Consent groups let you define specific communication topics, such as "Newsletter", "Promotional offers", or "Product updates", so contacts can choose exactly what they want to receive from you, rather than simply subscribing or unsubscribing from all your emails at once.

For example, a contact who enjoys your product updates but has no interest in promotional offers can stay opted in to one and opt out of the other, without unsubscribing from you entirely.

Good to know

• A contact can belong to multiple consent groups at the same time.
• When a contact clicks the 1-click unsubscribe link in an email header, they are removed only from the consent group(s) targeted by that campaign, not unsubscribed globally.
• You can manage your contact's preferences from their details page.
• Consent groups are accessible via API. To learn more, check our API documentation.

Why use consent groups?

Managing consent at the topic level gives both you and your contacts more flexibility and control.

• Reduce unsubscribes: Contacts who feel in control of what they receive are less likely to unsubscribe completely.
• Improve engagement: Sending only what contacts care about leads to better open and click rates.
• Stay compliant: Capture and store granular consent records to meet GDPR, CASL, and other data privacy regulations.
• Build trust: Giving contacts transparency and control over their preferences strengthens your sender reputation.

Consent groups are different from lists: lists group contacts for sending purposes, while consent groups track what each contact has agreed to receive. To learn more, check our dedicated article Create folders and lists to organize your contacts.

Activate the consent groups feature

Before creating consent groups, you need to activate the feature from your account settings.

1. Click the account dropdown and select Settings > Contacts > Consent groups.
2. Activate consent groups.
   

Create a consent group

Create one consent group per communication topic to clearly track what each contact has agreed to receive.

1. Go to CRM > Contacts > Consent groups.
2. Click + Create consent groups.
3. Define the topic of the consent group:
   1. Enter a consent group name. For example, "Newsletter" or "Promotional offers".
   2. (Optional) Add a Description to clarify what type of communication this group covers. You can add this description in your profile update form.
      
4. Click Continue.

5. Define how contacts will be added to this group. The following table describes how each sign-up mode works:

   Sign-up mode	How it works
   Manual sign-up only	New contacts join this group if they select it on your sign-up form. Existing contacts join this group when they select it on your profile update form or you can also add them manually, if you have their consent.
   Automatic and manual sign-up	New contacts automatically join this group when they subscribe via a sign-up form or when you create their records in Brevo, if you have their consent. Existing contacts join this group when they select it on your profile update form or you can also add them manually, if you have their consent.

6. Click Continue.
7. (Optional) Select one or several lists to add the corresponding contacts to your consent group.
8. Check the I confirm that these contacts have consented to receive the type of communication my organization will send with this new consent group box.
9. Click Continue.
10. Review the group details, sign-up mode and number of contacts added to this group and click Create consent group.

You can now add the consent groups to your sign-up forms and profile update forms to let your contacts manage their preferences.

➡️ To learn more, check our dedicated articles Create a sign-up form in Brevo and Update your contacts details and preferences (profile update form).

Manually add contacts to a consent group

Your contacts are added to a consent group depending on the sign-up mode you've selected when creating the group, but you can also manually add contacts to a consent group, if your have their consent.

1. Go to CRM > Contacts.
2. Select the contacts you want to add to a consent group:
   
   1. To select multiple individual contacts, select the checkboxes next to the contacts.
   2. To select all of the contacts on your current page, select the checkbox at the top left of the table.
   3. To select all the contacts on your current list or database, select the checkbox at the top left of the table and click Select all contacts.
3. Click More actions > Add to consent group.
   
4. Select the consent group(s) you want to add your contacts to, or create a new one.
5. Check the I confirm that the contacts in this list have consented to receive the type of communication my organization will send with this new consent group box.
6. Click Add contacts.

Use a consent group in a campaign or automation

When creating an email campaign or sending an email via an automation, you can target one or more consent groups to make sure your message only reaches contacts who have opted in to that topic.

In an email campaign

1. Open or create your email campaign.
2. In the Recipients section, select the consent group(s) you want to target.
   You can then filter recipients by list, segment, or individual contacts.
   
3. Complete the creation of your campaign and send it as usual.

➡️ To learn more, check our dedicated article Create and send an email campaign.

In an automation

1. Open or create your automation workflow.
2. Add or open a Send an email action.
3. In the Consent groups section of the action, select the consent group(s) you want to target.
   
4. Save your action and activate the workflow as usual.

➡️ To learn more, check our dedicated article Send an email from an automation.

Manage your consent groups

You can view all existing groups, see how many contacts belong to each, and edit or delete groups.

1. Go to CRM > Contacts > Consent groups.
2. You can:
   1. Click the consent group name to open it and see which contacts are part of this group.
   2. Click the three-dot icon next to the consent group to edit or delete it.
      

⏭️ What's next?

• Guidelines for a GDPR-compliant sign-up form
• Build a legitimate contacts database for optimal deliverability and compliance

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