In this article, we will show how to create a Subscription Management page using Subscription List records that have already been created. The Subscription Management page will show the user what their current preferences are if they have them already, and allow them to change them. If they don’t have any it will show what you choose to show as a default. If you don’t have any Subscription List records created, please refer to “How to Create a Subscription List” before continuing.
IMPORTANT: Your CNAMEs and Domain records also need to be set up before creating your Subscription Management Page.
Step 1: Create a Web Content record with the type Subscription
Go to Settings > ClickDimensions > Web Content, and create a new Web Content record.
In the new Web Content record, enter the following fields:
- Name: The name/title of the Subscription Page.
- Type: Select Subscription.
- Domain: Select a Domain record
- Campaign: optional If you want to associate this Web Content record with a Campaign, you can select the Campaign record by using the Look Up window.
- Create New Visitor As: Choose which type of record to create in your CRM.
Tip: When an Anonymous Visitor fills out a Subscription Page and his or her email address does not already exist in a Lead or Contact record in your CRM, ClickDimensions automatically creates a record with the information provided on the Subscription Page. In the Create New Visitor As field, you can specify if ClickDimensions will create a Lead or a Contact record.
- Auto Responder Email Template:optional Select a ClickDimensions Email Template record to send to the person who submits a Subscription Preference form. As soon as someone submits their preferences, ClickDimensions will send that person an email.
- Email Subject: optional This will be the subject line of the Auto Response Email.
Click Save once you have entered in all of the necessary information.
Step 2: Designing your Subscription Preferences Page
Adding Subscription Lists
The Design button in the ribbon is now active. Click on the Design button to open the designer window.
In the Designer window you will see a list of your Subscription List records on the right. Simply click on the Subscription List and drag it to the Subscription Design block to add the list to the Subscription Preferences page. As you drag the list over the space where it will go will turn a darker blue and will have a red line above it. Below that you’ll see the Submit button and will have the ability to move that to a different column.
You can also change the look of the Subscription List name on the page. To do this, select the Subscription List that has already been added to the Subscription Page and click the Properties button in the List section of the ribbon.
Display
Under the Display tab, the name of the Subscription List will already be in the Label field, and you can change the text to anything you like (it will not change the name of the Subscription List record, only the label that appears on the page). You can also set a default value for the Subscription List (whether the box is checked or unchecked). If the person already has subscription preferences, it will show their current preferences as a default.
In the Font Properties section, you can change the color, font, text size, and text weight of the Subscription List label.
Formatting
In the formatting tab, you can specify the number of columns the Subscription List label will span (one, two or three).
You can also remove a list from the Subscription Design Box by selecting the list and then click Remove from the List section of the ribbon.
Adding Subscription Components
There are other elements you can add to the Subscription Page called Components. Choose Components from the drop down menu next to Filter on the right hand side of the window to view the Components. You can add any of the following to your Subscription Page:
HTML
The HTML component allows you to add images, text, links, and more to your Subscription page. Add and select the Component, and click on the Properties window in the List section of the ribbon. This will open an HTML editor window, where you can add images, insert a table, and more. If you would like to add a Header to the page, you will want to use the HTML Component. To learn more about the editor, click here.
Section Title
The Section Title component lets you add text to your Subscription Page. Open the Preferences window (add and select the component, and click on the Properties button in the List section of the ribbon), and you will be able to enter the text, change the color, font, size, and weight of the text.
Unsubscribe All
It is good Email Marketing practice to give your users the ability to unsubscribe from all communications. If checked, this will both create an Unsubscribe Record attached to the Contact/Lead and mark the “Do not Allow Bulk Email” field on the Contact/Lead record to “Do not Allow”. You can add this option by adding the Unsubscribe All Component. By default the text for this option reads “Opt out from all email communications”. If you would like to change this text, you may open the Properties window for this option, and change the text properties.
IMPORTANT: You MUST include the Email field if you’re placing this Subscription Management Page anywhere but as a link in an email.
The Email field will allow for the subscription management page to be placed on your website and attach to the right Lead/Contact.
Step 3: Adding the Finishing Touches
Confirmation Text
When a user submits their preferences, it is good practice to show confirmation text to indicate your user’s submission is submitted and received successfully. You can enter text or redirect the user to a new page by selecting the Confirmation Text button in the Subscription area in the ribbon.
A new window will open that contains an HTML editor and a field for the redirect URL. You may enter any text, images, links, etc… into the HTML editor, and it will be displayed as soon as the user clicks on the Submit button. You may also enter a URL into the Post Redirect field at the bottom. If you do enter a URL, the user will be redirected to that URL instead of seeing the Confirmation Text.
Subscription Page Properties
Click on the Properties button in the Subscription section of the ribbon. This will open the Properties window for the entire subscription page. You will be able to change the font and size of the individual list text, change the label, color/background image, and alignment of the Submit button, and more.
Step 4: Add Form Actions
The Subscription Page Builder also gives you the opportunity to specify some actions to take once someone has submitted their Subscription Preferences. These actions include adding the Contact/Lead to a marketing list, creating a task for the Contact/Lead, sending an Email Notification, sending an auto response to the person who submitted their preferences, and creating a Campaign Response. Click here to learn more about each of these options.
Step 5: Linking to the Subscription Page
When you are ready for your readers to use the Subscription Page, you can link to the Subscription Page in a ClickDimensions email using the Subscription button in the HTML editor to quickly insert the link into your email. To see how to insert a Link to your Subscription page into a ClickDimensions Email Template, read this article.
If you want to manually copy the URL for the Subscription Page, click on the Embed button in the ribbon.
This will open a window that contains URL to the subscription management page, the Iframe code, and the Widget code for you to insert into your website. To learn more about the ways you can Embed your subscription management page click here.
Now you’ll just have to set up the opt-ins. You can do this either with a workflow (which can use Dynamic Marketing Lists), or with an Action (which can only use Static Marketing Lists). Opt-outs are handled automatically.
To view people’s submitted preferences, please read this article on where to find the various records in CRM.
