Why use Topics?
Topics let recipients opt out of one kind of email without unsubscribing from everything. That keeps engagement high and complaints low — which protects deliverability. Here's when to use Topics, and how they differ from Segments.
Every send starts with one decision: who is this for? Those recipients — a person, an audience, or a segment — are the core of sending. By default everyone in that group receives the message, but not everyone in it wants every message.
[Topics](/docs/topics/overview) give recipients a way to say *don't send me this kind of email* without unsubscribing from everything. Think of a Topic as a contract with your recipients: a promise that if they opt out of a content type, you'll honor it. Topics don't define who receives a message — they define who asked not to receive it. This page explains why that matters for deliverability and how Topics differ from segments.
Why Topics improve deliverability
Deliverability is about landing in the inbox instead of spam, and recipient engagement is a key factor. Gmail, Outlook, and the rest track whether people open, click, or mark your mail as spam. When you send every marketing email to everyone, a slice of the list never engages — and that does real damage:
- Lower open rates — recipients ignore mail that doesn't interest them.
- Higher spam complaints — frustrated recipients hit *Report spam* instead of unsubscribing.
- Falling sender reputation — providers see low engagement and start filtering you to spam.
Topics give recipients agency and give you signal. When someone says *no promotional emails*, the system honors it while still sending the content they do want — so you keep the engagement and avoid the complaint.
Without Topics: a single global unsubscribe
Without Topics, your unsubscribe page offers exactly one option: unsubscribe from everything. That's a blunt instrument — plenty of recipients who'd happily keep getting *some* of your mail leave entirely because of one too many emails about something they didn't want. With Topics, they can decline a single content type and stay subscribed to the rest, so you retain more engaged subscribers.
When to use Topics
Topics are most valuable when you send multiple types of marketing content to the same audience. Common examples:
| Topic example | Description |
|---|---|
| Newsletter | Regular updates, articles, or curated content |
| Product Updates | New features, releases, and announcements |
| Promotions | Discounts, sales, and special offers |
| Events | Webinars, conferences, and meetups |
| Tips & Tutorials | Educational content and how-to guides |
When you might not need Topics
If you only ever send one kind of marketing email — say a monthly newsletter and nothing else — Topics add complexity without much benefit. A simple subscribe/unsubscribe model is enough.
Topics vs. Segments
Topics and segments solve fundamentally different problems, and the distinction is the key to using both well.
| Aspect | Topics | Segments |
|---|---|---|
| Who controls it | Your recipients | You (the sender) |
| Visibility | Shown on the unsubscribe page | Internal only (recipients never see them) |
| Purpose | Let recipients manage their preferences | Organize contacts for targeted sending |
| Example | "Newsletter", "Product Updates" | "Enterprise customers", "Free trial users" |
How Segments and Topics work together
Segments are who you're sending to; Topics are what you're sending. When you send a campaign:
- 1Choose a Segment
Pick the segment that defines your recipients — your sender intent.
- 2Label with a Topic
Tag the content with a Topic so the system can respect recipient preferences.
- 3Send, minus opt-outs
Everyone in the segment receives the message except those who opted out of that Topic.
For example, a product announcement sent to your *Enterprise Customers* segment, labeled with the *Product Updates* Topic, automatically excludes anyone who previously declined product updates. Segments target; Topics protect preferences — they work together without competing.
Opt-in vs. opt-out Topics
When you create a Topic, you choose its default subscription behavior, and you can't change it later:
- Opt-in (default) — all contacts receive this Topic unless they explicitly unsubscribe (applies retroactively to every contact). Use it for broadly relevant content like product updates.
- Opt-out — contacts do *not* receive this Topic unless they explicitly subscribe. Use it for niche content only some users want, like a beta program or developer-focused updates.
Public vs. private Topics
- Public — every contact sees this Topic on the unsubscribe page.
- Private — only contacts already opted in can see it. Useful for exclusive content (a beta program, VIP announcements) you don't want to advertise to everyone.
Best practices
- Keep it simple — aim for 3–5 clear content types; a long list of checkboxes overwhelms recipients.
- Use clear names — "Newsletter" and "Product Updates" communicate; "Category A" and "Misc" don't.
- Add descriptions — use the optional description to set expectations about frequency and content.
- Always label campaigns with a Topic — so recipients who declined that content don't receive it, and an unsubscribe can be scoped to that Topic rather than everything.