We are sending newsletters incl. offers to our customers. We send them via a workflow as subscription type "Newsletter".
Some customers click on "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email, which unsubscribes them from ALL subscription types immediately.
Since they are our customers, they still need assistance from our agents. When our agents try to send them direct messages in Hubspot, they are not allowed to do this anymore, because the user unsubscribed (unintentionally) from all subscription types.
First solution was: Sending emails without "unsubscribe" and only "manage preferences", but users tend to unsubscribe still from all subscriptions types, because they dont know what each type is for.
Second solution was (from a community post here): Manipulate the unsubscribe-link in the footer, so they land on a dedicated page which triggers a workflow and only unsubscribes them from the type "Newsletter". This didnt work, because Hubspot does not allow to send emails without an unsubscribe-link (due to data protection settings in the EU, which we do not want to turn off).
Third solution was: If a customer unsubscribes from all subscription types, a workflow resubscribes them at least for direct messages. This is prevented by hubspot mechanism. A workflow cannot resubscribe a customer, when the user manually unsubscribed before. ("ILLEGAL_RESUBSCRIPTION")
Fourth solution (which works): An active lists, which filters for "customers" and unsubscribed from direct messages, and I check it once a week for entries and manually resubscribe (this is possible) each one of them to direct messages. I feel a bit stupid doing it that way, but I have not found another solution for this issue.
First solution was: Sending emails without "unsubscribe" and only "manage preferences", but users tend to unsubscribe still from all subscriptions types, because they dont know what each type is for.
... and that's exactly where you have options to change this behavior: simply provide descriptive explanations of what each subscription type entails and what contacts will not receive anymore if they unsubscribe.
The default subscriptions are typically bad and companies tend to not spend much time on optimizing them. A lot of HubSpot customers also create too many subscription types.
Spend some time on making this the best possible version of this page and you'll see unsubscribe numbers go down (unsubscribed from all email).
Of course people will unsubscribe if they see ticked boxes / toggles for communication they can't make sense of.
That + your fourth approach.
Best regards!
Karsten Köhler HubSpot Freelancer | RevOps & CRM Consultant | Community Hall of Famer
Since it's in private beta, I can't share the details here publicly.
If you don't have access to this yet, you can either reach out to your customer success manager and ask to be ungated or you need to be patient for a bit longer.
Karsten Köhler HubSpot Freelancer | RevOps & CRM Consultant | Community Hall of Famer
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.
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.
First solution was: Sending emails without "unsubscribe" and only "manage preferences", but users tend to unsubscribe still from all subscriptions types, because they dont know what each type is for.
... and that's exactly where you have options to change this behavior: simply provide descriptive explanations of what each subscription type entails and what contacts will not receive anymore if they unsubscribe.
The default subscriptions are typically bad and companies tend to not spend much time on optimizing them. A lot of HubSpot customers also create too many subscription types.
Spend some time on making this the best possible version of this page and you'll see unsubscribe numbers go down (unsubscribed from all email).
Of course people will unsubscribe if they see ticked boxes / toggles for communication they can't make sense of.
That + your fourth approach.
Best regards!
Karsten Köhler HubSpot Freelancer | RevOps & CRM Consultant | Community Hall of Famer
Hi Karsten, I've read some of your other posts already regarding this issue. Very helpful and gave much more insight on those subscriptions! Thank you for this.
We already shrinked down the list to two subscription types. "Newsletter" and "Blog-Articles". The other ones "direct messages" and "communication with customer services" cannot (or shouldn't?) be deleted, since they are system defaults, as far as I understood.
We enhanced the description already, because I thought, a user most likely does not understand exactly which type of subscription he unsubs for. This might bring down the numbers, but I know users and they usally just tick the lowest box "unsubscribe from all".
We will monitor this, but a great improvement would be to offer us an option for an unsubscribe link, specific for the subscription type we set up the automation for.
Since it's in private beta, I can't share the details here publicly.
If you don't have access to this yet, you can either reach out to your customer success manager and ask to be ungated or you need to be patient for a bit longer.
Karsten Köhler HubSpot Freelancer | RevOps & CRM Consultant | Community Hall of Famer
I’d also love to connect you with some of our Top Experts. @danmoyle, @karstenkoehler and @VLarue, do you have any any tips or insights for @Clubman, please?
Have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much! Bérangère
Loop Marketing is a new four-stage approach that combines AI efficiency and human authenticity to drive growth.
