The Unsubscribed (Do Not Contact) list

The Unsubscribed list is Distro's Do Not Contact list. You'll find it under People → Unsubscribed. Every email address and domain on it is skipped by all your campaigns, follow-ups, Email + LinkedIn campaign emails and Compose emails, and every send is checked against the list right before it goes out.

People are added automatically when they unsubscribe, ask to be removed or bounce. You can add anyone yourself, including a whole domain.

Who ends up on the list

Distro doesn't receive spam complaint reports from Gmail. If someone complains to you directly, add them with the Spam complaint reason. More on complaints: Handling spam complaints.

When someone is added automatically, every active campaign stops for them straight away, and their contact shows as Unsubscribed or Bounced.

What the list blocks

• All email from Distro to that address: every campaign and follow-up, the email steps of Email + LinkedIn campaigns, and Compose emails, from every sender you've connected.
• The whole domain, for domain entries: every address ending in that domain.
• Future campaigns: blocked people are left out when you choose recipients.
• Emails already scheduled: they are checked again right before sending, so a follow-up planned before the block is not sent.

The list covers your whole Outreach workspace, not one product or one campaign.

If the person is in an Email + LinkedIn campaign, an unsubscribe also marks them as do-not-contact on every channel of that campaign. The list doesn't cover LinkedIn-only campaigns: to stop a LinkedIn prospect, mark them Do not contact on the LinkedIn prospects tab.

Block an address or a domain

1. Open People in the Outreach menu and go to the Unsubscribed tab.
2. Click Block address.
3. Under Block a, choose Single email address or Whole domain.
4. Enter the address (person@example.com) or the domain (example.com).
5. Pick a Reason: They asked not to be contacted, Unsubscribed elsewhere, Address bounces, Spam complaint or Invalid address.
6. Click Block.

Distro confirms how many of your existing contacts are affected, for example "Added. 3 existing contact(s) will no longer be emailed." Those contacts are blocked immediately.

Other ways to add people:

• On your email contacts (the Email contacts tab if you also use LinkedIn), tick people and click Unsubscribe.
• On a company's page, use Never email this domain.

Offer an unsubscribe link

Each campaign has an Unsubscribe link setting. It is off unless you turn it on, in email campaigns, Compose emails and Email + LinkedIn campaigns alike. When on, Distro adds a short unsubscribe line to the end of every email in the campaign, plus the header that lets mail apps show their own one-click unsubscribe. You can also place the link yourself with {{ system.unsubscribe_url }}.

With the link off, people who reply asking to be removed are still added when Distro recognises the request. The rules about unsubscribe links differ by country and by who you email, so check your own obligations. Unsubscribes, Do Not Contact, and when to stop contacting someone covers good practice.

Resubscribe someone

Only do this when the person clearly asked to hear from you again.

1. On the Unsubscribed tab, find the address (the search box helps).
2. Open its ⋮ menu and choose Resubscribe….
3. Choose the Legal basis: They gave explicit consent, Legitimate interest (documented) or Existing contract / customer.
4. Under What happened?, describe it, for example "Replied on 3 Sep asking to be added back."
5. Tick I confirm this person asked to be contacted again and click Resubscribe.

The resubscription is logged with your name and reason, and the contact can be emailed again. Distro never resubscribes anyone on its own: not after an open, a click, a reply or an import.

Why keep unsubscribed people at all?

It can be tempting to delete people who opted out. Keeping them is what protects you: if the same address turns up in a future import, Distro already knows not to email it.