Test Your Solution

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Publish and test your preference center solution.
  
• Troubleshoot any issues and follow best practices.
  

Publish and Test

Once the pages have been created and coded according to project requirements, it’s time to publish your custom preference center and view it on various platforms and devices. 

Since Terry is happy with how the page looks, it’s time to test the functionality using a test email and the CloudPagesURL links. Here are the Cumulus examples.

• Unsubscribe: href=%%=CloudPagesURL(44609)=%%
  
• Manage Preferences: href=%%=CloudPagesURL(44594)=%%
  

Let’s review the tests Terry conducts in the Cumulus account. 

1. Add the Manage Preference link to a test email for a subscriber with no current preferences.
   

1. Click Manage Preferences and add information into contact details.
   
2. Click Update Preferences.
   
3. Check Cumulus Customer Data Extension for updates.
   

2. Add the Manage Preference link to a test email from a subscriber with existing preferences.
   

1. Click Manage Preferences and change information into contact details.
   
2. Click Update Preferences.
   
3. Check Cumulus Customer Data Extension for updates.
   

3. Add the Unsubscribe link and Manage Preferences to a test email for a subscriber who is currently active.
   

1. Click Unsubscribe.
   
2. Check All Subscribers to confirm subscriber status has been updated to inactive.
   
3. Go back to the same email and click Manage Preferences.
   
4. Review preference center to confirm all preferences for communications have been removed.
   
5. Update communication preference to now receive the weekly news.
   
6. Click Update Preferences.
   
7. Check Cumulus Customer Data Extension for updates.
   
8. Check All Subscribers to confirm subscribe status has been updated to active.
   

Things to Look For:

• Is the customer information pulling in from your email correctly?
  
• Are your pages rendering OK in various browsers and devices?
  
• Is the customer’s information being updated in the associated data extension?
  
• Is the customer’s subscriber status being updated to unsubscribe?
  
• Do all the buttons work as expected?
  
• Are there any grammatical or spelling errors on the page copy?
  

Implement the Solution

Now that Terry is confident with the solution, they are ready to update the pages with the final code from Content Builder and then republish. The last step Terry needs to complete is to update the main Cumulus email footer template with the new links and click Save. 

Not sure of how to update footers? Review the help topic, Implement Header and Footer Rules.

With that, the project is complete and Cumulus customers can share their preferences! The marketing team is already discussing future enhancements with a plan for a preference management email campaign to promote updates on a regular basis. 

Tips for a Trouble-Free Preference Center

Finally, let’s review some tips for developing your own preference center.

• While we used AMPscript for this sample solution, you can also use Server-Side JavaScript to build a custom preference center.
  
• If you are using client-side Javascript and code in Content Builder, the script tag can get stripped. To avoid this you can Replace your opening script tag <script> with some AMPscript %%=Concat('<scr','ipt>')=%%.
  
• If you get a general 500 error after publishing, you may have issues with your AMPscript. Review your code and republish.
  
• Regularly review your data collection and be sure all data points are being used and preferences are being honored.
  
• Blueprints should be updated as the solution is completed.
  
• Store your solution documents in a central location so they can be accessed by your team for future reference.
  

Need assistance? Reach out to your account executive to discuss having Services or a partner help with your implementation.

Now that you have all the steps needed to create a preference center, go ahead and start building your own custom solution. Just remember, if you collect it—be sure to honor it! 

Resources

• Salesforce Developer: Create a Custom Profile Center with AMPscript
  
• Salesforce Developer: Server-Side JavaScript
  
• Salesforce Help: Implement Header and Footer Rules