Use this guide before importing customer profiles or sending a campaign, playbook, or journey. It explains how subscription state and channel reachability work together in Hellotext.
This is product guidance for operating Hellotext. It does not replace legal or compliance review for the countries and channels you use.
Three questions to check before sending
Hellotext evaluates more than one condition before it can contact a customer:
- What is the customer profile’s subscription state? Hellotext records whether the profile is subscribed, unconfirmed, or unsubscribed.
- Is there a usable destination? An SMS number or WhatsApp identity can be opted out or unavailable. For email, check that the profile has an address that has not been removed.
- Can the selected channel deliver this message? Check the sender, templates, and conversation rules that apply to that channel.
A subscribed profile is not necessarily reachable through every channel. A reachable phone number is not, by itself, proof of marketing consent.
Customer profiles, subscribers, and audiences
A customer profile is Hellotext’s record for one customer. It can include identifiers, properties, events, purchases, conversations, and a subscription state.
A subscriber is a customer profile with a recorded promotional subscription. This state does not guarantee that every identifier on the profile is valid or reachable.
An audience is the group selected for a campaign, playbook, journey, or report. Audience membership and list membership do not grant consent.
Subscription states
Hellotext stores one of these subscription states on the customer profile:
| State | Meaning and action |
|---|---|
| Subscribed | Hellotext has recorded a subscription for the profile. Confirm that the intended destination and channel are reachable before sending. |
| Unconfirmed | Hellotext has no confirmed subscription for the profile. Do not treat this state as evidence of marketing consent: confirm the source or use a valid capture path. |
| Unsubscribed | Hellotext has recorded that the customer opted out. Do not include the profile in marketing sends or restore the subscription without a new valid opt-in. |
These are different from profile or data conditions such as blocked, deleted, duplicated, invalid, or unreachable. Those conditions can also prevent contact, but they are not subscription states.
Profile state and destination consent
The customer profile displays a general subscription state. When Hellotext records a subscription or opt-out, it also associates that decision with the email addresses, phone numbers, and WhatsApp identities present at that time and records its origin.
For SMS or WhatsApp campaigns, Hellotext filters destinations that are opted out or unsuitable for the channel, even when the profile itself is subscribed. Email campaigns follow a different rule: recipient selection uses subscribed or unconfirmed profiles with an email address that has not been removed; it does not apply the opt-out recorded for each address. A profile-level opt-out prevents sending, and the email sender must be active.
This distinction explains why:
- A subscribed profile may have no suitable SMS or WhatsApp destination.
- A profile with several phone numbers or WhatsApp identities may have only some usable destinations.
- Hellotext can select an unconfirmed profile for a campaign, but that state does not establish marketing consent.
- A reply in an active conversation can follow different channel rules from a new outbound marketing message.
Where subscription information comes from
Hellotext can record or update subscription information through:
- Capture playbooks such as website forms, popups, QR codes, and shareable links.
- Checkout or other opt-in actions synced by an integration.
- An integration that supplies the source platform’s subscription state.
- A file import where you explicitly choose Subscribed or Unconfirmed for the imported group.
- A customer opt-in or opt-out action.
- A manual change by an authorized team member when the business has evidence for it.
For integrations, the source platform determines which states are available and how they map to Hellotext. For file imports, the selected state applies to the complete import, so split files when consent differs between rows.
Reachability is not consent
For SMS or WhatsApp, a number can be invalid, be a landline, lack support for the selected channel, or be opted out. Fixing reachability does not create consent.
Likewise, having a valid phone number or WhatsApp identity does not turn an unconfirmed profile into a subscriber. Keep consent evidence and destination quality as separate checks.
For example, consider a promotional SMS campaign aimed at an imported list:
- A subscribed profile with an SMS-capable number and no opt-out for that destination still requires a check of the subscription source, sender, and other delivery rules.
- If the profile is subscribed but that number is opted out or unsuitable for SMS, do not use that destination even though the profile state is Subscribed.
- If the number is suitable but the profile is Unconfirmed, do not treat reachability as proof of consent even if Hellotext can include it among campaign candidates. Verify the source or collect a valid opt-in before sending marketing messages.
Before sending
Before launching a campaign or enabling a playbook that can send outbound messages:
- Confirm how the audience was created and where its subscription information came from.
- Exclude unsubscribed, test, internal, invalid, and duplicated records as appropriate.
- Check that the sender and intended channel are connected.
- Test first with your own number or authorized internal profiles; check delivery, replies, opt-outs, and reporting before expanding the audience.
- Make sure the Inbox or expected team can receive replies.
Do not override an opt-out to increase an audience. If consent is unknown, use a capture or another valid opt-in path before treating the customer as subscribed.