journey builder introduction. 
3. Click on "Preferences" 
4. Select "Preference group "
5. Link 'Preference'

How to add an unsubscribe link to your Journey Builder emails

Det är viktigt att ha med en avregistrerings text i dina utskick. Det gör du genom att genom att öppna din sidfot i din Journey, tyck på infoga länk och klipp in  "%Link:Unsubscribe%" Viktigt att protokoll är <annan>. 

See the example picture below. 

If you want to learn more about how footers and headers work, you can read about it in the Journey builder introduction.

How to add a link to the preference settings of your members

If your members receive an email linked to a preference, they will see the link "Manage my preferences" in the footer.

This is not something you need to add manually, but if there are preferences, the link is added in the footer. If the member clicks on the link "Manage my preferences", they will see the settings for their preferences and this is also where the member can make their choices. See the image below! 

The advantage of this link is that the member is not unsubscribed from anything, unlike a regular Unsubscribe link. In Preference Settings, they can update which preferences they want to subscribe to, allowing the member to engage more with the information they are interested in.