Communications 101: Foundational Concepts and Managing Unsubscribes

The Communications feature of Activity Messenger is one of the platform’s core pillars. Because administrators spend a significant portion of their time communicating with clients, participants, parents, members, and staff, messaging in Activity Messenger is designed to be first-class, centralized, and operationally safe.

Unlike basic email tools or fragmented workflows that rely on Outlook inboxes and personal smartphones, Activity Messenger provides a unified system for sending email and SMS—manually or automatically—directly from the context where your data lives. Every message is logged, auditable, and tied to client accounts, registrations, invoices, and memberships, allowing teams to collaborate confidently and communicate consistently.

From simple reminders to fully branded newsletters and automated notifications, communications in Activity Messenger are built to be responsive, trackable, compliant, and deeply integrated with the rest of the platform.

This article focuses on the foundational concepts you need to understand before sending messages. You’ll learn:

• What the communications system can do

• How email and SMS messaging work at a high level

• How client accounts, recipients, and subscriptions impact messaging

• How unsubscribes and compliance are handled

Understanding these fundamentals ensures that when you start sending messages, your communications are clear, compliant, collaborative, and aligned with real operational workflows.

➡️ Next step: Communications 102 covers list creation and audience segmentation, the engine that powers precise and relevant messaging in Activity Messenger.

Covered in this guide

Use this section to quickly find the communication concept or unsubscribe setting you need.

Part 1: Foundational Concepts

1. What You Can Do with Communications

2. Communication Channels: Email & SMS

3. 🧭 How SMS and MMS Behave

4. Understanding the Difference Between Recipients and Clients

Part 2: Managing Unsubscribes

1. Key Concept: Two Types of Communication

2. Viewing Unsubscribed & Flagged Recipients

3. Adding Unsubscribes Manually

4. Importing Unsubscribes

5. How Recipients Unsubscribe

    

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Part 1: Foundational Concepts in Communications

🧭 Orientation: What “Communications” Means in Activity Messenger

Before sending a message, it’s important to understand what the Communications feature represents in the system.

Communications is not a personal inbox or a standalone email tool. It is a centralized messaging system designed to operate safely at scale, directly alongside your organization’s data.

Every message sent through Activity Messenger is:

• Logged and auditable

• Shared across your team

• Tied to real system records such as clients, registrations, invoices, and memberships

This design ensures consistent communication, operational clarity, and built-in compliance.

 

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1. What You Can Do with Communications

At a high level, the Communications feature allows you to:

• Send email and SMS messages to individuals or groups
• Create responsive newsletters using a drag-and-drop editor
• Design reusable email and SMS templates
• Personalize messages using merge fields
• Automate messages based on events, schedules, or triggers
• Track delivery, opens, and clicks
• Manage subscriptions and unsubscribes
• Send certificates by email or SMS

All communications are logged, auditable, and connected to client accounts.

🧭 Communication Channels Are a Core Decision

Every message in Activity Messenger is delivered through one or both communication channels. Choosing the right channel affects delivery, cost, formatting, and reliability.

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2. Communication Channels: Email & SMS

Activity Messenger supports two primary communication channels. You can send messages via email only, SMS only, or both, depending on your configuration and use case. Understanding the differences between the two is critical.

Email

Best suited for:

• Longer messages and detailed content
• Newsletters and announcements
• Confirmations, receipts, reminders, and updates

Email supports:

• Rich formatting
• Images and buttons
• Multi-column layouts

SMS (Text Message)

Best suited for:

• Short, time-sensitive messages
• Reminders, alerts, cancellations
• High-visibility communications

SMS messages are fast, direct, and highly effective—but should be used intentionally.

➡️ A full walkthrough of sending messages is covered in Communications 103: Creating & Sending Messages

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3. 🧭 How SMS and MMS Behave

Text messaging behaves very differently from email. Understanding these mechanics before sending messages at scale helps avoid unexpected behavior or costs.

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Part 2: How Activity Messenger Manages Unsubscribes

Activity Messenger automatically manages email and SMS unsubscribes—while recognizing that not all communications are the same.

🧭 Not All Messages Are Equal

Some messages are optional. Others are required for service delivery.

To support this flexibility, Activity Messenger distinguishes between operational and marketing communications.

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1. Key Concept: Two Types of Communication

1. Marketing Communications

Used for:

• Promotions

• Newsletters

• Program announcements

If a contact unsubscribes, all marketing messages are blocked automatically.

2. Non-Marketing (Operational) Communications

Used for:

• Reminders

• Cancellations

• Receipts and invoices

• Required confirmations

✅ Recipients continue receiving these even if they unsubscribe from marketing.

📌 Best practice:
Always mark operational messages as Non-marketing.

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2. Viewing Unsubscribed and Flagged Recipients

Activity Messenger automatically tracks and manages unsubscribe and delivery issues for both email and SMS communications. This ensures compliance with messaging regulations and protects your organization’s sender reputation.

