Service Portal

Update: 21/06/2024 for v197

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What is a list-unsubscribe header?
• How list-unsubscribe benefits the sender
• How does list-unsubscribe work?

What is a list-unsubscribe header?

A list-unsubscribe header is an email header that contains specific instructions about a brand’s unsubscribe process that inbox providers like Gmail, Apple Mail, or Yahoo can use to power native unsubscribe functionality in their inboxes. With that, recipients can unsubscribe from mailing lists without having to search for an unsubscribe link in the body of the email.

In Gmail, for example, that looks like this:

And this is Apple mail:

How list-unsubscribe benefits the sender

It is a good idea to create easy ways for recipients to opt out of mail lists, as this establishes trust in your brand. More specifically, an easily accessible unsubscribe process helps you with three important goals, which all add up to great sender reputation and deliverability.

• Cleaner mail list: When people opt out of a mail list, this makes room for the remaining subscribers to be more engaged. This results in higher open & click rates for messages you send to that list, which in turn boosts your sender reputation.

• Low spam complaints: If recipients no longer want to receive your emails and can’t figure out how to unsubscribe, they are more likely to hit the “Mark as spam” button and that can hurt your sender reputation. If you make it easy to unsubscribe, you can reduce the risk of spam complaints.

• Compliance with inbox provider rules: Some email clients have supported list-unsubscribe as a best practice and are getting more strict, making it a requirement. Providers like Gmail and Yahoo have stated that they will enforce the one-click method for unsubscribing starting in June 2024. If you fail to comply with these rules, inbox providers might block your emails from reaching the inbox.

How does list-unsubscribe work?

Every mailing sent with the Peppered platform already has the list-unsubscribe feature in it. Including Manual Mailings and Automated pre/after service mails. 

Note: System mails for creating accounts, logging in or purchase confirmations will not have a list-unsubscribe header.

Every time a visitor uses the list-unsubscribe feature in their mail browser, this is passed to the Peppered platform for further processing. One of the following things will then happen:

• If the list-unsubscribe feature was used in a Servicemail, the opt-in “servicemail” will be switched off for that visitor.
  
  

• If the list-unsubscribe feature was used in a manual mailing, we will check which query was used while sending the mailing. To comply with GDPR, Each mail query should contain a filter to only include visitors with a specific opt-in. Usually this is the “Newsletter optin” but other opt-ins can be used as a filter in a query. After we identified which opt-in was used in the query for this particular mail, that opt-in will be automatically switched off for that visitor.
  
  Example of a correct opt-in filter in a query
  
  
  Example of the logged opt-in activity of a visitor after a correct list-unsubscribe action

• If the list-unsubscribe feature was used in a manual mailing, and there was no opt-in filter used in the mail query for that mailing, we cannot automatically unsubscribe the visitor. This emphasizes the importance of always using an opt-in filter in your mail queries.
  In this scenario a mail will be sent to reply-to address (that is you) of the mailing, informing you that a visitor wishes to unsubscribe. It is up to you to handle this request and take further action, ensuring this visitor does not receive any more similar mailings. By going to their visitor record and manually taking off the opt-in.  

Please note: If you are mailing without opt-in filters, manually switching off an opt-in for a visitor after receiving this manual unsubscribe request will not remove that visitor if your next mailing also uses a query without an opt-in filter.

This is the mail: