Default marketing statuses for newly created contacts

If your account has access to marketing contacts, every newly created contact in your HubSpot account will have a marketing contact status. When you first purchase a Marketing Hub subscription, or gain access to marketing contacts, all of your existing contacts will be set to non-marketing by default. For new contacts, each HubSpot tool that creates contacts sets a default value for the Marketing contact status property. For most tools, the default cannot be customized, but certain tools can be customized to set the default value you want.

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 contacts 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’re created.

Customize default marketing contact status for certain tools

For certain tools, you can change which marketing contact status is set for newly created contacts. The default value set for the Marketing contact status property can be customized within the following tools.

Chatflows

The chatflows tool, both live chats and bots, by default will set contacts as non-marketing. For each individual live chat or bot, you can set the default marketing contact status of a newly created contact via the chatflow.

• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Automations > Chatflows.

• Click the chatflow you want to set the default for.

• Click the Options tab.

• In the Marketing contacts section, the Set contacts created as 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.

HubSpot forms

The HubSpot forms tool will set contacts as marketing by default. For each individual HubSpot form, you can set the default marketing contact status of contacts that submit the form. 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.

• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Marketing > Forms.
• 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.
• Click the Options tab.
• 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.

• To take the form live, or update the existing live form, click the Preview tab and in the upper right, click Publish.

Non-HubSpot forms

Non-HubSpot forms by default will set contacts as marketing. You can set the default marketing contact status for contacts created by all non-HubSpot forms. 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 settings icon in the top navigation bar.
• In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Marketing > Forms.
• Click the Non-HubSpot Forms tab.
• By default, the Set new contacts created through non-HubSpot forms as marketing contacts switch will be turned on. Click to toggle the switch off to set the default marketing contact status of these created contacts as non-marketing.

Single object contact import

The import tool sets contacts as non-marketing by default. If you’re completing a multi-object or multi-file import, the import tool will always set the contacts as non-marketing. When creating contacts via a single object import, you can set the contacts in the file as marketing contacts. Learn how to set contacts as marketing via a single object import.

Integrations or API

Any integration or API by default will set contacts as non-marketing. Learn how you can customize each integration's or API's default setting for marketing contacts.