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How do I import contacts who have unsubscribed on another platform? For the most part, they are existing contacts in Intercom, I just want to bulk overwrite their unsubscribe status.

Hi @ellie h11​ 

I tried doing an import of a .csv file but there is a small set of intercom attributes, plus all your custom fields but the subscribed status was not one of the Intercom ones. There may be another way in some of the alternative import methods but it doesn't seem possible as far as I can tell.


First of all, you need to ask your self is this what you want actually legal to do and what you really want to do it? As emailing someone who unsubscribed can have consequences - not just legal but within Intercom, as people can report your email as spam and Intercom might limit or totally prevent you from sending further emails... So be careful.

 

On the other hand, this can not be updated via CSV but can be changed via JS/API method.

https://developers.intercom.com/intercom-api-reference/reference#update-contact

In the update contact, there is a field unsubscribed_from_emails which is boolean and you would change this from true to false.


@user382​ I think there is a misunderstanding. The way I understand @ellie h11​ wants to make sure that users that unsubscribed on a different platform will also be unsubscribed in Intercom to prevent them from receiving outbound mails.


@kevin b​ Ah yes, still, the answer is the same (2nd part of the comment - API).

 

Also, contrary to what @brent w​ said, I've been exporting ALL the columns via CSV and I can see Unsubscribe attribute which means it can be changed/update via CSV upload.

Screenshot 2021-06-12 000600


@kevin b​ Yes - I'm trying to respect opt-outs across platforms.

 

@user382​ Have you successfully changed a user's unsubscribe status via import? I don't see it as a field you can map to in the import interface.


@ellie h11​ I just tested it, and although I see the value it allows me to add it only as a custom attribute.

 

So if you do not want to mess with API (which seems to be the only way to change the status), the only thing I can suggest is to create your own attribute for imported people and make sure you use it in rules in your outbound messages (emails).


@user382​ That makes sense, thanks!


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