You can now create your own marketing topics, and supporters can choose which topics they receive and on which channels. Supporters no longer have to switch off a whole channel to stop the messages they don’t want.
Why this matters
Until now, supporters could only manage marketing by channel: email, SMS, phone, direct mail and push notifications. Opting out of one unwanted message meant giving up the ones they did want. Topics give supporters finer control. They also give you cleaner lists, because you’re only marketing to people who’ve asked to hear from you.
Transactional messages, such as purchase confirmations and account updates, aren’t marketing, so they’re not affected by this change.
What’s new
Custom marketing topics
You can create topics in your communications settings, each with a title and a description, for example “Promotions”. Custom topics sit alongside your lottery topics, which are linked to a lottery key.
- Once you save a custom topic key, it’s locked
- A custom topic key can’t match a lottery key
New supporters are subscribed to every topic at signup, on the channels they choose on the signup form. Supporters who registered before you added a topic aren’t subscribed to it until they, or an operator, switch it on.
Two ways to choose channels
Your site uses one of two layouts:
- Global layout: supporters choose their channels once, then switch each topic on or off
- Per-topic layout: supporters choose channels separately for each topic
To change layout, contact your Customer Success Manager.
Unsubscribe by topic
Supporters can unsubscribe from a single topic on the unsubscribe page, without logging in. The unsubscribe page only changes their marketing preferences.
Admin and bulk import
From the customer profile in Admin, operators can view and set a supporter’s topics and channels in either layout.
The Migration and Update bulk import files now include a topic column, so you can set topic preferences for many supporters at once. Unknown topic keys are rejected.
In Admin > Communications settings, lottery and custom topics now appear together in one card. The Methods Enabled setting and the Segment communication preferences cards have been removed, because the platform now keeps your Segment settings aligned automatically. Topic preferences are included in the communication preferences data sent to Segment.
Web and apps
On web, iOS and Android, supporters see your topics in your site’s layout. A new Unsubscribe from all option turns off every channel in one step.
In the apps, push notification settings now sit on the same Communications screen as marketing preferences. Marketing topics and channels appear when notification settings are enabled for your site.
Note: Older app versions still work, but they send every channel choice for all topics at once. In the per-topic layout, a change made in an older app can switch a topic back on after a supporter has turned it off.
Page wording
If you’ve customised translations for the communication preferences page, please review them. Two existing messages have changed:
communication-preferences.page.descriptionnow reads: “Stay in the loop about special offers or jackpot updates for your favourite lotteries. Personalise the type of communications you’d like to receive.” The text no longer includes the site name, so it still reads correctly in apps that have already been released.communication-preferences.page.unsubscribe-all-descriptionnow reads: “If you unsubscribe from communications, we’ll still send you email confirmation of purchases, account updates and notify you if you win.” This message is currently used on web only.
Three new messages have been added:
communication-preferences.page.channels-description: “How you want to receive communications from”. Add your site name to the end of this message in your translations.communication-preferences.page.topics-description: “What you want to hear about from”. Add your site name to the end of this message in your translations.communication-preferences.page.topic-channels-description: “Select what channels you would like to receive communications for”
Who this impacts
All sites get the new settings. Nothing changes for supporters until you create a custom topic or move to the per-topic layout, and existing preferences stay as they are. To set up topics, contact your Customer Success Manager.