Journey Builder - Get started with preferences

We recommend reading Journey builder introduktion 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 company 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 members to update their preferences instead of completely unsubscribing from your mailings.

After reading this guide, you will have the following knowledge:

Create preferences

1. Go to "Dashboard"
2. Click on "Preferences "

Click on the "+ 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 do not want to mix on your opt-in/out page because each preference group has its unique preferences linked to it.

Default opt-in

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.

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").

Custom URL (Optional)

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:

Buttons
Check marks
Colors and fonts.
It is also possible to modify and translate the existing texts.

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.

Import members with existing preferences (Optional)

After you have activated preferences, the "Apply preferences" become available on the import page when importing members: For more information on how to import members, please read the article importera medlemmar.

The "Apply preferences" import function 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 on these members, but use the " Standard opt-in".

Associate preferences with your content

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 introduktionen.
3. click on "Preferences"
4. Select "Preference group "
5. link "Preference"

Add link to opt-in/ opt-out page

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 introduktionen.

Link to Preference Settings

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

It is not something you need to add manually, but if there are preferences, the link is added to the footer.If the member were to click on the link "Manage my preferences" it 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.