How the billing model actually works
You are billed on the tier your marketing contact count falls into, and the count is measured against your billing period. Setting a contact to non-marketing does not refund the current period — it takes effect at the start of the next one. That timing is why cleanup has to happen before renewal, not after the invoice lands.
Non-marketing contacts still exist, are still searchable, still hold history and can still be enrolled in internal automation. They simply cannot receive marketing email or be targeted by ads.
Inflow 1 — Imports
The import wizard offers to set contacts as marketing. Someone importing a conference list of 4,000 names clicks through it, and the bill moves a tier. Make it a rule that no import sets marketing status; add the ones you actually intend to email afterwards, deliberately.
Inflow 2 — Forms, pop-ups and chat
Every form has a setting for whether submissions become marketing contacts. A support form, a job application form and a 'contact us' form generally should not. Audit every form once — most portals have a dozen and only three should be flipping the toggle.
Inflow 3 — Workflows and integrations
| Source | What to check | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Workflows | 'Set marketing contact status' actions | Remove unless intentional |
| Ads audiences | Syncs that create contacts | Exclude from marketing status |
| Salesforce / ERP sync | Contact creation rules | Create as non-marketing by default |
| Event and webinar apps | Attendee sync settings | Review per integration |
Inflow 4 — Nobody owns the number
The structural cause is that the marketing contact count has no owner. Put it on a dashboard, review it monthly, and make one person responsible for explaining any month-on-month increase. That single piece of governance saves more than any individual setting change.
The cleanup pass
- 01Build an active list: marketing contacts with no email engagement in 12 months, no form submission in 12 months, and no open deal.
- 02Exclude anyone with an active lifecycle stage, an open ticket or a recent sales touch.
- 03Review the count against your next tier boundary — you may only need to remove a few thousand.
- 04Set the remainder to non-marketing in bulk, and record the date so you can attribute the billing change.
- 05Create a workflow that flags newly created marketing contacts each week for review.
Common mistakes
- Deleting contacts instead of setting them to non-marketing. Deletion destroys history you may need for attribution and compliance.
- Running the cleanup after renewal, so the saving is a year away.
- Suppressing engagement checks and cutting real customers out of lifecycle email.
- Fixing the count without closing the inflows, so it rebuilds within two quarters.