How to unsubscribe an ActiveCampaign contact from a Zendesk ticket
By Jake Marsh · Updated
To unsubscribe an ActiveCampaign contact from Zendesk, install Optwell, open the contact's ticket and choose Unsubscribe from all marketing (email, SMS or both) or Unsubscribe from one list in the sidebar. Confirm the button that names the person and the account. Optwell sets each active list of those channels to unsubscribed, one list at a time, reads the contact back and logs an internal note with an optwell_* tag.
Connect ActiveCampaign first
- Get the API URL and key. In ActiveCampaign, Settings > Developer shows both. Each user has their own key with that user's permissions, so use a user who may edit contacts.
- Fill in Optwell's settings. Add
activecampaignto Platforms. In ActiveCampaign account (from the API URL), type only the part before.api-us1.com:acmeforhttps://acme.api-us1.com. Paste the key into ActiveCampaign API key, and optionally set ActiveCampaign display name. - Route brands if you also connect Klaviyo:
<brand id>: activecampaignin Brand routing.
Optwell works with accounts on an api-us1.com API address. Entering the full URL instead of the account name gives "host is not in the app's allowed list".
Steps
- Open the ticket. Optwell finds the contact by every email address on the requester's Zendesk profile, or by an email or contact id typed into Find another profile.
- Read the panel. For email and for SMS, how many of the contact's lists are active, each list with its status and date, lists they left, bounce status, and recent sends, clicks and SMS.
- Choose the action. Unsubscribe from all marketing and pick email, SMS or both, or Unsubscribe from one list and pick the list.
- Add a reason for the ticket note if you like.
- Confirm. Nothing is sent before you press the button.
How each action changes ActiveCampaign
| Action | What happens | Tag |
|---|---|---|
| Unsubscribe from all marketing | Every active list of the chosen channels is set to unsubscribed, one list at a time, stopping at the first failure | optwell_unsubscribed |
| Unsubscribe from one list | That list is set to unsubscribed; the rest stay as they are | optwell_list_unsubscribed |
| Resubscribe with recorded consent (off by default) | The chosen list is set back to active | optwell_resubscribed |
If a run stops partway, the panel says "Partly done: see each list", so the agent knows exactly which lists changed. The note records the status of each list afterwards.
What ActiveCampaign doesn't offer here
- No suppress action. ActiveCampaign publishes no API to add an address to its exclusion list.
- No opens. Its API has no open events, and the panel says so.
- Hosts outside api-us1.com aren't supported yet.
What it costs
Optwell is $110 a month per Zendesk account for up to 12 agents and admins (Team), or $9.50 per agent per month for 13 or more (Scale), with every feature on both. There's a 14-day trial; Zendesk asks for a card at install and bills monthly. Details: the Optwell docs.
Optwell
Marketing consent for Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign on the ticket. One-step unsubscribe. From $110/mo. From $110 a month per Zendesk account.
Questions
Does unsubscribing from all lists delete the ActiveCampaign contact?
No. Optwell only changes list statuses. It never deletes or edits contacts.
Can I remove a contact from one ActiveCampaign list and keep the others?
Yes. Unsubscribe from one list changes that list only.
Can an agent re-subscribe someone who unsubscribed?
Only if an admin turns on Allow resubscribe with recorded consent. The agent records how and when the customer gave consent and ticks that they asked explicitly, and that record goes into the ticket note.
Why does ActiveCampaign refuse the change?
The key carries its user's permissions. Use the key of a user who may edit contacts.
More Optwell guides
- How to suppress a Klaviyo profile from a Zendesk ticket
- How to unsubscribe someone from Klaviyo from a Zendesk ticket