Topic Management FAQs - Online Help | Zoho Campaigns

Topics FAQ

Topic Management

1. What is a topic in Zoho Campaigns? 

Topics are used to categorize your contacts based on their preferences, enabling you to send the right emails to the right recipients.

To create a topic, follow the below steps:

1. Navigate to Settings (Gear icon at top-right).
2. Under the Contacts and Customization section click Manage Topics.
3. Click Add Topic at the top-right.
4. Give the topic a name and description.
5. Click Add.

You can configure multiple topics according to your requirements using the Topics feature in Zoho Campaigns. 

2. How do topics work with mailing lists? 

In Zoho Campaigns, topics help organize and categorize your email content. They work alongside mailing lists to enhance contact management and ensure compliance. When creating contacts, you must assign it to a topic, which defines the purpose of communication for that list.

3. How do you assign a topic to the existing contacts in Zoho Campaigns? 

1. Navigate to the Audience module.
2. Click Contacts.
3. Click the checkbox next to the email address of the contacts to select them.
4. Click the Actions button at the top.
5. Click Assign Topics.
6. Search for the topics to assign and select them. Choose the Lawful Basis.
7. Click Save.

To assign topics to a list:

1. Navigate to the Audience module.
2. Click Lists and click the desired list.
3. Under the Contacts tab, click the checkbox next to the email address of the contacts to select them.
4. Click the Actions button at the top.
5. Click Assign Topics.
6. Search for the topics to assign and select them. Choose the Lawful Basis.
7. Click Save.

Now the topic(s) will be associated to the contacts present in the list.

To assign topics to a segment:

1. Navigate to the Audience module.
2. Select Segments.
3. Under the Contacts tab, click the checkbox next to the email address of the contacts to select them.
4. Click the Actions button at the top.
5. Click Assign Topics.
6. Search for the topics to assign and select them. Choose the Lawful Basis.
7. Click Save.

This assigns topics to a segment.

4. Can topics be assigned to contacts during manual import? 

Yes. You can manually assign topics to contacts during the import process. Follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Audience and select Contacts.
2. Click the Import Contacts button at the top-right.
3. Choose the file to import.
4. Select the Subscription Type as Marketing; only then you can associate topics to the contacts you're importing.
5. Choose the topic(s) and select a value in the Lawful basis for communication field.
6. Then, proceed with the import process.

Now the topic(s) will be associated to the contacts in the import file once the import process is completed.

5. How do you export contacts that aren’t associated with any topics? 

To export contacts that aren't associated to any topics, you can achieve in two ways:
  1. By creating a custom view
  2. By creating a segment

A. By creating a custom view

Here are the steps to create a custom view and export the contacts:
  1. Navigate to Audience -> Contacts.
  2. Click the More Actions (3-dotted) button in the top bar.
  3. Click Create Custom View.
  4. Specify a name for the view.
  5. Search for 'topic' in the search criteria.
  6. Choose the Subscribed Criteria and select is empty as the modifier.

    Creating a custom view to export contacts not associated to any topics.

  7. Click Create View.
  8. Once done, go into this view. Select the contacts using checkbox present to the left of the Contact Email column.
  9. Click the Actions button at the top.
  10. Select Export Contacts. Specify a name for the file, choose its format, choose the fields to export, and click Export.
This exports contacts that aren’t associated with any topics.

B. By creating a segment

To create a segment to find contacts not associated to any topics, you will follow a similar process:
  1. Navigate to Audience -> Segments.
  2. Click the Create New button at the top-right.
  3. Specify a name for the segment at the top-left.
  4. Choose the criteria as Subscribed Topics is empty.

    Creating a segment to find contacts with no topics.

  5. Click the Preview and Save button at the top-right. Wait for the contacts to get fetched.
  6. Click Save Segment.
  7. Once done, go into this segment and click the Contacts tab.
  8. Select the contacts using the checkbox present to the left of the Contact Email column.
  9. Click Actions at the top.
  10. Click Export Contacts. Specify a name for the file, choose its format, choose the fields to export, and click Export.

6. How do you associate topics with contacts through signup forms? 

You can associate topics to signup forms either when you're creating them or by editing them. The steps to associate topics to signup form are:

1. Navigate to the Audience module.
2. Click Forms.
3. Click the Create New button at the top-right to create a new form.
4. In the Topics field, you can associate a topic. Only one topic can be associated.
4. If for an existing signup form, click the form. Click the Configuration tab and change the topic in the Topics field. 

You can assign multiple topics to a signup form only if it's a Long Form template.

1. Navigate to the Contacts module.
2. Select Signup Forms.
3. Open the desired form or create a new long-form signup form.
4. In the designing phase of the form, click the Topics section on the left side.
5. If a pop-up appears asking to enable multiple topic association, click Go Ahead.
6. Drag the desired topics from the left side onto the form template and save your changes.

