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The Update Subscription Status node changes a contact’s email subscription state as they pass through a workflow. This node enforces strict transition rules to protect deliverability and comply with email regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR. Only safe transitions are allowed. The node never changes contacts who bounced, complained, or were graymailed.

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Configuration

Select one of three target statuses:

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Update to “Subscribed”

Moves the contact to Subscribed status. This transition is only allowed when the contact’s current status is No subscription status. Turn on Re-subscribe contacts to also move Unsubscribed contacts to Subscribed. Only use this when contacts have explicitly opted back in to receiving emails. Common use cases:
  • Automatically subscribing new leads from form submissions who arrive without a subscription status
  • Subscribing CRM-synced contacts that were imported without a status
  • Adding trial signups or event registrants to email campaigns

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Update to “No subscription status”

Moves the contact to No subscription status. This transition is only allowed when the contact’s current status is Subscribed. Common use cases:
  • Temporarily suppressing internal or test accounts from campaigns without unsubscribing them
  • Preventing unqualified leads from receiving emails until they meet criteria
  • Cleaning up incorrectly marked imported contacts

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Update to “Unsubscribed”

Moves the contact to Unsubscribed status. This transition is allowed when the contact’s current status is Subscribed or No subscription status. Only use this option when the contact explicitly opted out. To stop emailing a contact for any other reason, use No subscription status instead. Common use cases:
  • Honoring opt-out requests captured outside of Conversion, such as a form field or a CRM update
  • Unsubscribing contacts who ask to stop all contact through another channel, such as sales or support
Unsubscribed contacts can only be re-subscribed by a workflow with Re-subscribe contacts turned on, or manually in the contact record. Only unsubscribe contacts when you intend them to stop receiving marketing emails.

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Decision logic

The full transition matrix:

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Why these restrictions exist

The node intentionally prevents certain transitions to protect you and your recipients:
  • Deliverability protection. Re-sending to bounced email addresses damages your sender reputation and can cause your domain to be blocklisted. Bounced contacts must remain in their current state.
  • Compliance enforcement. Resubscribing contacts who explicitly unsubscribed violates CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and other email regulations unless they opted back in. By default, automation cannot override an unsubscribe.
  • Data integrity. Restricting transitions to safe paths maintains a clean, auditable opt-in history. If you need to manually override a contact’s status (e.g., after a direct request), do so in the contact record directly for full accountability.
Manual overrides for Bounced contacts are only available directly in the contact record. This is by design. Forcing these changes to be manual ensures intentionality and creates an audit trail.

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Behavior

  • The node executes once per contact as they pass through.
  • If the transition is blocked (e.g., attempting to subscribe a bounced contact), the node is silently skipped and the contact advances to the next step.
  • The subscription status is updated before the contact advances to the next node.
  • A status change made by this node fires the Contact subscription status changes trigger, the same as a change made in the contact record.