Email Categories

Email categories allow you to organize your emails by type, enabling granular unsubscribe options for recipients. Instead of unsubscribing from all emails, recipients can opt out of specific categories while continuing to receive others.

Overview

Email categories are labels you assign to templates that represent different types of communication:

• Marketing: Promotional emails, newsletters, announcements
• Transactional: Order confirmations, receipts, shipping updates
• Updates: Product updates, feature announcements
• Digest: Daily/weekly summary emails

When a recipient unsubscribes from a category, they only stop receiving emails from templates assigned to that category.

Accessing Email Categories

Navigate to Settings → Email Categories in the sidebar, or go directly to /settings/email-categories.

Why Use Email Categories?

Better User Experience

Recipients can fine-tune their email preferences instead of completely unsubscribing. This leads to:

• Higher overall subscription retention
• Fewer spam complaints
• Better sender reputation

Compliance

Email categories help you comply with regulations like GDPR and CAN-SPAM by:

• Providing granular consent management
• Honoring specific opt-out requests
• Maintaining accurate preference records

Better Analytics

Track engagement and unsubscribes by category to understand:

• Which types of emails perform best
• Which categories have high unsubscribe rates
• Where to focus improvement efforts

Creating Email Categories

Step 1: Click “Create Category”

Located in the top-right corner of the Email Categories page.

Step 2: Fill in Category Details

Step 3: Save

Click “Create” to save the category. It’s immediately available for use.

Managing Categories

Viewing Categories

The Email Categories page displays all categories as cards showing:

• Category name
• Description
• Number of templates using the category
• Number of unsubscribed recipients

Editing a Category

1. Click the edit icon on a category card
2. Update the name, slug, or description
3. Click “Save Changes”

Note: Changing the slug may affect existing unsubscribe links.

Deleting a Category

1. Click the delete icon on a category card
2. Confirm the deletion

Warning: Deleting a category:

• Removes it from all associated templates
• Does not delete unsubscribe records (recipients remain unsubscribed)
• Cannot be undone

Assigning Categories to Templates

Categories are assigned to templates, not individual emails. When you send an email using a template, the email inherits the template’s categories.

From Template Card

1. Go to the Templates page
2. Click the ”…” menu on a template
3. Select “Set Categories”
4. Choose one or more categories
5. Click “Save”

From Template Designer

1. Open a template in the designer
2. Click “Settings” in the toolbar
3. Find the “Email Categories” section
4. Select categories
5. Save the template

Bulk Assignment

1. Select multiple templates on the Templates page
2. Click “Bulk Actions” → “Assign Categories”
3. Choose categories and mode:
   • Replace: Remove existing, add selected
   • Add: Keep existing, add selected
   • Remove: Keep existing, remove selected
4. Click “Apply”

Category Best Practices

Naming Conventions

Use clear, recipient-friendly names:

Descriptions

Write descriptions that help recipients understand what they’re opting into/out of:

Good: “Promotional emails about sales, new products, and special offers. Typically 2-3 emails per week.”

Avoid: “Marketing emails.”

Recommended Categories

Most businesses benefit from these standard categories:

Category Limits

• Create only as many categories as you need
• Too many categories confuse recipients
• 3-5 categories is usually optimal

Unsubscribe Behavior

How It Works

1. Recipient clicks unsubscribe link in email
2. Unsubscribe page shows categories assigned to the email’s template
3. Recipient can unsubscribe from:
   • Individual categories
   • All categories (complete unsubscribe)
4. Future emails using templates in unsubscribed categories are blocked

Emails Without Categories

Templates without assigned categories:

• Show a “No Category” warning badge
• Recipients can only fully unsubscribe (no category options)
• May lead to more complete unsubscribes

Recommendation: Always assign at least one category to email templates.

API Integration

Manage email categories programmatically:

// List all categories
const categories = await api.get('/email-categories');
 
// Create a category
const category = await api.post('/email-categories', {
  name: 'Marketing Emails',
  slug: 'marketing',
  description: 'Promotional emails and special offers'
});
 
// Update a category
await api.patch('/email-categories/category-id', {
  description: 'Updated description'
});
 
// Delete a category
await api.delete('/email-categories/category-id');
 
// Assign categories to template
await api.post('/templates/bulk-assign-categories', {
  templateIds: ['template-1', 'template-2'],
  categoryIds: ['category-1', 'category-2'],
  mode: 'replace' // 'replace', 'add', or 'remove'
});

See the API Reference for complete endpoint documentation.

Viewing Category Analytics

Per-Category Metrics

On the Email Categories page, each category card shows:

• Templates: Number of templates using this category
• Unsubscribes: Number of recipients who have unsubscribed

Unsubscribe Trends

Navigate to Analytics → Unsubscribes to see:

• Unsubscribe rates by category over time
• Which categories have the highest opt-out rates
• Comparison across categories

Troubleshooting

Recipient Still Receiving Emails After Unsubscribing

Check these possibilities:

1. The template may not have the unsubscribed category assigned
2. The email may be using a different template
3. There may be a caching delay (emails queued before unsubscribe)

Category Not Showing on Unsubscribe Page

The unsubscribe page only shows categories assigned to the specific template used in that email. Ensure the template has categories assigned.

Duplicate Unsubscribes

If the same email appears multiple times in unsubscribe records with different categories, this is normal - the recipient unsubscribed from multiple categories.

Related Features

• Templates - Assign categories to templates
• Unsubscribes - View and manage unsubscribe records
• Suppression List - Manage blocked email addresses

Related: Templates | Unsubscribes | Settings