Resubscribing a blocked contact

A blocked contact is someone on your blacklist with the status "Hard bounce" or "Spam." Unlike contacts who are simply unsubscribed, you cannot manually remove blocked contacts from the blacklist yourself.

There are legitimate cases where a blocked contact wants to receive your emails again. Their email address may have been reactivated, or they changed their mind after submitting a complaint. The only correct way to add them again is when they actively re-subscribe themselves, which provides documented consent.

Before you begin

A re-subscription must always be initiated by the contact. Do not start this process on your own initiative. The contact must reach out to you directly and confirm that they want to receive your emails again.

Option 1: Re-subscribe via an existing opt-in form

If you already have a Flexmail opt-in form embedded on your website, ask the contact to visit that page and subscribe. As soon as they complete the double opt-in, Flexmail automatically moves the contact from the blacklist to confirmed contacts. You do not need to do anything yourself.

Option 2: Create a specific opt-in form for the re-subscription

If you do not have an opt-in form available, or if you want to handle this in a more controlled way, create a specific form and share the link directly with the contact. They complete it themselves, confirm by email and are back in your active database.

Part 1: Create the opt-in form

1. Go to Forms, then to Opt-in forms.
2. Click Create new form.
3. Name the opt-in form and select the language.
4. Add the required fields, at least the email address field.
5. In the form settings, choose the sender details for the confirmation email and optionally assign interests.
6. Click Save form.

After you create the opt-in form, you can find the HTML code via the Embed form button. You need this code to add the form to a page.

In the pop-up window, you see the HTML code you can copy and a description of the best way to place this code on the landing page.

Part 2: Create a landing page to share

After creating the opt-in form, you can create a landing page to insert the form into. You can create a landing page via Automation > Landing pages.

1. Click Create new landing page.

2. It is important to select the HTML editor here, because you need to add the opt-in form.

   

3. Add text and optionally an image or logo to this page. Where you want to place the form, paste the HTML code you saved earlier when creating the opt-in form.

   

4. Save the first part under the head section of your HTML code. Add the second part of the code, the iframe, to the body section where the form should appear. Click Update to apply the changes.

   

5. You will not see the form in the editor view, but when you open the web version of the landing page, you see the full page with the form.

You can use the link at the top of the web version to let contacts re-subscribe to the database.

What happens next

When the contact completes the form, they receive a confirmation email. As soon as they click the confirmation link, they are moved from the blacklist back to your confirmed contacts. Their previous blacklist status is replaced by a new confirmed status.

Unsubscribing or blocking does not change a contact's open tracking consent. If a contact re-subscribes via an opt-in form with the checkbox for open tracking, their choice can change, including from "No" to "Yes", after they confirm their subscription.

Common mistakes to avoid

Manually removing the contact from the blacklist without re-subscription

Blocked contacts (hard bounce and spam categories) cannot be manually removed from the blacklist in Flexmail. Even for unsubscribed contacts that can be removed manually, doing so without new consent is a GDPR risk. Always use the opt-in form process.

Starting the re-subscription on your own initiative

The contact must be the one who wants to re-subscribe. If you contact them to suggest they re-subscribe, you are already communicating with someone who has not given consent. This process only applies when a contact reaches out to you directly and asks to be added again.

GDPR considerations

The re-subscription process creates a new consent record with a new opt-in timestamp. This is the correct legal basis to resume email communication. Make sure you record the context, such as a note in your CRM that the contact called or visited in person and asked to be re-added, in case consent is ever disputed.

Next steps

• Read "The blacklist" for a complete overview of the blacklist and what you can do for each blacklist reason
• Read "Getting started with opt-in forms" for a full guide on setting up and customising opt-in forms