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Resolve an email sending suspension

Last updated: January 29, 2024

Available with any of the following subscriptions, except where noted:

All products and plans

When sending a marketing email from the email tool, or an email from the CRM or conversations inbox using a HubSpot-hosted inbox, email sending may be suspended. 

Marketing email suspended

For marketing emails, email sending is suspended when HubSpot's deliverability protection system detects a high bounce rate on your email recipients, or fraudulent account activity is detected. All marketing emails and automated emails in workflows are not sent while marketing email is suspended.

Before marketing email sending is suspended, you may see a warning on the Health tab in your email tool about a problem detected by the deliverability protection system. This warning contains more details about the problem, and recommendations to improve future emails.

Please note: you can reach out to marketing email experts for advice on improving your emails on the Email Deliverability topic board on the Community.

Types of marketing email suspensions

There are two types of email suspensions:

  1. The deliverability protection system detects excessive hard bounces, unsubscribes, spam reports, blocklisting, or abuse complaints. Your account will be suspended if you exceed the limits detailed below, assessed cumulatively over the course of a given month, or from repeated canceled campaigns. Learn more about what to do about this type of suspension.
  2. The system detects fraudulent activity on your account, such as spam traps. Learn how to respond to this type of suspension.

Email limits

  • Hard bounces: HubSpot's hard bounce limit is 5%. For reference, many ISPs prefer bounce rates to be under 1%.
  • Spam reports: HubSpot's spam complaint rate limit is 0.1% (1 in 1,000 messages sent). Spam reports are when a recipient clicks the spam button reportSpam while viewing your email in their inbox, or drags the email into their junk folder.
  • Direct complaints: if any direct complaints are sent to HubSpot's abuse desk, marketing email sending in your account may be suspended.
  • Unsubscribes: HubSpot's unsubscribe rate limit is 3%. A healthy unsubscribe rate is less than 1%.

Resolve a marketing email sending suspension

HubSpot's free tools

You'll be notified about the suspension in a banner message in your email tool. After email sending is suspended, the email tool will remain locked. With a free CRM account, you cannot appeal the suspension.

You can continue to use the other tools in your HubSpot account.

 

Marketing Hub Starter accounts, Sales Hub Starter, Professional, and Enterprise accounts, Service Hub Starter, Professional and Enterprise accounts, and free trial accounts

If your marketing email sending is suspended, HubSpot will guide you through the process of managing your contacts and submitting an appeal to resolve your suspension.

marketing-email-suspension-dashboard-prompt-updated

To appeal your email suspension:

  • In your HubSpot account, navigate to Marketing > Email.
  • Click the Health tab.
  • On the right side of the page, under How to fix this, click Start.
  • In the right panel, select I understand I can only submit this information once, then click Next.
  • Click the radio button next to the option that confirms whether you have contacts you haven't emailed in over 12 months, then click Next. You can also click open this list to review your email marketing contacts.
  • Select the checkbox next to any source that applies to your contacts, then click Submit.

marketing-email-suspension-contact-sources-updated

  • Click Continue to next step.
  • Review the selected sources that you'll need to obtain verifiable permission for, then click Next.
  • Click Next.
  • Click your list of email marketing contacts to open a new tab, then opt out, quarantine, or delete the associated contacts as needed. Once you're done, return to the suspension appeal panel, then select the I've opted out, quarantined, or deleted at least [x] email marketing contacts checkbox.
  • Click Continue to next step.
  • Select the I reviewed and managed contacts who haven't given permission to get marketing emails checkbox, then click Next.
  • Confirm that you opted out, quarantined, or deleted the associated contacts for each contact source you originally selected, then click Next.
  • Select the checkboxes next to the methods you used to manage the contacts who you did not have permission to email. 
  • Enter any additional info or context into the text box.
  • When you're ready to submit your appeal, click Submit.

submit-email-suspension-appeal-updated

After you submit your appeal, a HubSpot support specialist will contact you to gather more information if necessary, and the Email Deliverability Team will make a final decision whether to restore email access.

Please note: HubSpot will automatically suppress any contact that has already hard bounced, unsubscribed, or marked an email as spam. Removing these contacts alone is not sufficient to restore email access.

Email sending suspended from the CRM or the conversations inbox

Your ability to send emails from the CRM or from the conversations inbox may be suspended if HubSpot detects poor sending behavior from your HubSpot-hosted inbox. This includes any email sent from the email address that you set up to forward emails to the conversations inbox, such as support@hubspot.hs-inbox.com, or your fallback email address

When email sending is suspended, a warning banner will appear in the CRM or the inbox and you won't be able to send an email.

email-suspension-from-inbox

You can appeal the suspension to resume email sending:

HubSpot will then review the appeal and make a decision regarding your email sending capabilities. 

Additional account reviews

Some accounts may require additional review to determine if marketing email access can be unlocked. Click the link in the banner to submit more information about your contacts and the email you want to send. HubSpot will review the submission and respond within two business days.email-suspension-form

The primary point of contact on your account will receive an email notification about the next steps based on your form submission. The banner information on your account will also update to reflect the decision. 

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