When onboarding customers into HubSpot, there’s one mix-up we encounter repeatedly:
Subscription type vs. Legal basis vs. Marketing contact. They sound similar. They are often configured at the same time. But they control completely different things. And if you want to use HubSpot email marketing properly, you need all three aligned.
1. Legal basis – why the contact can exist in your CRM
Legal basis is the foundation.
It answers a simple but critical question:
Why are you allowed to store this contact’s data?
Typical examples include:
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Consent
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Contract
- Legitimate interest
Without a valid legal basis, the contact should not be in your CRM in the first place — regardless of whether you plan to send marketing emails or not.
Legal basis is about compliance and data protection. It defines whether the data can legally be processed.
2. Subscription type – what the contact agreed to receive
Subscription types define what kind of communication the contact opted into.
For example:
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Newsletter
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Event updates
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Product announcements
One contact can have multiple subscription types. They might sign up for both a newsletter and event updates at the same time — or subscribe to events later while already receiving newsletters.
HubSpot uses subscription types to make sure contacts only receive emails they have explicitly opted into. If a contact is not subscribed to a specific subscription type, HubSpot will block that email from being sent to them.
This is one of HubSpot’s built-in safeguards for GDPR compliance and respectful communication.
3. Marketing contact – who you are allowed to market to (and pay for)
Marketing contact is a HubSpot-specific concept.
A contact must be marked as a Marketing Contact if you want to:
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send marketing emails
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enroll them in marketing workflows
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include them in advertising audiences
Two important things to understand:
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Marketing Hub pricing is based on the number of Marketing Contacts in your database.
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HubSpot only allows marketing emails to be sent to contacts explicitly marked as Marketing.
Even if a contact has consent and the correct subscription type, the email will not be sent if they are not designated as a Marketing Contact.
The same logic applies when advertising to a segment of contacts stored in HubSpot.
You can change a contact from non-marketing to marketing before sending a campaign, but this decision directly impacts both cost and campaign scope.
How it works together
To send a marketing email properly in HubSpot, three conditions must be met:
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A valid legal basis
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The correct subscription type
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Marketing Contact status
If one of these is missing, the email will not be sent.
These settings may seem small at first glance, but they have a significant impact on compliance, marketing cost, and campaign accuracy.
Getting them right during implementation prevents confusion later — and avoids the common question: “Why can’t we send this email?”