Adding Contacts to Subflow

Subflow allows you to manually add individual contacts—whether patients, clients, or users—directly into your system. This is especially useful for one-off entries, new patient onboarding, or smaller-scale programs.

How to Add a Contact

1. Navigate to Contacts in the left-hand navigation panel

2. Click “Add Contact” in the top-right corner of the Contacts interface

3. Fill in the required fields:

   • First Name

   • Last Name

   • Email Address

   • Phone Number

🔐 Why are all fields required?
To support secure access—especially for healthcare use cases—Subflow currently requires all four fields to create a contact. This helps ensure secure identity matching for patient portals and content delivery.

Bypassing Email for Non-Healthcare Use

If your use case does not require email, you may enter a placeholder email (e.g., first.last+123@example.com) to complete the form. This allows you to use Subflow’s texting and content features without needing a valid email address. We still suggest that you try and collect this information and update over time with your contacts. 

🛠️ Note: Subflow is exploring future updates that will allow users to toggle this requirement off if not needed for compliance.

After Adding a Contact

Once you’ve filled out the fields:

1. Click “Save”

2. Your new contact will appear in your Contacts Table

3. You can now manage tags, segment membership, and communication settings for that contact

Enabling SMS & Email Communication

To message a contact, you must toggle on their communication preferences to confirm that you’ve received consent.

Here’s how:

1. Click on the contact’s name to open their Contact Record

2. Go to the “Details” tab

3. Locate “Email Opt-In” and “SMS Opt-In” toggles

4. Switch them on only if you have explicit permission from the contact

Once these are enabled, you’ll be able to:

• Send 1:1 messages

• Include them in broadcasts

• Enroll them in automated workflows

⚠️ Important: If a contact opts out of SMS communication, they must text “Unstop” to your dedicated number in order to opt back in. You will not be able to manually turn this back on for that number. 

✅ Best Practices

• Only toggle on communication preferences if you have documented consent

• Use valid and complete contact info when possible to enable more robust personalization

• Tag contacts based on source or use case (e.g., "Referral," "Pre-Op") to make segmentation easier later

• If uploading many contacts at once, consider using the Import tool instead

Have questions or need help setting up your contact structure? Reach out to support@subflow.com—we’re happy to help!