To view and manage unsubscribes:

1. Go to Lists > Unsubscribes

2. You will see a list of all flagged recipients, including the reason they were flagged

From this screen, you can:

• Review unsubscribe reasons

• Identify data issues (for example, incorrect emails or phone numbers)

• Correct source data in external systems such as Amilia or Excel/CSV files

• Remove recipients from the bounced list once corrections have been made and consent has been restored

Recipient information may be flagged for one of the following reasons:

• Unsubscribed – The recipient explicitly opted out of marketing communications

• Complaint – The recipient reported a message as spam

• Bounced – The email address is invalid or no longer exists

• Bad number – The mobile number is invalid or unreachable

Activity Messenger handles these cases automatically and prevents further marketing messages from being sent to affected recipients.

The Communication column indicates which types of messages the contact is unsubscribed from:

• Marketing emails – The contact opted out of promotional communications

• Non-marketing: Reminders, follow-ups, and cancellations – The contact is unsubscribed from all communication types

 

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3. Adding Unsubscribes Manually

If someone contacts you directly and asks to be removed from your mailing lists, you can manually add them to the Unsubscribes list.

To add an unsubscribe manually:

1. Go to Lists > Unsubscribes

2. Click the (+) button

3. Enter the recipient’s:

   • Name (optional)

   • Email address and/or mobile number

4. Select which type of communication to unsubscribe them from:

   • Marketing (program information and promotions)

   • Non-marketing (operational): reminders, follow-ups, and cancellations

   • Any type (both marketing and non-marketing)

5. Click Add to confirm

Once added:

• The recipient will be skipped automatically when messages of the selected type are sent.

• Manually added unsubscribes are tagged with (admin), indicating they were unsubscribed by an administrator rather than through an automated unsubscribe link.

 

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4. Importing Unsubscribed Contacts from Another System

If you are migrating from another email platform—such as Mailchimp, Amilia, or Constant Contact—you can import your existing unsubscribed contacts into Activity Messenger to ensure compliance from day one.

Activity Messenger supports bulk importing unsubscribes, allowing you to preserve consent preferences and avoid accidentally contacting people who have already opted out.

Method 1 (Recommended): Using a Subscription Column

This is the easiest and cleanest approach.

When importing a new contact list from an Excel or CSV file:

1. Include a subscription status column in your file

2. Create a new list from an upload (Excel or CSV)

3. During the import process, Activity Messenger will prompt you to identify:

   • Which column contains the subscription status

   • Which value represents an unsubscribed contact

Activity Messenger will then:

• Import all contacts

• Automatically mark unsubscribed recipients

• Prevent marketing messages from being sent to them

This method allows you to import both subscribed and unsubscribed contacts in a single step.

Method 2: Importing a Dedicated Unsubscribes List

Use this method if you already have a list containing only unsubscribed contacts.

To import unsubscribes directly:

1. Prepare an Excel or CSV file containing the email addresses and/or mobile numbers of unsubscribed contacts

2. Upload this file as a list (see Communications 102 for upload instructions)

3. Go to Lists > Unsubscribes

4. Click the (+) button

5. Open the List tab 

6. Select the list you previously uploaded and confirm

Once imported:

• All listed contacts are added to the Unsubscribes list

• Activity Messenger automatically blocks marketing emails and SMS to those recipients

After Import

• Imported unsubscribes behave exactly like contacts who unsubscribed directly through Activity Messenger

• You can view, filter, and manage them from Lists > Unsubscribes

• These contacts remain protected from marketing communications unless explicitly re-subscribed with consent

Importing unsubscribes early ensures a smooth migration, protects your organization legally, and maintains trust with your audience.

Best Practices

• Always respect unsubscribe requests

• Always verify that you are sending the correct type of message, either Marketing or Non-marketing (operational)

• Keep your source systems (CRM, registration platforms, spreadsheets) up to date

• Import unsubscribes when migrating from another platform

• Regularly review the Unsubscribes list to maintain clean data and strong deliverability

Managing unsubscribes properly ensures legal compliance, protects your sender reputation, and builds trust with your audience.

 

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5. How Recipients Unsubscribe

Every marketing email and SMS landing page sent through Activity Messenger includes an Unsubscribe link.

When a recipient clicks this link, they are taken to a confirmation page displaying the message:

“Please confirm your intention to unsubscribe from receiving marketing emails and text messages from [Organization name].”

The recipient must then click I Confirm to complete the unsubscribe request.

Once confirmed:

• The recipient is immediately removed from marketing communications

• Any contact list to which you send a marketing email will ignore that contact

• Their unsubscribe status is recorded and enforced automatically across the platform

 

 

 

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Related guides

• Introduction to Communications

• Communications 102: Lists, Recipients, and Audiences Segmentation

• Communications 103: Creating and Sending Messages

• Communications 104: Templates and Quick Messages

• Communications 105: Automating Email and SMS Messages

• Messaging Defaults

• Sending Emails from Your Own Domain

• Personal Information and Electronic Message Laws in Canada and the USA