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How to add an unsubscribe link

Every message sent through a Broadcast Message Stream in Postmark is required to have an unsubscribe link. Unsubscribe links will also work for messages sent through Transactional Message Streams, though they are not required.

Our unsubscribes use a one click method. Before unsubscribing a recipient, we check client-side to see if it's a person that selected the link or most likely a content filtering causing the unsubscribe action. This avoid accidental unsubscribes.

If a recipient unsubscribes from your messages, Postmark will unsubscribe their email address from your Message Stream and redirect them to a page letting them know the unsubscribe was successful. The address will then be listed in the Suppressions for your Stream. After unsubscribing, there is an option for recipients to re-subscribe:

If you'd like to sync your Suppressions to a list you maintain or receive notifications of unsubscribes, there are two options:

Insert an Unsubscribe Placeholder

An unsubscribe placeholder is a way to tell Postmark where to place the unsubscribe link. You can add an unsubscribe placeholder in the HTML and Plain Text copy of your message to specify where the unsubscribe link is added:

{{{ pm:unsubscribe }}}

By default, the unsubscribe link will have a text of "Unsubscribe". 

To change the default text in HTML messages, treat the unsubscribe placeholder as a hyperlink:

<a href="{{{ pm:unsubscribe }}}">Unsubscribe from this list</a>

Treating the placeholder as a hyperlink also allows for support of custom styling on the text (making sure to escape the quotes):

<a href=\"{{{ pm:unsubscribe }}}\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\">Unsubscribe from this list</a>

Messages without an Unsubscribe Placeholder

Broadcast messages that aren't sent with a placeholder will automatically have the unsubscribe link appended in the footer of the email. These unsubscribe links will have the text of "Unsubscribe".

Using your own unsubscribe process

We understand that some customers have an existing unsubscribe processes that would create duplicate unsubscribes. If you'd like to use your own unsubscribe process instead of Postmark's, please review our documentation on how to properly manage your own unsubscribe process for your bulk sending through Postmark

Last updated February 19th, 2024

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