Problems with Setting Up Campaigns

Saijal

Hi everyone,

We have a list of a few hundred contacts that we contacted and whom have consented to us emailing them. We're now trying to upload these contacts so we can send them a campaign except everytime we do this, it is automatically uploading as "unsubscribed" tag.

If I'm correct, shouldn't it be "no consent" first and then we can bulk edit to "subscribed"?

We are in the process of going through the DMARC, DKIN etc verification to improve the deliverability and lower the chances of emails going to spam since we emailed these people outside Pipedrive

Also, when/if we can get this going, do we get open rates etc..is that a different plan?

Alex - LeadOn

Hi @Saijal 👋

It sounds like you're facing a common issue when importing contacts into Pipedrive Campaigns. Here are some key points to help you troubleshoot:

1️⃣ Why Are Contacts Automatically Marked as "Unsubscribed"?

Pipedrive has strict email compliance rules to ensure that only opted-in contacts receive emails. If you uploaded contacts and they are showing as "Unsubscribed", it’s likely because:
✅ They were previously marked as unsubscribed in Pipedrive.
✅ They don’t have an email consent status set.

Expected behavior: When uploading new contacts, they should default to "No Consent" rather than "Unsubscribed," allowing you to bulk update them to "Subscribed" if they have given explicit consent.

🔹 Solution: Try uploading them again and check if you have an option to assign "No Consent" during import. Then, go to the contact list and bulk update them to "Subscribed."

2️⃣ DMARC, DKIM & Email Deliverability

Great move on setting up DMARC, DKIM, and SPF! These authentication protocols will improve your email deliverability and reduce the chances of your emails landing in spam. Ensure that:
✅ Your domain has valid SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
✅ Your emails are being sent from a verified domain in Pipedrive.
✅ You are warming up your domain by gradually increasing the number of emails sent.

3️⃣ Open Rates & Campaign Analytics

Yes! Pipedrive Campaigns provides email performance metrics like:
📩 Open rates
📌 Click rates
❌ Bounce rates
🚫 Unsubscribes

These analytics are available depending on your Campaigns subscription plan. You can check under Campaigns > Reports to see what’s included in your current plan.

💡 Next Steps:
1️⃣ Try re-uploading contacts ensuring they enter as "No Consent" instead of "Unsubscribed."
2️⃣ Complete the DMARC, DKIM & SPF setup for better deliverability.
3️⃣ Check your Campaigns plan to confirm access to email analytics.

Saijal

Hi Alex,

Appreciate your detailed message.

We have tried to upload our warm contact list from a different CRM to Pipedrive (these are people who were getting our emails and have consented) but it doesn't work.

1) We tried adding a field - NO CONSENT in excel so it matches the Pipedrive field - and it still uploads as UNSUBSCRIBED.

2) We tried deleting the list and uploading to my contacts vs. my salespersons list - it still doesn't work.

Any additional thoughts?

+++
In addition, we can't seem to use/attach our own email template to a campaign. Is this just because the list is showing as UNSUBSCRIBE or is something else going on?

Jessalyn Phillips

Hi Alex, thank you for getting back to Saijal, whose team I am on. We have trouble shot this issue every way possible. At this point, I will need compliance to manually change the status for us on this particular lead list. Do you know how we can best escalate this to be resolved. We have missed two weeks of campaigns going out trying to resolve this. Thank you!

Alex - LeadOn

Hi @Jessalyn Phillips.

We've experienced a similar issue before, but it seems like there's something else going on here that we're not able to pinpoint. 📌

I think the best approach would be to tag @Mike van der Valk from the Pipedrive team in this thread so he can take a look and provide a more precise solution.

Jess Stacey

Hi @Jessalyn Phillips and @Saijal,

I'm a PM at Pipedrive. If the pro troubleshooting tips from @Alex - LeadOn didn't help, then please reach out to our support directly. You can start a chat with them in Pipedrive from the Quick Help icon.

Many thanks,

Jess

Saijal

Jess we've reached out directly for two weeks now and not getting anywhere. Lots of lip service. Its very disappointing to be paying what we do to not get support. I'm actively looking to move back to my old CRM.

Tony Xavier

Hello Saijal,

We have followed up with our support team to understand the best course of action that can be taken to assist in this situation, and the team do further follow-ups in the existing conversation. Thank you for your understanding.