Opt-Outs and Suppression
Suppression is the list of people who must not be messaged. Getting it right is both a legal obligation and what keeps your sending numbers usable.
Where to find it
Architect Panel → Communication:
- Message Opt-Outs — the suppression list
- Received Messages — where stop requests arrive
- Message Log — proof that a suppressed send was not made
Stop requests are automatic
An inbound message saying STOP adds the number to suppression without anyone intervening. That happens whether or not you have configured anything else about inbound messaging — it is not something you have to remember to build.
Suppression is separate from your contact data, deliberately
The list does not live on the contact record. Deleting a contact and re-importing them does not resurrect consent, and it must not.
Re-messaging somebody who opted out because a spreadsheet was re-imported is the classic way an organisation ends up explaining itself to a regulator, and it is entirely avoidable — the suppression list survives whatever happens to your contact records.
Check at send, not when building the audience
Suppression is applied at the moment of sending. You do not need to filter your audience by hand, and you should not try: a campaign audience built with its own exclusion logic will eventually diverge from the real list, and it will diverge silently.
Transactional versus marketing
The rules differ and so should your handling. A two-factor code to somebody who opted out of marketing is normally legitimate; a promotion is not.
Be honest about which you are sending. A message described internally as a "service notification" that exists to encourage somebody to buy something is marketing, and calling it something else in a meeting does not change that.
Review the list
Look at opt-out volumes occasionally. A rise is telling you something about the messages being sent — usually frequency, sometimes tone — and it is far cheaper to learn that from your own list than from a complaint.
Worked example
A housing team runs a rent reminder campaign monthly. Opt-outs rise sharply in month three. The list shows they cluster among tenants already in arrears who were also receiving arrears letters — three contacts a month about the same thing. Reducing the campaign to those not already in an arrears process cut opt-outs to near zero and improved response.
Recommendations
- Never filter suppression by hand. Let the send do it.
- Do not import over the suppression list. It exists to survive imports.
- Separate transactional and marketing sends so consent can be handled differently and honestly.
- Watch the opt-out rate as a quality signal, not just a compliance one.