Email Topics

Email topics let you categorize your emails so subscribers can choose what they want to receive. Instead of a single "unsubscribe from all" option, subscribers can opt out of specific categories while staying subscribed to others.

How It Works

1. You define topics -- categories like "Newsletter", "Promotions", "Product Updates"
2. You tag campaigns -- assign one or more topics to each campaign
3. Subscribers choose -- via the preference center, they opt in or out of each topic
4. Score CRM filters -- only sends to subscribers who are opted into at least one of the campaign's topics

Managing Email Topics

Creating Topics

1. Go to Settings > Email Topics in the sidebar
2. Click Create Topic
3. Fill in:
   • Name -- the display name subscribers will see (e.g., "Weekly Newsletter")
   • Description -- a brief explanation shown on the preference center
   • Default Opt-In -- whether new subscribers are automatically opted in
   • Required -- if checked, subscribers cannot opt out (use for transactional emails)
4. Click Create

Topic Settings

Setting	What it does
Default Opt-In	New subscribers with no explicit preference are treated as opted in. Best for topics most subscribers want.
Default Opt-Out	New subscribers must explicitly opt in. Best for optional topics like promotions.
Required	Subscribers cannot opt out. Use only for essential communications like account notifications or transactional emails.

Editing and Deleting Topics

• Click the pencil icon next to a topic to edit its name, description, or settings
• Click the trash icon to deactivate a topic. Deactivated topics are removed from the preference center but existing preferences are preserved
• Use the up/down arrows to reorder how topics appear on the preference center

Limits

• Maximum 20 topics per organization
• Topic names must be unique within your organization
• A URL-safe slug is automatically generated from the topic name

Tagging Campaigns with Topics

When creating or editing a campaign, you'll see a Topics field in the campaign settings:

• Select one or more topics from the dropdown
• If topics are selected: only subscribers opted into at least one of those topics will receive the campaign
• If no topics are selected: the campaign goes to all active (non-suppressed) subscribers, same as before

This is fully backward compatible -- existing campaigns without topics continue to work as they always have.

How Topic Filtering Works During Send

When a campaign is launched, Score CRM checks each potential recipient:

1. Campaign has no topics? Skip topic filtering entirely (all active subscribers included)
2. For each campaign topic, check the subscriber:
   • Explicitly opted in (preference = yes) -- include
   • Explicitly opted out (preference = no) -- exclude
   • No explicit preference -- use the topic's default opt-in setting
3. Subscriber is included if opted into at least one campaign topic

Best Practices

• Start simple -- begin with 2-3 broad topics. You can always add more later
• Use clear names -- subscribers should instantly understand what each topic covers
• Write good descriptions -- these appear on the preference center and help subscribers make informed choices
• Set defaults thoughtfully -- default opt-in for core content, default opt-out for promotional or optional content
• Mark transactional as required -- account notifications, password resets, and other essential emails should be required topics