Last updated: August 17, 2022
When you're using marketing contacts, every newly created contact in your HubSpot account will have a marketing contact status.
- Marketing contacts will count towards your contact tier. HubSpot email marketing and ad targeting tools can work with these contacts.
- Non-marketing contacts will not count towards your contact tier. HubSpot email marketing and ad targeting tools will not work with these contacts.
Once you gain access to marketing contacts, your existing contacts will be non-marketing by default. For newly created contacts, HubSpot tools that create contacts will automatically have default values for the Marketing contact status property. For some of these tools, you can set the default value you want.
Default marketing contact statuses for each tool
Defaults that cannot be customized
The default value set in the Marketing contact status property for these tools cannot be changed.
By default, the following contact records will be initially set as Non-marketing:
- Contacts created in a multiple object import
- Contacts created in the HubSpot mobile app
- Contacts created through logging one-to-one emails
- Contacts created through emails sent to a connected team email
- Contacts created through document opens
- Contacts created in the meetings tool through using a meetings link
- Contacts created through HubSpot email extensions: Chrome, Outlook, and Office 365
If you want to market to these contacts, you can set them as marketing after they are created.
Defaults that can be customized
The default value set in the Marketing contact status property for these tools can be changed.
- The import tool by default will set contacts as Non-marketing. For single object imports, you can choose to set contacts as marketing.
- The chatflows tool, both live chats and bots, by default will set contacts as Non-marketing.
- The HubSpot forms tool by default will set contacts as Marketing.
- Non-HubSpot forms by default will set contacts as Marketing.
- Any integration or API by default will set contacts as Non-marketing.
Learn how to update these default marketing contact statuses for these tools.
Set default marketing contact status
Contacts created from single object imports
When creating contacts via a single object import, you can set the contacts in the file as marketing contacts or non-marketing contacts. In the Details step:
- To set the contacts in the import file as marketing contacts, select the Set all contacts as marketing contacts checkbox. Their Marketing contact status property will be set as Marketing contact.
- To set the contacts in the import file as non-marketing contacts, leave the Set all contacts as marketing contacts checkbox blank. Their Marketing contact status property will be set as Non-marketing.
Contacts created from chatflows
When you create a chatflow, you are creating a live chat or a bot for your website or Facebook messenger. When a visitor chats with your business, a contact record can sometimes be created when they are new to your business.
For each live chat or bot, you can set the default marketing contact status of a newly created contact that submits to a form.
- In your HubSpot account, navigate to Conversations > Chatflows.
- Click the chatflow you want to set the default for.
- In the left sidebar menu, click Options.
- In the Marketing contacts section, the Marketing Contacts switch is toggled off by default. If you want contacts created from this chatflow to be set as marketing contacts, click to toggle the switch on.
- Click Save.
Contacts created from forms
When a visitor submits to a HubSpot form and they are new to your business, they will be created as a new contact record. For each HubSpot form, you can set the default marketing contact status of contacts that submit a form.
Please note: when the setting is turned on, any existing non-marketing contact that submits a HubSpot form will also be updated to a marketing contact, regardless of how they were originally created.
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In your HubSpot account, navigate to Marketing > Lead Capture > Forms.
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Click the form you want to set the default for. If it's a live form, once you click the form, click Edit in the upper right.
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Click the Options tab.
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The Set contacts created as marketing contacts switch is toggled on by default. If you want contacts created from the form to be set as non-marketing contacts, click to toggle the switch off.
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To take the form live, or update the existing live form, click the Preview tab and in the upper right, click Publish.
Contacts created from non-HubSpot forms
When a visitor submits to a non-HubSpot form and you've set up the tool to create new contacts based on the form, new visitors will be created as a contact record. You can set the default marketing contact status of newly created contacts from non-HubSpot forms.
Please note: when the setting is turned on, any existing non-marketing contact that submits a non-HubSpot form will also be updated to a marketing contact, regardless of how they were originally created.
- In your HubSpot account, click the settings icon in the main navigation bar.
- In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Marketing > Forms.
- Click the Non-HubSpot Forms tab.
- Click to toggle the Set new contacts created through non-HubSpot forms as marketing contacts switch on/off to set the default marketing contact status of these created contacts as marketing/non-marketing.
Contacts created from integrations or API
Learn how you can customize each integration's or API's default setting for marketing contacts.
