--- title: "email preference management" description: "Learn how to set up your email unsubscribe options, and access our step-by-step instructions, FAQs, and everything you need to know!" url: https://help.ivorey.io/en/articles/13631391-email-preference-management collection: "email marketing" updated: 2026-11-10 language: en --- # email preference management Learn how to set up your email unsubscribe options, and access our step-by-step instructions, FAQs, and everything you need to know! ## before you dive in This article is one step from our [Master Help Guide: All About Email Marketing](https://help.ivorey.io/en/articles/10056620-all-about-email-marketing-a-master-help-guide.md), which acts as your project plan. We recommend starting there, to follow the setup steps in the right order. Preference management lets your contacts choose which types of marketing emails they want to receive, rather than opting out of everything at once. You create the categories, link them to your campaigns, and ivorey takes care of the rest. why use email preference management? When a contact opts out of a category, ivorey automatically excludes them from any future campaign linked to that category, even if they were originally part of the send list. This helps you stay compliant, protect your sender reputation, and send content your audience actually wants. how does automatic filtering work? Once your Preference Types are linked to your campaigns, ivorey manages your audience for you behind the scenes. - If a contact opts out of a Preference Type, they're automatically excluded from any future campaign linked to that category, even if they were originally part of the campaign audience - This applies to current and future sends, so you never need to manually remove them from a list - Every time a contact's preferences change, it's recorded so you can review changes in context This guide is perfect if you want to: - Give your contacts more control over the types of marketing emails they receive - Automatically honour their unsubscribe choices, without manual list management - Create a more personalised, relevant experience for your email audience - Improve compliance and support healthier email deliverability * * * ## step 1: create your preference types Preference Types are the subscription categories that describe your different types of marketing emails, such as newsletters, promotions or event updates. Start by creating the categories that reflect your own email program. click here for the written steps 1. From the main ivorey menu, go to **Settings** > **Preference Management Hub** 2. Click the **\[+ Create subscription type\]** button 3. Enter a **Subscription Name** and **Description** for the category (e.g. "Newsletter" or "Promotions") 1. Choose a name your contacts will easily understand, since this is what they'll see when managing their own preferences 2. Subscription names can be up to 100 characters, and can be edited at any time after creation 4. Click **\[Save\]**, then confirm the action when prompted **Note:** You won't see any default categories when you first open the Preference Management Hub. You'll be creating your own categories from scratch, based on what suits your email program. 5. Repeat these steps for each preference category you want to offer **Note:** You can have up to five active Preference Types at a time. To add another once you reach five, archive an existing one first by clicking the **\[⋮\]** three dots on the right-hand side of the Preference Type you want to archive. * * * ## step 2: assign preference types to your campaigns Once your categories are created, link them to your email campaigns so ivorey knows which contacts should receive each send, and who should be automatically excluded. click here for the written steps 1. From the main ivorey menu, go to **Marketing** > **Emails** > then click **\[Campaigns\]** > and open the email campaign you want to assign a preference type to 2. Click the **\[Send or Schedule\]** button, at the top right of your screen 3. Choose the relevant **Preference Type** from the dropdown menu > **Info:** Refer to our [Create and Send Newsletters](https://help.ivorey.io/en/articles/10728652-create-and-send-newsletters.md) guide for the rest of your send settings. * * * ## step 3: manage a contact's preferences individually You can also view or update an individual contact's preferences directly from their profile, giving you full visibility and control. > **Warning:** Once you click Unsubscribe for a category, you’ll need to resubscribe the contact if you want them to receive those emails again. To do this, you’ll need to provide a legal basis before they can be resubscribed to that category. click here for the written steps 1. From the main ivorey menu, go to **Contacts** > and select the contact you want to update 2. From their profile, open the **\[DND\]** tab > and click **\[Manage subscriptions\]** 3. In the **Manage Subscriptions** popup, set each Preference Type to **Subscribed** or **Unsubscribed** **Note:** Each preference change made from a contact's profile is also logged in Conversations, so you can review it in context. * * * ## next steps > **Success:** If you've completed the steps above, head back to the [**Master Help Guide on Email Marketing**](https://help.ivorey.io/en/articles/10056620-all-about-email-marketing-a-master-help-guide.md) to move onto the next phase. > > Each Master Help Guide acts as your project plan, teaching you the feature, laying out the steps in the right order, and linking to every resource you'll need along the way. * * * ## frequently asked questions how is a category opt-out different from a global unsubscribe? Opting out of a category only stops emails linked to that specific Preference Type. A global unsubscribe opts a contact out of all marketing emails from your business. can my contacts manage their own preferences? Yes. Contacts can access a "Manage your preferences" link from the unsubscribe link in your emails, allowing them to update their own category choices at any time. do preferences apply to emails sent from workflows? Yes. ivorey automatically excludes any contact whose preferences conflict with the email's category, regardless of how they were added to the audience. what happens if all my preference types are archived? You'll see a guided message inside the Preference Management Hub prompting you to create or restore a category, rather than an empty screen. will preference settings affect my transactional emails, like booking confirmations? No. Preference settings do not apply to transaction and notification emails, so contacts will still receive these. * * * ## need help? Hit the support chat widget inside ivorey, we can: - Walk you through any of the steps - Troubleshoot anything that's not working We're here and ready to help via the chat widget in the bottom right of your ivorey account. Or if you are looking for done-for-you support, you can browse our current services [here](https://ivorey.io/services) 🤍 ## Related - [all about email marketing: a master help guide](https://help.ivorey.io/en/articles/10056620-all-about-email-marketing-a-master-help-guide.md) - [set up email services](https://help.ivorey.io/en/articles/11990598-set-up-email-services.md) - [email domain warm up](https://help.ivorey.io/en/articles/12548925-email-domain-warm-up.md) - [customise default emails with custom values](https://help.ivorey.io/en/articles/11512903-customise-default-emails-with-custom-values.md) - [email AI](https://help.ivorey.io/en/articles/13631381-email-ai.md)