SMS regulations require that anyone receiving promotional or business texts has the right to opt out — and that you honor opt-outs immediately. This article explains how opt-outs are handled in the portal.
What counts as an opt-out
A lead is considered opted-out when they text any of these keywords (case-insensitive) to your SMS number:
STOP
STOPALL
UNSUBSCRIBE
CANCEL
END
QUIT
The lead can text any of these keywords as a standalone message — they don't have to type a full sentence. Twilio automatically recognizes these as opt-out signals.
What happens automatically
The moment a lead texts one of those keywords:
Twilio blocks all future outbound SMS to that phone number from any of your firm's numbers — this is enforced at the carrier level and cannot be overridden
Twilio sends an automatic confirmation reply to the lead ("You have successfully been unsubscribed...")
The portal records the opt-out on the lead's record — you'll see this within seconds in your Messages inbox
You can't send to them from the portal — the compose box on their thread is replaced with an opt-out notice
If the same person is enrolled across multiple events or campaigns (i.e., they appear multiple times in your CRM with the same phone number), all instances of that lead are marked as opted out at the same time.
How opted-out leads appear in the portal
When you open the conversation thread for an opted-out lead, you'll see two visual indicators:
A red "Opted out of SMS" badge appears near the lead's name in the thread header
The compose box at the bottom is hidden and replaced with: "This lead has opted out of SMS. You can't send messages until they text START to opt back in."
The full conversation history (everything sent before the opt-out) is still visible. You just can't send new messages.
How a lead can opt back in
If a lead changes their mind and wants to receive SMS again, they need to text any of these keywords to your SMS number:
START
UNSTOP
YES
Once they do, the portal clears their opt-out status within an hour (often within seconds). Their conversation thread becomes active again — the badge disappears, the compose box returns.
You can also manually message them again after they opt back in — Twilio's carrier-level block automatically lifts when they send a START keyword.
Historical opt-outs
The portal includes opt-outs going back the entire history of your SMS account. If someone opted out 6 months ago via ActiveCampaign and they later opt back in via a new form submission, the portal recognizes the prior opt-out and updates your ActiveCampaign opt-in field accordingly — so they won't get SMS again unless they explicitly opt back in.
What you don't need to do
You don't need to manually mark anyone as opted out — STOP is detected automatically
You don't need to remove opted-out contacts from your CRM — they stay in your records, just flagged
You don't need to remember to check who's opted out — the portal hides the Send button for those leads automatically
Compliance notes
Every opt-out is logged with a timestamp for audit purposes
Twilio's automatic STOP confirmation message satisfies the SMS regulatory requirement to acknowledge opt-outs
If your firm needs to export an opt-out list for compliance reporting, contact your administrator
If you have questions about a specific opt-out (e.g., "this lead says they didn't text STOP but the portal shows them as opted out"), check the lead's message history in the portal — the STOP message will be visible in their conversation thread with a timestamp.