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Consent and Subscription Management

Explains how opt-in, preferences, and unsubscribes keep your Audience willing, engaged, and permission-based.

In short​

Consent is the record of whether a subscriber has agreed to hear from you, on which topics, and through which channels. Subscription management is how that record is captured, updated, and honored over time — through opt-in when someone joins, a preference center where they choose what they want, and unsubscribe when they opt out. Together they keep every Broadcast permission-based: you send only to subscribers who have said yes.

Why it matters​

Permission is both a legal expectation and a deliverability one. Mailbox providers watch how subscribers react, and messages to people who never opted in — or who asked to stop — draw spam complaints that damage your sending reputation and hurt inbox placement for everyone on your account. Honoring consent protects that reputation, keeps your Audience genuinely engaged, and helps you meet obligations under regulations such as GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and CASL. Getting it wrong risks blocked mail, complaints, and eroded trust.

How it works​

Consent typically flows through four moments:

  • Opt-in — A subscriber joins through a signup form, an import with a documented lawful basis, or a confirmed (double) opt-in that verifies their email before they are added.
  • Preferences — A preference center lets subscribers choose topics, frequency, and channels (email or SMS) instead of an all-or-nothing choice. Narrower, chosen subscriptions usually mean better engagement.
  • Unsubscribe — Every Broadcast includes an unsubscribe link. When used, the subscriber is added to the account-wide suppression list and excluded from future sends.
  • Suppression — Opt-outs, hard bounces, and complaints are suppressed automatically, so they are skipped even if the subscriber later appears in another Folder or import.

Example: A subscriber signs up for "Product news" only. A later Broadcast tagged to "Promotions" excludes them automatically, because their recorded preference never included that topic. (Confirm the exact preference-center and opt-in steps in your account.)

Canonical terms: Author, Edition, Folder (Project Folder), Broadcast. See the Glossary.