You can also assign topics to contacts through a signup form using workflow automation. You can do this in the Automation section by creating a workflow.

When you're creating a workflow, you need to ensure that you're:
  • Selecting the Form Submission component from the Trigger section. Configure this component by selecting the desired signup forms.
  • Selecting the Subscription Management component from the Actions section. Configure this component by selecting the desired topics.

7. How do you check what topic is assigned to a contact? 

1. Navigate to the Audience module.
2. Click Contacts.
3. Search for the contact through the Search icon.
4. Once the contact appears, click the contact to open its detail view.
5. Click the Associations tab at the top.
6. Under the Topics sub-tab you can find all the topics associated for this contact.

This shows you what topic(s) are assigned to a contact.

8. How can a recipient select the topics they want to receive campaigns from? 

After receiving email campaigns, recipients can click the Manage Preferences option to update their preferences. From there, they can view and choose from all of the topics and products you offer.

To check how this page would appear for your recipients and edit it:

1. Navigate to Settings → Contacts and Customization → Signup Pages and Emails. 
2. In the left side, under the Topics section, click the Preference Management option.
3. Click Edit at the top-right to customize it per your needs.
4. Click Save and Close at the top-right.

Ensure you've included the Contact Preference merge tag in your email campaigns (if it isn’t already available) so your contacts can subscribe to the desired topics by clicking the merge tag. By default it will be available in the pre-designed templates.

9. If a contact unsubscribes from a topic, will they be unsubscribed from the entire organization? 

No. When a contact unsubscribes from a topic, they’re only removed from that specific topic, not from the entire organization.

10. How do you remove a topic from a contact? 

1. Navigate to the Audience module.
2. Click Contacts.
3. Select the contacts using checkbox present to the left of their email address.
4. Click the Actions button at the top.
5. Click Remove Topics.
6. Select the topics that you want to remove.
7. Click Save.

The topics should now be removed from a contact.

11. Why do you see contacts associated with the Marketing topic in the workflow component when you’ve associated them with a different topic? 

By default, all of the contacts will be associated with the default topic, Marketing. It will be listed at the top in the Subscription Management action component followed by the other topics that you've configured and selected.

12. Is there a limit to the number of topics that can be created?

No, there is no limit to the number of topics you can create. You can create any number of topics in your Zoho Campaigns organization.

13. What will happen when a user deletes all topics except for the default topic? 

You cannot delete a topic if it is associated to email campaigns, signup forms, workflows, and segments. Any draft campaigns and forms have to be edited and the topic need to be removed. Segments also have to be edited and active workflows need to be modified to remove the topic before you can delete it. If this is satisfied, and if you delete all the topics except the default Marketing topic, then the deleted topics would be dissociated from the contacts.

14. What will happen when the user adds additional topics after the implementation of the default topic? 

The additional topics will be added along with the default topic. Other changes include:
  • If the contacts choose to receive certain email campaigns on certain topics, they can do so under Manage Preferences.  
  • Email campaigns will be sent to contacts associated with the selected topic.
  • A mailing list can contain contacts mapped to different topics.

15. How will Manage Preferences be handled when the default topic is enabled? 

We will show the default topic, Marketing, as an option for the contacts under Manage Preferences. If they uncheck that option, they'll be unsubscribed from the organization and moved to the Unsubscribed registry. When contacts choose to unsubscribe from the default topic, they’ll be unsubscribed from the organization. Note that, this is applicable only if the Marketing topic is alone configured in your Zoho Campaigns organization or if the contacts are subscribed to this topic alone.

If you want to give your contacts more choices and reduce unsubscribes, you can configure different topics relevant to your organization. If your contacts choose to receive certain email campaigns on certain topics, they can do so under Manage Preferences and uncheck the topics they’re not interested in instead of unsubscribing from all emails from your organization.

16. Why are topics associated with contacts instead of mailing lists? 

Each contact may have multiple preferences. This means that associating a contact with relevant topics is an easier and more efficient way of organizing and storing the contact preferences.

If your organization doesn’t require multiple topics as you focus solely on sending generic email marketing campaigns or for any other reason, you can simply use the default topic. 

17. Can you use an API to associate topics with a contact? 

Yes, you can associate topics with contacts using API. With the help of the Contact Subscribe API, you’ll be able to associate a topic to a contact. For associating multiple topics to a particular contact, the topic_id parameter will accept multiple topic IDs separated by a comma.

18. Can I rename a topic after it has been created?

Yes, you can rename a topic even after it has been created. To do that, you can go to Settings -> Contacts and Customization -> Topics -> click on a topic to edit it -> change the name of the topic -> click the Update button.