BlueLena Guide: Forms are interactive elements that allow you to collect information from your contacts or website visitors.
- What are forms?
- Why would I use forms?
- How do I create a form?
- How to utilize forms for a better unsubscribe process
- How to utilize ActiveCampaign forms as a preferences manager
- Form Types
- How to publish a form on a website
What are forms?
Embedded on your website, forms are gateways to expanding your subscriber base. Forms capture essential details, like names and email addresses — they become the conduit for transforming casual readers into dedicated subscribers. A form can also be a catalyst for elevating the publication’s engagement strategies and ensuring a more meaningful connection with the audience.
Why would I use forms?
Publications can use forms in ActiveCampaign in several ways:
- Subscriber growth:
- Use forms to capture contact information from website visitors, converting them into subscribers. This enables publications to grow their subscriber base and reach a larger audience over time.
- Personalized content delivery:
- Employ forms to gather insights into reader preferences. Ask your audience questions about specific topics or types of content they might be interested in. Then you can tailor content delivery, providing a more personalized and engaging experience.
- Subscription management:
- Forms allow readers to manage their subscription preferences. Readers can use forms to update their email preferences, choose specific content categories or opt in/out of newsletters.
- Reader feedback and surveys:
- Integrate forms into articles or newsletters to gather reader feedback. Publications can use surveys to understand reader preferences, opinions on specific content and overall satisfaction, ultimately guiding editorial decisions.
How do I create a form?
If you’re looking to create a form, learn more about this process and setup here.
How do I utilize opt-out forms for a better unsubscribe process?
- The built-in ActiveCampaign process involves an unsubscribe link in the email footer that will automatically unsubscribe someone from the list(s) that a campaign was sent to.
- The drawback here is that when users unsubscribe from your full list, it will put them on an exclusion list and they will not be able to receive any emails from you until they’ve re-subscribed to another list.
- We recommend using an alternative process to give users the option to opt out of a campaign without unsubscribing to your full list:
- First, in ActiveCampaign, navigate to the “Website” tab on the left navigation bar. This will load the “Forms” page.
- Select to create a form and then select an in-line form. Assign the action to be “Adds tag”, then create a tag with the following convention
- “Newsletter Name Opt-Out”
- Nex the form will load. Adjust the text within the modal as well as removing the “Full Name” field. When a contact is unsubscribing, all that they’ll need to provide is their email address. If you’d like to customize and add any other fields, you’ll be able to do so in this step.
- Additionally, most publishers that we work with prefer to have the Active Campaign branding removed from their forms. Note that this change also applies to other aspects of your account as well.
- Once you’ve finished customizing your form, you’ll want to click “Integrate” in the upper-right corner, and then select the “Link” version. Copy this to your clipboard.
- Navigate to the “Campaigns” page, and then select “Campaign Templates” from the left navigation bar.
- Select to create a new template, and once this loads you’ll add a new section by scrolling to the bottom and selecting the green “+” icon, then select “Blocks” from the right hand side of the campaign designer & select “Text.”
- Input the desired language around the unsubscribe process in the block and then link to the form that you’ve just setup. It needs to specify that by clicking this link, the subscriber is only opting out from that specific newsletter/series.
- You can follow along with a video walkthrough of steps F and G here.
- Example: Not interested in receiving this newsletter? Click here to opt out of Acme Times Daily News.
- Within your form link (for example: https://bluelena.activehosted.com/f/1) enter ?email=%email% after the link URL, so that the new link looks like this: https://bluelena.activehosted.com/f/1?email=%email%. For detailed instructions on how to pre-fill form fields in general, click here.
- Next, you’ll want to add a second set of language into the campaign block that specifies how a subscriber can unsubscribe from all communications. Within this second set, you’ll want to select “Other” and enter %UNSUBSCRIBELINK%&ALL
- Then, within Campaign Designer, select the section you’re working in, then the “…” icon on the right. Click this and select to save the module for future use. Going forward, you’ll be able to just drag in the saved module into all applicable campaigns.
- Note that when using this process, it requires you to also input your physical mailing address to ensure compliance with ActiveCampaign’s unsubscribe rules. For further information on the requirements, click here and navigate to the section named “How it works.”
- Finally, you’ll want to set up an automation that says whenever the opt out tag is added to a contact, they should be unsubscribed from the corresponding newsletter list. This will need to be repeated for each opt-out form that you set up, as the purpose of opt-out forms is to tie them to a single newsletter/list.
How do I utilize a single ActiveCampaign form as a preferences manager (instead of individual opt-out forms)?
- (Recommended) For publications that are looking to replicate a preferences manager instead of individual opt-out forms, follow the steps below:
- First, navigate to the Contacts tab on the left navigation bar, and once this page loads select Fields from the navigation bar.
- Add a new field named “Newsletter Preferences” and set the type as Checkbox. Enter all current Newsletter offerings from your publication and then save.
- After saving, locate the field that you created and select the pen icon on the far right side. This will open a modal and at the bottom it will ask you to specify the Default Value. Select all available newsletters so they will appear as pre-checked.
- Next, navigate to the Website tab on the left navigation bar. This will load the Forms page.
- Select “Create new form” in the upper-right corner, then select “Inline Form.”
- Remove the Name fields and then add in the Newsletter Preferences field (such that only Email and Newsletter Preferences appear on the form)
- Enter some text in the description section along the lines of “Update your preferences below – Please uncheck any newsletters that you do not wish to receive.” This is necessary because there’s no option to pre-fill a subscriber’s newsletter preferences as Checkbox fields cannot be pre-filled in absence of a developer.
- Select to integrate the form in the upper-right corner, and then select the link version and copy this to your clipboard.
- Open up any template within your account, create a new section at the bottom by selecting the green “+” icon, and then enter language about managing preferences. Paste the form link here and add the personalized email to be pre-filled. For instructions on how to pre-fill email or any other non-checkbox fields, click here.
- Next, you’ll also want to enter a second set of language that states if a subscriber wishes to opt out of all communications, “click here.” Select the option to link the text, and then select “Other” and enter %UNSUBSCRIBELINK%&ALL
- Finally, set up an automation that transfers these preferences to contact tags and/or lists. You can find documentation on this automation here.
- If you also wish to share this form on your website, you can view the options to do so here.
What are the different types of forms?
- Inline forms:
- Embed inline forms within articles or at the end of blog posts to capture reader subscriptions. Encourage readers to sign up for newsletters or updates related to the content they just consumed.
- Floating bars:
- Implement a floating bar at the top of your publication’s website to promote a new feature, upcoming event or to encourage readers to explore premium content or subscribe for exclusive updates.
- Modal pop-up forms:
- Trigger a modal pop-up form to appear after readers spend a certain amount of time on the site. Use this form to promote a webinar, collect feedback on user experience or offer a limited-time discount for subscription.
If you’re looking to set up a specific type of form, learn more about this process and setup here.
How do I publish a form on a website?
If you’re looking to set up a specific type of form, learn more about this process and setup here.