Subscription types for email sends

[JHayes30]

I need help undersstanding the "subscription type" setting from the "settings" section for an email send. We want to send the majority of our marketing emails to ALL opted-in contacts.

I know it's required to select a "subscriptions type" before sending an email. If I select "newsletters," for example, will it only send to contacts who are opted into this in their subscription preferences?

Or will it send the email to anyone who's opted into marketing emails? 

• I'm wondering if we need to add a subscription drop-down that will pull in all marketing opted-in contacts. 

Appreciate any help / guidance! 

[JHayes30]

Thank you! Super helpful @karstenkoehler. 

One of our subscription settings, "Service Updates," is the default subscription type in HubSpot. However, I'm not able to select it for marketing emails when I try to choose it from the subscription type dropdown.

Any ideas why?

[karstenkoehler]

@JHayes30 this is a default subscription type as part of the service hub, it can't be used for marketing email sending:

[JHayes30]

Ah got it. Going to remove it as an option since we don't have Service Hub. Thanks again! 

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @JHayes30,

HubSpot documents consent in separate subscription types which are generally a tool to allow contacts to choose what they would like to receive and what not to receive: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/marketing-email/set-up-email-subscription-types

HubSpot does not have a concept of a general marketing consent. There is no single setting on a contact record that would be equivalent to a contact being generally opted into marketing. You would have to make sure that your contact has a documented opt-in for all marketing-related subscription types, if that's what you want to achieve. For example, if you have a marketing information subscription and a newsletter subscription and if someone who provides marketing information consent should also receive the newsletter, you'd have to set up workflow which provides the latter when the former is checked on a form: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/records/manage-your-subscription-preferences-and-types#update-the-subs...

All this is to make sure that when a contact asks why they're receiving a certain type of email, you can look up on their contact record what they're opted into and which explanation you gave for that opt-in.

In your specific case, you should make sure that contacts who provided general marketing consent are also opted into the newsletter subscription – only if that is compliant with legislation where you're doing business of course. My reply does not constitute legal advice and you should always confirm with your legal team.

You also asked about the exact behavior when choosing a subscription type. With the GDPR settings (specifically the 'Legal basis required' setting) disabled, HubSpot will allow the send to everyone who is not opted out of that subscription type. With the 'Legal basis required' setting enabled, HubSpot will require an opt-in of the contact into the chosen subscription type: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/privacy-and-consent/how-do-i-turn-on-gdpr-functionality-in-my-hubspot-...

Have a look at the documentation and let me know if you have any follow-up questions!