Intro to Communication Preferences

Configuring email in Rock involves more than just sending messages; it's about safeguarding your communication channels and maintaining a positive sender reputation. Why? Because when your emails get marked as spam, it can harm your reputation and impact whether your messages reach their intended recipients. Not to mention the possible legal consequences.

Consider this: even if someone signed up for your emails, they might still report them as spam if they can't easily find the unsubscribe option. Or worse, they might start to unsubscribe but then resort to marking your emails as spam if the process isn't straightforward. That's why it's crucial to make unsubscribing as effortless as possible.

This is especially true for Gmail accounts. Gmail specifies that everyone must “make it easy for recipients to unsubscribe” and “if you send more than 5,000 messages per day, your marketing and subscribed messages must support one-click unsubscribe.” Gmail also indicates that if your unsubscribe method involves sending an email, the request to unsubscribe must be processed within two days. Why all the focus on Gmail? Well, with over 1.5 billion active accounts, it’s probably used by many in your target audience, so we want to ensure we're sticking to their guidelines.

Tip

Learn More
To read more about Gmail’s spam requirements, with links to additional resources, check out our blog post on the topic.  

We also look to Gmail's rules because they will help cover you from a legal perspective. Gmail policies are more stringent than the US CAN-SPAM Act, which also has requirements related to unsubscribing. Adherence to the CAN-SPAM Act is crucial. Otherwise you expose your organization to potential legal action and hefty fines from the FTC.

Now, let's talk about how Rock can help you comply with these requirements. We've designed features to streamline the unsubscribing process. For more details on these settings, see the Communication Mediums section above.

Email Unsubscribe Settings

  1. Bulk Email Threshold - Automatically categorizes emails as bulk if the recipient list exceeds this threshold, ensuring unsubscribe links. This hides the bulk option for new communications.
  2. Request Unsubscribe Email - Generates an email for unsubscribing, which must be processed within two days. If Enable One-Click Unsubscribe is set to “Yes” (which we recommend) this email address should never be used.
  3. Enable One-Click Unsubscribe - Our recommended default setting of “Yes” is in line with Gmail's requirements.
  4. Unsubscribe URL - Provides an alternative to one-click unsubscribing, directing recipients to a specified URL.

Tip

Not Gmail-Compliant
If Enable One-Click Unsubscribe is set to “No” and if the Unsubscribe URL is blank, nothing will be added to the header of the email.

With the above configuration in place, your emails will have an “Unsubscribe” option as pictured below.

  1. Header Unsubscribe - Supports one-click unsubscribe functionality, though it’s not universally supported by all email clients.
  2. Unsubscribe Link - Directs recipients to the Rock Unsubscribe page on the external site. Some clients support one-click unsubscribe functionality, though it’s not universally supported by all email clients.