Add an Update Your Preferences Link

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When you send your email campaign, you may wish to include an update your preferences link in the body of your email. This link lets contacts update their profile information. Contacts can also opt in or out of groups you’ve created or choose how often they want to hear from you, which can reduce your unsubscribe rates. To do this, you'll add the *|UPDATE_PROFILE|* merge tag to your email campaign.

In this article, you'll learn about a few ways to add an update your preferences link to your email campaigns.

Before you start

Here are some things to know before you begin this process.

  • Most email templates automatically include an update your preferences link in the campaign footer.
  • This process uses the *|UPDATE_PROFILE|* merge tag. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with how merge tags work.
  • The *|UPDATE_PROFILE|* merge tag is contact-specific and won’t populate in a test email, even if the test email address is the email address of a contact in your audience.
  • Your contacts will receive a separate email to securely update their preferences. It's a good idea to take a look at your profile form or preferences center to make sure the design and content is what you want.

How it works

When your contact clicks on the update your preferences link in your email campaign, they'll get a pop-up modal with an Email Me A Link button. When your contact clicks the button, we’ll send them a separate email with an Update your preferences link. This link will take your contact to their profile form or to your preferences center to complete and submit. Your form can include a list of interests based on the groups you’ve created for your contacts.

The instructions for adding an update your preferences link using the link tool is slightly different for email campaigns in the new builder and in the legacy builder.

To add an update your preferences link in the new builder, follow these steps.

  1. In the Content section of the Campaign Builder, click Edit.
  2. Highlight existing text or create new text for the link. Add an Update Your Preferences Link - 图1
  3. Click on the link icon in the toolbar. The editor also supports keyboard shortcuts on Macs to add links. If you’re using a Mac, highlight the text you want to link and use CMD+K to open the Text Link pop-up modal. Add an Update Your Preferences Link - 图2
  4. Type or paste *|UPDATE_PROFILE|* into the URL field. Click Save. Add an Update Your Preferences Link - 图3 Leave the box checked if you want the link to open in a new tab.

To add an update your preferences link in the legacy builder, follow these steps.

  1. In the Content section of the campaign builder, click Edit.
  2. Click the edit icon in a Text content block. Add an Update Your Preferences Link - 图4
  3. In the Content tab of the editing pane, insert the text you want to link and highlight it. Add an Update Your Preferences Link - 图5
  4. Click the link icon in the toolbar. The editor also supports keyboard shortcuts on Macs to add links. If you’re using a Mac, highlight the text you want to link and use CMD+K to open the Insert or Edit Link pop-up modal. Add an Update Your Preferences Link - 图6
  5. In the Insert or Edit Link pop-up modal, type or paste *|UPDATE_PROFILE|* into the Web Address (URL) field and click Insert. Add an Update Your Preferences Link - 图7

Click Advanced options to edit optional settings like whether to open the file in a new window, or to apply a Title attribute or CSS class. 6. Click Save & Close.

Add to source code

The instructions for adding an Update your preferences link to your source code are slightly different for email campaigns in the new builder and in the legacy builder.

Add to source code in the new builder

To add an Update your preferences link to your source code in the new builder, follow these steps.

  1. Click a Code block, or click and drag a Code block into your layout from the side panel.
  2. In the Code menu, type or paste:

<a href="\*|UPDATE_PROFILE|*">Update your preferences</a>

Add an Update Your Preferences Link - 图8

Add to source code in the legacy builder

To add an Update your preferences link to your source code in the legacy builder, follow these steps.

  1. In the Content section of the campaign builder, click Edit.
  2. Click the edit icon in a Text content block. Add an Update Your Preferences Link - 图9
  3. Click the < > Source icon in the toolbar. Add an Update Your Preferences Link - 图10
  4. Add this code where you want the Update your preferences link to display.

<a href="*|UPDATE_PROFILE|*">Update your preferences</a> 5. Click the < > Source icon to return to the visual editor and review the design. 6. Click Save & Close.

Add to custom code

If you imported a custom HTML campaign or template, you can add an Update your preferences link to your own HTML. Type this code wherever you want the link to appear.

<a href="*|UPDATE_PROFILE|*">Update your preferences</a>

Add to plain-text campaign

When you edit your Plain-Text Campaign, type the merge tag in as regular text. We'll populate the link after you send your campaign. Here's an example:

Update your preferences: *|UPDATE_PROFILE|*

You can use Mailchimp's content blocks to turn any text into a link. Learn how to create and style text links in your campaign.

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