Email Preference Management: Let Families Choose What They Want to Hear About

What is Email Preference Management?

Email Preference Management lets families control what types of emails they receive from your center. Instead of unsubscribing completely, parents can opt out of specific categories—like promotions or newsletters—while still getting important updates about their child's enrollment.

This keeps your emails relevant, reduces spam complaints, and helps more of your messages reach the inbox.

Why Use Preference Management?

• Stay compliant: Automatically honor family opt-out choices at the category level
• Improve deliverability: Fewer spam complaints mean more emails reach the inbox
• Send relevant content: Families get only the messages they care about
• Customize by location: Each center creates categories that match its communication needs

How It Works

You create subscription categories (like "Weekly Updates," "Event Invitations," or "Enrollment Offers") and assign them to your email campaigns. When a family opts out of a category, they're automatically excluded from future campaigns in that category—even if they're on your email list.

This happens automatically. You don't need to manually remove anyone.

Enabling Preference Management

Preference Management is currently in Labs. To turn it on:

1. Go to Enrollio Dashboard → Labs
2. Enable Preference Management for your account or specific centers
3. Confirm that you understand this change is permanent

[SCREENSHOT: Labs toggle screen showing Preference Management option with warning message]

Step 1: Create Your Subscription Categories

Subscription categories are the building blocks of Preference Management. Think about the different types of emails you send—tours and open houses, enrollment deadlines, weekly parent updates, promotional offers.

Create a category for each distinct theme in your email program.

To create a subscription category:

1. Navigate to Settings → Preferences
2. Click + Create Subscription Type
3. Enter a Subscription Name (e.g., "Event Invitations")
4. Add a Description that explains what families will receive (e.g., "Invitations to center events, open houses, and parent nights")
5. Click Save

Repeat this process for each category you need. You can edit, disable, or delete categories anytime from the Preferences page.

[SCREENSHOT: Settings → Preferences screen showing the Create Subscription Type button and form with Name and Description fields]

Step 2: Assign Categories to Email Campaigns

Once your categories are set up, assign them to your email campaigns. This tells Enrollio what type of email you're sending so it can automatically filter your audience based on family preferences.

To assign a category to a campaign:

1. Open your email campaign in the Email Builder
2. Click Send or Schedule
3. Select your Preference Type from the dropdown menu
4. Continue with your send as normal

[SCREENSHOT: Email send screen showing the Preference Type dropdown menu with sample categories]

When you send the campaign, Enrollio automatically removes any families who have opted out of that category—even if they're included in your recipient list or segment.

How Automatic Filtering Works

Here's what happens behind the scenes:

• You create an email campaign and assign it to the "Event Invitations" category
• You select your full parent list as recipients
• Before sending, Enrollio automatically removes anyone who opted out of "Event Invitations"
• Only families who want event emails receive your message

This filtering applies to all email campaigns—whether they're one-time sends, scheduled campaigns, or emails triggered by automations.

Managing Family Preferences Manually

You can view and update email preferences for any family from their contact record. This is helpful when a parent calls to update their preferences or when you need to check subscription status.

To view or update a family's preferences:

1. Go to Contacts and select a family
2. Click the DND tab
3. Click Subscription Status
4. In the popup, toggle each category to Subscribed or Unsubscribed
5. Click Save

[SCREENSHOT: Contact detail page showing DND tab and Subscription Status popup with category toggles]

How Families Manage Their Own Preferences

When Preference Management is enabled, your unsubscribe links automatically include a "Manage your preferences" option. When families click this link, they see all your subscription categories and can choose which ones to keep or remove.

This gives families control without losing them entirely. Instead of unsubscribing from everything, they might just opt out of promotional emails while staying subscribed to important center updates.

[SCREENSHOT: Example of family-facing preference management page showing category checkboxes]

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between category opt-out and global unsubscribe?

A category opt-out removes a family from specific types of emails (like events or promotions) but they still receive other categories. A global unsubscribe opts them out of all marketing emails from your center.

Do automated emails honor category preferences?

Yes. Emails sent through automations respect preference settings just like manual campaigns. If a family opts out of a category, they won't receive automated emails assigned to that category either.

Can I change subscription categories after families have set preferences?

Yes, you can edit category names and descriptions anytime. However, be careful when deleting categories—families subscribed to a deleted category will need to be migrated to a new one or manually managed.

What happens if I don't assign a preference category to a campaign?

Campaigns without an assigned category are treated as general marketing emails. Families who have globally unsubscribed won't receive them, but category-level opt-outs won't apply.

Can I see who's opted out of each category?

Yes. You can create a Smart List filtered by subscription status for any category. This helps you understand which families prefer which types of communication.