Owneli keeps one authoritative yes/no per client for marketing email, recorded with a timestamp and never granted silently. Campaigns send only to consented clients; an unsubscribe flips that one switch and stops all marketing at once — appointment notifications continue.
What's the difference between marketing consent and appointment notifications?
On a client's record, under Communication preferences, three things look similar but are legally different:
| Switch | Covers | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Appointment emails / SMS | Confirmations, reminders, reschedule notices — transactional messages about their own bookings | Usually on |
| Marketing emails | Campaigns, newsletters, promotions by email | Off until the client consents |
| Marketing SMS | Promotional texts (requires a phone number on file) | Off until the client consents |
Turning on appointment SMS is not permission to send campaigns. Marketing consent is its own explicit choice, recorded with a timestamp.
How consent is used
Campaigns send only to clients whose marketing consent is on. There is a single source of truth for email marketing consent on the client record — every campaign, automation, and evergreen send checks the same field, so a client who opted out is out everywhere at once.
Unsubscribes
Every marketing email carries an unsubscribe link. When a client uses it:
- They land on a confirmation page and click once to confirm. (The extra click exists so email scanners that pre-open links don't unsubscribe people by accident.)
- Mail apps with a built-in "Unsubscribe" button work too — Owneli supports one-click unsubscribe headers.
- Their marketing email consent is switched off immediately, with the timestamp recorded.
Nothing else changes: appointment confirmations and reminders continue, because those are about their bookings, not marketing.
Re-subscribing
A client who unsubscribed can opt back in — but the request has to come from them. Record it the same way as any consent: their explicit ask, then the toggle.
Blocked clients
Blocking a client also stops marketing to them, regardless of their consent state. See Blocked and flagged clients.
Common questions
A client unsubscribed but still gets appointment reminders. Is that a bug?
No. Unsubscribing removes marketing consent only. Confirmations and reminders are transactional messages about their own bookings, controlled by the separate appointment-email/SMS toggles on their record.
Where do I see whether a client has consented?
On their profile's Details tab, in the Marketing section of the communication preferences — see Read a client's profile.
Can I re-subscribe a client who opted out?
Only if they ask you to. Their explicit request is the consent; then turn the toggle back on. Doing it without their request is the violation the timestamped record exists to catch.