You can give subscribers a way to opt out of one topic or sequence without leaving your list.
A custom unsubscribe link is an extra link you add to an email—something like "Stop receiving launch emails"—that removes someone from one specific set of emails and nothing else. It sits alongside the unsubscribe link in your footer, which is still required in every email you send.
Looking for something else? To change the wording of the main unsubscribe link in your footer—translating it, or making it friendlier—see how to customize your unsubscribe text instead.
Two ways to let subscribers opt out
Both options keep the subscriber on your list. Which one fits depends on whether you're managing ongoing content topics or a single set of emails.
Subscriber preferences, for ongoing topics
If you write on a few recurring themes, set up topics of interest. Every email then carries an Update your profile link, and subscribers pick their own topics whenever they want—so you don't have to build anything campaign by campaign.
Start with managing subscriber preferences in Kit, then our best practices for subscriber preferences.
Custom unsubscribe links, for a single set of emails
For a launch, a promotion, or one sequence, a custom unsubscribe link is quicker. It takes one click, skips the preferences page, and only affects the emails you point it at.
How to create a custom unsubscribe link
A custom unsubscribe link is a link trigger with an opt-out action attached. The setup is the same as any other link trigger:
Create the link trigger, following the steps in how to use Link Triggers.
Add the actions that stop the emails on that topic.
Add the link to your emails with wording that makes the choice clear.
Choose the actions that fit your setup
Which actions you use depends on how you keep track of your subscribers' interests. Three common approaches:
Remove them from a sequence—they stop receiving any further emails in it.
Add a Tag that marks them as opted out—you can then exclude that Tag from related sends.
Remove a Tag that signals interest in the topic they're stepping away from, so they don't get that content again.
A single link trigger can carry several actions at once, and all of them fire together. You'll add them in the rightmost column when you configure the trigger:
So you can mix and match. One link can remove someone from a launch sequence and add a Tag recording that they opted out.
Write link text that makes the choice obvious
Your custom unsubscribe link only works if subscribers understand what it does. Name the emails they're opting out of, rather than leaving them to guess:
"Click here to stop receiving launch emails"
"Not interested in this promotion? Opt out of these emails."
It's worth making the link easy to spot. A subscriber choosing it over the main unsubscribe link is telling you they still want to hear from you—so hiding it only risks losing them from your list entirely.
TIP: A click on a custom unsubscribe link is useful feedback. Someone told you which part of your work isn't for them, and they stayed. Tailor what you send them from here.
Add the link to your emails
Once your link trigger is ready, you have two places to put it:
In an individual Broadcast or sequence email—see how to use Link Triggers.
In your email template, so it appears on every email using that template—see how to add a Link Trigger to an email template.
NOTE: Anti-spam laws require an unsubscribe link in the footer of every email you send, with no exceptions. A custom unsubscribe link is an optional addition, never a replacement.