Automatic unsubscribes
Every email and SMS sent from Spoks includes a built-in unsubscribe mechanism.
When a contact unsubscribes:
Their subscription status is updated automatically.
They will no longer receive messages on that channel.
All flows and campaigns respect this status by default.
Their email marketing consent status changes to “Unsubscribed”, which directly affects their inclusion in email segments and campaigns.
Email and SMS subscription statuses are handled separately, so a contact may be unsubscribed from email but still subscribed to SMS, or the other way around.
Segments that include the filter Email marketing consent equals Subscribed will automatically exclude unsubscribed contacts, ensuring compliance and accurate targeting. To keep unsubscribed contacts out of your campaigns, always include this filter in your segments.
How the SMS opt-out appears
The opt-out is added when the SMS is sent, so it will not be visible in the message you wrote in the editor. What the recipient sees depends on where their number is.
Numbers in the US and Canada see the text Unsub? Reply STOP in the message itself.
Numbers outside the US and Canada see an unsubscribe link instead.
In the US and Canada, a contact who replies STOP is unsubscribed from SMS in Spoks.
Manual unsubscribe via the Contact screen
You can manually manage a contact’s subscription status at any time.
Go to the Contacts screen and find the contact.
Click the three dots to the right of the pencil icon on their row.
Choose Unsubscribe email.
This is useful if a customer asks to be unsubscribed outside of a message, or if you need to correct a subscription status. Email and SMS are separate, so unsubscribing one leaves the other as it was.
This has nothing to do with your own Spoks plan. Unsubscribing a contact only changes that person’s marketing consent; it does not affect your subscription or your billing.
What the red icon and the colored tags on a contact mean
A red error icon next to a contact's email address or phone number means that address or number was recorded as undeliverable. It sits in the Email or Phone column, so it always shows which of the two is affected.
Subscription status is shown separately, as a colored tag: green is subscribed, grey is not subscribed, and yellow is unsubscribed.
Spam complaints
When a recipient marks an email as spam, the contact is automatically unsubscribed from email. This is handled automatically to protect deliverability and comply with inbox provider requirements.
Spam complaints only affect the relevant channel. A spam complaint on email does not unsubscribe the contact from SMS.
If a contact marked you as spam by mistake and wants your emails again, chat with us and send their email address with their written request. We can clear the block.
By handling unsubscribes automatically and consistently across flows and campaigns, Spoks helps ensure compliant messaging while giving you clear visibility and control over your audience.
Using Shopify alongside Spoks
Unsubscribes made in Spoks can be pushed to the matching Shopify customer, but only when Sync consent status to Shopify is turned on. See Enabling two-way sync with Shopify for how to turn it on and what it covers.
Segments and lists are not shared between the two systems. Only marketing consent is synced.
How do I delete a contact?
Go to the Contacts screen and click the contact to open it.
Click the three dots next to the pencil icon.
Choose Remove.
Deleting a contact in Spoks is permanent, and the Shopify sync won't add them back. Deleting the customer in Shopify also removes the contact in Spoks.
If you only want to stop emailing someone, unsubscribe them instead. To delete many contacts at once, filter the Contacts table or pick a segment, tick the checkbox at the top of the table, click Select all, then open the three dots above the table and choose Delete.