How do I change the default footer in my emails?

All outgoing emails must include your physical mailing address and an obvious way to unsubscribe. At ActiveCampaign, we automatically provide these items for you in a default footer. This footer appears in your campaigns, automation emails, and email templates.

You can replace this default footer with your own so that it matches the aesthetics and brand of your business.

Take note

• This default footer process is per campaign. You must change the footer each time you create a campaign or automation email. This is not a permanent setting.
  
  You can create a content block with your customized footer and save it to your content library to reuse later. This will make the process easier. However, you still need to add the content block to each email.
  
  Learn how to save and reuse email content.
  
  
• Opt-in confirmation emails are transactional emails and will not contain an unsubscribe link
• It is not possible to remove the default footer from opt-in confirmation emails
• You can only update this for campaigns with a "Draft" or "Scheduled" status. You cannot change the mailing address for campaigns with a "Sent" status
• You can change the physical address in automation emails at any time. Contacts that are sent an automation email after the footer is updated will see your updated physical address
• Personalization tags are not available for use in plain-text campaigns. Because of this, you are not able to edit the default footer in plain-text campaigns

How it works

To replace the default footer with your own, you will need to add two personalization tags to your campaign:

• A personalization tag that includes your physical mailing address
  • The physical mailing address used is the same mailing address you provided under "Settings"> "Addresses." To learn more about adding your address, visit "Add a physical address to your ActiveCampaign account"
  • To use a different mailing address, visit "How do I use a different mailing address in my email footer?"
• A personalization tag that includes an unsubscribe link
  • To learn more about why unsubscribe links are required, visit "Why are unsubscribe links required in my campaigns and automation emails?"

These two tags can appear anywhere in your campaign, but they are most commonly placed in the footer.

Typing the physical mailing address or "Unsubscribe" in your email will not work. You must insert your mailing address and unsubscribe link into your email using personalization tags. 

Once these two tags are added to your email, the default footer will be removed.

How to replace the default footer in your email

There are two slightly different ways to update the default footer in the Email Designer (launched in 2022) and Classic Designer. Both options are explained below:

Using the Email Designer (launched 2022):

1. Locate and open the campaign or email template you want to edit.
2. On the Campaign Summary Page, hover over the design to the right and Click "Edit design" to open the campaign designer.
3. Drag a new text block to your layout.
4. Type the text that should contain the unsubscribe link. Highlight the text, then click the link icon in the navigation bar.
   
   
   
   
5. The "Add a Link" modal will appear. There are two ways to add the personalization tag that includes an unsubscribe link from here:
   
   • In the "Add a Link" modal, in the first dropdown, choose "Personalization Tag." In the following field, type %UNSUBSCRIBELINK%, then click “Save.” To reopen the "Add a Link" modal, in the right panel, click the two blue arrows in the "Link" section field.
     
     
     
     
   • In the right panel, in the "Link" section, type %UNSUBSCRIBELINK%. The dropdown option changes from "Site" to "Other." Your changes will automatically save.
     
     
     
     
6. To insert your physical mailing address, click the text block you would like the address to appear in.
7. Click the "Personalization Tags" option on the top toolbar.
8. In the Add, a Personalization modal, click "Message" and then click either "List Sender Info (multiple lines)" or "List Sender Info (single line)."
   
   
   
   The personalization tag for sender info will appear in the text block as either %SENDER-INFO% or %SENDER-INFO-SINGLELINE%.
   
   Your physical mailing address will replace the "Sender Info" personalization tag when you send the email. We recommend testing your email to see how it will appear.
9. Once both personalization tags are present, the default footer will disappear.

Using the Classic Designer:

1. Locate the campaign, automation email, or email template you want to edit.
2. Hover over the campaign design to the right and click "Edit design" to open the campaign designer. 
3. Drag a new text block to your layout. 
4. Click the new text block. A modal toolbar will appear. 
5. Click the "Personalize" button. A modal window will appear. 
6. Click the "Message" category on the left, then click the "Unsubscribe Link" option.
7. Another modal window will appear. Type the text that should contain the unsubscribe link, then click the "OK" button.
8. To insert your physical mailing address, follow steps 4-6 above. Then click either "List Sender Info (multiple lines)" or "List Sender Info (single line)." The personalization tag for sender info will appear in the text block: %SENDER-INFO%
9. Click out of the content block. The footer you created will replace the default footer. 

Your physical mailing address will replace the "Sender Info" personalization tag when you send the email to contacts.