Consent & suppression
Overview
Two lists decide who receives marketing — and they work in opposite directions:
- Consent is the positive gate: only a confirmed consent permits a marketing send.
- Suppression is the negative gate: whatever is on it is not contacted again, whatever else may
apply.
Both are checked hard before every marketing send — not in the interface, but in the send itself. An audience may contain someone the send still leaves out.
The life cycle of a consent: pending → confirmed → withdrawn, plus expired when the confirmation deadline passes unused.
Core tasks
Inspect consents. With proof: timestamp, origin hash and the consent text that was agreed to. That is exactly the evidence that matters in a dispute.
Understand double opt-in. Signing up creates a pending consent with a token and a deadline; only confirming through the link makes it valid. Unconfirmed consents expire automatically through a daily run.
Process withdrawals. A withdrawal sets the consent to withdrawn and immediately creates a suppression entry. Unsubscribing from a mail takes effect at once — not at the next send.
Consent per channel. Every consent covers one channel and one purpose. Email attaches to the address, SMS and WhatsApp attach to the mobile number — the same number may have agreed to SMS and declined WhatsApp. Before every message the send checks exactly the channel it uses and the purpose of the campaign: an SMS consent does not release a marketing mail, agreeing to open tracking is not a marketing consent, and a consent for the purpose "newsletter" does not cover a campaign with another purpose. If the campaign has no purpose, a confirmed marketing consent in the channel is enough.
Withdrawal per channel. If someone replies STOP to an SMS or WhatsApp (also Stopp, Abmelden, Unsubscribe), the consent of exactly this channel is withdrawn at once and the number is suppressed for it — the same person's email consent stays as it is. Conversely, unsubscribing from a mail does not end SMS. That is why every marketing SMS carries an opt-out word; without one it cannot be sent.
Forms capture per channel. A web form can show its own checkboxes for SMS and WhatsApp next to the mail consent, each with its own wording. Ticking a box creates a separate consent for that channel — with time, origin and exactly this text as proof. Confirmation runs through the same link in the confirmation mail.
Confirm SMS by replying "YES" (double opt-in for SMS). The click in the mail proves the address, not the number. If the form has Confirm by SMS reply "YES" ticked, the number receives a text asking for YES (also Ja or Start), and the SMS consent waits for exactly this reply — the mail click does not confirm it. The consent keeps as proof the wording of the request, the time of the reply, the number and the text of the reply with its ID at the provider. The deadline is the same as for the email double opt-in; afterwards the consent expires. A "YES" without a prior request, after the deadline, via WhatsApp or to the number of another brand confirms nothing. Recording an SMS consent by hand without ticking Already confirmed triggers the same request; Resend "YES" request sends it again and restarts the deadline.
Older consents. SMS and WhatsApp consents recorded under an email address before this version are carried over to the contact's mobile number on update if the contact has exactly one. The original row stays as proof; it never turns into a release for marketing mail.
Override by hand — only with a reason. Recording a consent by hand (Record consent) or withdrawing it by hand requires a reason, such as "Written consent at the trade fair" or "Customer objected on the phone". Without a reason the system refuses. Reason, time and user are stored on the consent (detail dialog) and in the change log. The same actions are available on the contact in the Marketing consent card — there with that contact's addresses.
Maintain suppression. The default is a global entry: unsubscribed means unsubscribed. A brand-only entry is the documented exception, not the normal case.
Understand returns. Bounces and complaints also lead to suppression; a plain delivery confirmation does not.
Take over the suppression list from the old system — before the first send. Unsubscribes, bounces and complaints of your previous newsletter tool come in via the data import with the target Suppression list (marketing: unsubscribes, bounces). One address (or an Octibiz hash) per row, plus reason, date and channel. The same rules apply as in live operation: an unsubscribe or complaint withdraws the confirmed consent of the same address in the import's brand, a bounce only suppresses. The withdrawal carries the date from the file and triggers no automation — an old withdrawal is history, not a new occasion. The import never relaxes a suppression, and there is no revert: a lifted suppression would deliver again. Lift single entries here in the suppression list.
Fields in detail
The What it does column answers what changes in the system — not what the field is called. The grey name behind the label is the API field: the same thing runs under that name through automation, import and AI tools.
Recording a consent
| Field | Required | Values / format | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
Email address email | for email, phone, post | address | Who consented. The address is the key — not the customer, because a consent attaches to the address. |
Channel channel | no | email, phone, post, SMS, WhatsApp | What the consent covers. Consent for email covers neither a phone call nor an SMS; the send checks per channel. |
Phone number phone | for SMS and WhatsApp | number, ideally with country code (+49 151 …) | Who consented by SMS or WhatsApp. The number is brought into one international format so that "0151 …" and "+49 151 …" hit the same consent. A number that cannot be read is rejected. |
Purpose purpose | no | text | What may be advertised. The narrower the purpose, the more dependable the consent — "newsletter" does not carry sales calls. |
Brand brandId | no | one of your brands | Which brand it applies to. Consent given to one brand is not consent to all. |
Proof proofText | no | text | How and when the consent came about — form, time, IP address, wording. This is the real value of the mask: in a dispute what counts is not that you claim a consent but that you can evidence it. |
Already confirmed alreadyConfirmed | no | yes/no | Set to yes no confirmation mail is sent. Only set it when confirmation demonstrably happened elsewhere — otherwise you deprive yourself of the evidence. For SMS, without the tick the "YES" request goes to the number. |
Confirmation request doiRequestText | — | text | Wording of the text that was answered with "YES" (read only). |
Reply confirmationText | — | text | The reply as it arrived; time = Confirmed on (read only). |
Reply ID confirmationRef | — | text | Message at the SMS provider (Twilio), searchable there (read only). |
Reason overrideReason | yes (when recording and when withdrawing by hand) | text, max. 1000 characters | Why you set or revoke the consent by hand. Stored with time and user on the consent and in the change log — the account of an intervention that no recipient triggered themselves. |
Suppression list
Alongside consents this page keeps the suppression list: addresses that receive nothing. An unsubscribe lands there automatically. An entry on the suppression list beats every audience and every consent — that is intended and must not be worked around.
Settings & permissions
- Module
module.marketing. marketing.consent.view— inspect consents and the suppression list.marketing.consent.manage— maintain them. Both pre-assigned to the role Vertrieb.- A suppression entry can be added repeatedly without harm — it is unique by address, scope and
brand, so a duplicate cannot come about.
- Retention and subject requests run through GDPR / data protection.
FAQ & troubleshooting
A contact receives no mail although they are in the audience. Then confirmed consent is missing, or the address is on the suppression list. Both are checked by the send, not by the audience.
The consent stays "pending" and nothing happens. The confirmation mail was not clicked. After the deadline the entry expires.
An SMS consent is waiting although the mail is confirmed. Intended when the form asks for SMS confirmation: what counts is the reply "YES" from the number. If the proof lacks the confirmation request, it did not go out (SMS provider not set up) — set it up and resend the request.
A mail arrived after someone unsubscribed. That should not happen: unsubscribing withdraws and suppresses immediately. Check whether the person has a second address.
An SMS is not sent although the mail consent is confirmed. As intended: SMS needs its own confirmed consent under the mobile number. Record it with channel SMS and the number, or ask for it in the form.
An address is suppressed although nobody unsubscribed. Then a bounce or a complaint came back. Both suppress — for good reason.