For context: We are new users, currently on the Starter Customer Platform.
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Question: How can we create an unsubscribe link for a specific subscription type in the footer of our emails?
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We have 4 subscription types setup, 2 of which are customer-specific (Account changes, support updates) and 2 which are available to BOTH customers and leads (Product Updates, General News & Marketing).
The ONLY options we can see in the footer currently are UNSUBSCRIBE and MANAGE PREFERENCES and BOTH.
The former (i.e. Unsubscribe) really is of no use given it subscribes contacts from ALL types. That’s rarely what anyone wants!
The second (i.e. Manage Preferences) is of no use because it displays ALL subscription types, highly inappropriate if the email is marketing-related being sent to a new prospect.
i.e. We do not want them opting into Account and or Support email subscription types!
On looking through the community, some others have kindly offered suggestions. However, these are often with little or no context as to the plan they are on (i.e features available) or steps on how to complete.
Surely… surely… what’s being asked ought to be a standard offering for ANY paid plan?
i.e. What really is the point of a marketing CRM that only permits unsubscription from everything OR offers email recipients the chance to subscribe to types that are entirely inappropriate—it renders the platform of little to no use to small businesses, otherwise.
Thank you to anyone who is able and willing to share advice on how we might overcome this. 
As HubSpot ‘newbies’ I apologise in advance if we are missing something entirely obvious.
Thanks.
Nigel.
Hi @NigelB,
Sadly, this is currently not possible – HubSpot does not offer any subscription-specific unsubscribe links out of the box.
Some users in Professional or Enterprise portals have solved this with custom page and a workflow, leveraging the “Manage messaging subscriptions” workflow action, see here: https://community.hubspot.com/t5/Email-Marketing-Tool/Create-unsubscribe-link-for-specific-subscription-types/m-p/713493
In a Starter subscription, this is unfortunately not possible. This is simply a limitation of that tier. (Don’t shoot the messenger.)
You can request better options in the HubSpot Ideas section of the community: https://community.hubspot.com/t5/HubSpot-Ideas/idb-p/HubSpot_Ideas – the product team reviews these based on their popularity.
Best regards
Thank you, Karsten, for such a swift reply. I appreciate it.
I am genuinely shocked and concerned about the decision to restrict a feature fundamentally engrained in the recipient’s right to choose.
So, we’re left with the option of either unsubscribing from everything OR allowing you to subscribe to things for which you have legally no basis. Really!???
This needs to be reviewed by HubSpot colleagues as a matter of urgency.
I’m not even sure this is in keeping with the ICO’s policy regarding GDPR and whether it follows legal best practices.
Are others facing the same issue?
It would be interesting to hear from other users whether this is a common problem with the HubSpot platform.
Best wishes,
Nigel.
@NigelB I disagree that this is limiting the recipient’s right to choose – in fact, I think that offering only an option to unsubscribe from a specific subscription type would be limiting.
Contacts already have the ability to unsubscribe from all emails AND / OR unsubscribing from specific subscription types, via a subscription type overview. If there are more subscription types shown than relevant for your contact, that would be a matter of setting up your HubSpot portal accordingly.
For Enterprise customers (yes, it’s up for discussion whether this should be an Enterprise feature), there is the ability to hide subscription types: Display different email subscriptions for different contacts
If subscription types should not be accessible to everyone, they very likely shouldn’t be subscription types to begin with (in at least a lot scenarios).
I’m not arguing that this feature wouldn’t be useful but the tools to be compliant, as far as I can tell, already exist.
Thanks, Karsten.
I think you have misunderstood my point.
I’m not advocating for JUST an option to unsubscribe from one subscription type. There absolutely should be this option alongside the others.
I am saying that the user currently ONLY has the option to unsubscribe from ALL or to see subscription types that they legally have no basis to subscribe to, and only because HubSpot is placing restrictions on this feature.
Our HubSpot portal is already set up 100% correctly, with appropriate subscription types as one would reasonably expect to see in any business: 2 for customers (only) and 2 additional generic types. This is completely normal business practice.
Currently, the alternative is to have subscription types that are only valid to new prospects. So, what subscription type should we use when we want to send Support Update Notifications or General Customer Pricing Updates?
It’s a feature that was consciously designed into HubSpot for the precise purpose we are using it for, it just turns out that if you want to use it properly, you have to pay more.
In summary, I find it genuinely difficult to comprehend that I would have to pay more just to make the software operate in a way that is consistent with GDPR and the intent of that legislation. It evidently does not currently unless you bend your business requirements to suit the limitations of the tier you happen to be paying for.
All that aside, I genuinely appreciate the time you’ve taken to give feedback, but it appears the only option is to pay considerably more for something I and I’m sure others assert ought to be on the free tier, never mind the paid tier we are currently on.
On that basis, we will have to look elsewhere for a solution to do this properly.
Best wishes,
N.
Hello @NigelB,
There’s an update here from the product team 
HubSpot Login and Sign in
Configure unsubscribe links in email
What is it?
Configurable unsubscribe links let marketers control how an unsubscribe action is applied in emails. Instead of always removing a contact from all email communications, you can configure the link so that it only unsubscribes them from the specific subscription type tied to that email.
Why does it matter?
Marketers can control the unsubscribe experience choosing for contacts to either opt out of just one category of communication while staying subscribed to others; it can minimize users unsubscribing from all communications unintentionally.
How does it work?
In the email editor, you’ll find new unsubscribe link options in the Email Content > Footer panel. Instead of only having “Unsubscribe from all” or “Manage preferences,” you can now select “Unsubscribe from this subscription type” as an option.
This can be configured per email campaign: you can choose to show subscription-specific unsubscribe links, general unsubscribe links, manage preferences links, or a combination of these options. The feature is available in default email footers and custom email footers.
When contacts click the subscription-specific unsubscribe link, they’ll be taken to a page that clearly shows which subscription type they’re unsubscribing from, with an option to access their full preference management page if they want to make additional changes.
Callouts:
- This feature still ensures compliance by offering a clear opt-out path on the confirmation page (a link to navigate to manage email preferences is still visible).
- Marketers can continue to decide on a per-campaign basis which unsubscribe experience makes the most sense for their campaign whether that’s all communications, subscription-specific, or using the Preferences link.
- If using custom templates in Design Manager for your emails, you can use HubL variable unsubscribe_single.
- This marketing email feature is available to Marketing Hub Pro+ customers.
- KB article password: MarketingEmail_253911
Who gets it?
Marketing Pro, Marketing Enterprise
Learn more
Learn more on the Knowledge Base
Best regards!