topic Re: Email Automation Sending to the Wrong Email? in Email Deliverability

Email Automation Sending to the Wrong Email?

CJuarez4 — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 14:07:50 GMT

Hello Hubpost Community!

On my website (not hosted by Hubspot) I have a form that asks for first name, last name, and email. It's set as "Fill Out the form and Receive Your Free Guide."

I have an email automation that then sends every form submission individual an email with the copy of the guide . One of my clients filled out the form with their personal email, and the automated email went to their "work email" which is their "primary" email in hubspot. Is there a workaround for this? I didn't see anything within the actual automation, the only option I saw was for the form submission to update that individual's email to the primary, which I wouldn't want to do as client's tend to have several emails and it would turn into a duplicate issue. The solutions I've received from Hubspot's co-pilot ust aren't fesable (ex: create a new contact for the contact). ANy insights would be appreciated if anyone has had a similar issue!

Re: Email Automation Sending to the Wrong Email?

karstenkoehler — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 14:24:55 GMT

Hi @CJuarez4,

If you have previously merged records, then HubSpot will treat multiple email addresses as one contact, and one must be the primary one. In such a case, HubSpot would attribute a form submission to a contact record and an email would go to the primary contact, yes. There isn't any way to force HubSpot to not use the primary address that I'm aware of.

This might be possible through custom code actions in HubSpot workflows, but would require an Operations Hub Professional or Enterprise subscription.

The best solution is really to not merge those contacts and to associate them instead, if that's the behavior you're looking for: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/records/associate-records

Best regards

Re: Email Automation Sending to the Wrong Email?

ArisudanTiwari — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 18:50:36 GMT

Hi @CJuarez4 ,

Yes, this is a known limitation in HubSpot's default behavior. When a contact has multiple email addresses (especially due to a merge), HubSpot always sends marketing emails to the primary email address on the contact record, regardless of which email was submitted on a form.

As @karstenkoehler mentioned, there isn’t a built-in way to override this behavior in standard Marketing Hub automation.

Here are a few workarounds that might help:

Custom Code (with Operations Hub Pro/Enterprise): If you have access to Operations Hub Pro or Enterprise, you can use custom code in workflows to send emails to the address submitted on the form, instead of always using the primary email.
Don’t Merge Contacts with Different Emails: If people often use different emails, it might be better not to merge their records. That way, each email stays with its own contact, and HubSpot can send emails to the right address.
Use External Tools: If you need more flexibility, you could use an external form handler or automation tool (like Zapier or Make) to control exactly where emails go. This is a bit more technical, though.

Karsten’s advice on keeping emails unmerged unless necessary is solid, especially if your use case relies on sending communications to the exact address provided at the time of form submission.

If you want help with setting up custom code or want to know if upgrading to Operations Hub is worth it, just let me know!