Action Subscribe contact: how it works and how to configure it

The Subscribe contact action lets you collect new contacts through landing pages or surveys and manage them correctly, securely, and in a compliant way from the very start.

It’s one of the most important actions: it doesn’t just store data, it defines whether and how you’ll be able to communicate with that contact effectively, avoiding errors and data management issues.

Add the Subscribe contact action to a form button when you want to:

• Add a contact to a database
• Manage consent in a controlled way with single or double opt-in
• Properly handle existing contacts who try to subscribe again, avoiding errors or unintended changes

A common use case is a subscription form for a communication or service, such as a newsletter.

Basic setup

To save the action, you need to configure at least two elements:

• Database: the database where you want to add the contact

• Source: the origin of the subscription, useful to track where the contact comes from (e.g. “Subscribed from web”)

Without this information, the action can’t be saved.

Subscription modes

Double opt-in (recommended)

This is the default setting and the one we recommend because it lets you collect explicit consent, avoid unintended subscriptions, and stay aligned with GDPR best practices.

The result is a cleaner database, more engaged contacts, and lower deliverability risk.

With this mode, the contact:

1. Fills in the form
2. Is added to the database as “Unconfirmed”
3. Receives a confirmation message
4. After clicking the confirmation link, moves to “Subscribed” and can receive your communications

Right after this action, always add an “Send email” action with the confirmation message, otherwise the contact won’t be able to complete the subscription.

Single opt-in

With this mode, the contact is subscribed immediately, without any confirmation step, and can start receiving communications right away.

It’s faster, but less robust in terms of consent and data quality. Use it when you already have strong control over your data sources.

What happens if the contact already exists

It’s common for someone filling out a form to already be in your database. In most cases, you don’t need to do anything special: the default configuration handles these scenarios safely and simply.

If you have more specific needs, you can define exactly how to handle these contacts.
A contact completing a survey can be:

• New: not present in the database
• Already in the database, with any status (Unconfirmed, Subscribed, Suspended, Unsubscribed)
• Already subscribed

Depending on the case, you can treat them as new contacts or handle them differently using two modes:

• Simple: covers the most common cases without adding complexity
• Advanced: gives you more precise control over existing contacts

Simple mode

This is the default mode. It provides a single option, already enabled, which changes depending on the subscription mode:

• With double opt-in, “Show an error to already subscribed contacts”.
  This prevents already subscribed contacts from completing the form again, receiving another confirmation request, and being pushed back in the process.

• With single opt-in, “Keep data and status unchanged”.
  The contact can submit the form, but data and status are not updated.
  This protects against unintended changes and security issues, for example when someone enters data belonging to another existing contact.

Advanced mode

If you need more control, you can use advanced options. For example, when:

• You want to update data without changing the status of existing contacts
• You want to completely block some subscriptions
• You want to handle new and existing contacts differently

The logic is the same for both single and double opt-in and works in two steps: first choose who the exception applies to, then define the behavior.

Choose who the exception applies to

In the first menu, you define which contacts the exception applies to:

• None: all contacts are treated the same, both new and existing
• Already subscribed contacts: only contacts already in the database with status “Subscribed”
• Existing contacts: all contacts already in the database, regardless of status

Choose the behavior

Once you’ve selected the contacts, you can define what happens:

• Keep data and status unchanged: the contact submits the form but nothing is updated
• Show an error and do not update: the submission is blocked and no data is saved. You can customize the error message.
  With double opt-in, this is the only option that prevents sending the confirmation email
• Update data and keep status unchanged: form data is saved but the status does not change.
  Useful when you want to collect new information without reactivating unsubscribed contacts

Summary

Subscribe contact is the action that lets you manage how contacts enter your database in a clear and controlled way.

With just a few steps, you can decide:

• How to collect consent in a secure and traceable way
• How to handle existing contacts
• What experience to give to people filling out the form

If you don’t have specific requirements, the default configuration covers the most common cases in a simple and reliable way.

When you need more control, advanced options let you handle each scenario precisely, without compromising data, status, or process consistency.

This way, you can adapt the behavior to your needs while keeping the right balance between simplicity, flexibility, and reliability, and protecting the quality of your database and communications.

Want to see how to use Subscribe contact in a real scenario?
Learn how to create a subscription flow step by step