Email opt-out: honouring it everywhere, not just where they clicked
Someone's told you to stop. The button they used matters less than whether every system you run actually stops.
- 097Opt-Out
- When a subscriber chooses to unsubscribe from your email list.
- Arrives as
- An unsubscribe click, a reply, a call or a word to customer service
- Covers
- All your marketing email, not just the list it came from
- Doesn't stop
- Order confirmations, delivery updates and other service emails
- US deadline
- Ten business days, under CAN-SPAM
Where email opt-outs quietly go missing
Klaviyo handles the easy case well. Click the unsubscribe link and the person stops getting your marketing email across every list. Its help centre calls that a global unsubscribe and recommends leaving it switched on. The trouble is everywhere else.
- A reply saying please stop, sitting unread in a shared inbox
- A second tool that keeps its own mailing list and never heard about the unsubscribe
- An export from your old platform that left its unsubscribes behind
- A preference page full of topics to untick, with no way to stop everything
Every one of those is a person who said no and got mailed anyway. That's how a polite unsubscriber becomes a spam complaint.
How fast you have to act on an opt-out
| Question | UK | US |
|---|---|---|
| Can you email before anyone opts in? | Only under the soft opt-in | Yes, until they opt out |
| Must every email offer a way out? | Yes | Yes |
| How fast must you act on it? | Promptly | Within ten business days |
The UK column comes from the ICO's guidance on complying with the email marketing rules, which also says to add the person to a suppression list. The US one comes from the FTC's CAN-SPAM guide. It's a summary, not legal advice.
Klaviyo acts on a click at once. The risk sits with the reply or the phone call that needs a person.
What you can still send after an opt-out
Opting out of marketing isn't opting out of their order. Confirmations, delivery updates, refunds and account emails still go, because they're service messages.
Keep the marketing out of them, though. A shipping email with a sale banner bolted on starts to look like the thing they said no to. The ICO does allow one extra: a short line in an order confirmation explaining how to update their preferences, as long as it doesn't try to change their mind.
Related terms
FAQs
Someone replied asking us to stop emailing. Does that count?
Yes. Treat it exactly like a click on the unsubscribe link, and act on it as soon as you see it. The ICO names a reply as one of the ways people opt out. Give whoever reads the inbox that job, and the access to suppress the profile in Klaviyo themselves.
Can we email someone who opted out to win them back?
No. A come-back email is marketing, and they've told you to stop. The one opening the ICO allows is a short line in an email you were sending anyway, like an order confirmation, saying how to update preferences without pushing. Their way back is a sign-up form they choose to fill in.
Do we need to keep a record of people who opted out?
Yes. That record is what stops them being mailed again after an import or a platform move. The ICO says to put people who opt out on a suppression list, and Klaviyo does that for anyone who clicks. Replies and phone requests only get there if a person adds them.
Rather we explained it on your own account?
Bring your Klaviyo account to a growth consultation. We'll walk through what this means for your numbers, in plain English, and what we'd fix first.
Half an hour with Theo, our founder.
We're all about relationships built on trust, mutual respect and a shared vision for success. If that sounds like your vibe, let's make some waves together 🌊
