there’s no built-in “button” to exclude internal contacts, since the system doesn’t distinguish between internal and external recipients. It assumes all emails are external by default.
The recommended workaround is to use a separate compliance profile for internal communication: Only send internal emails (e.g., announcements, internal newsletters) through this internal compliance profile.
Configure it with tracking set to “Restricted” and make sure that all internal contacts have opted out / no consent for this profile. This way, emails are delivered internally, but interactions are not tracked and don’t interfere that much with external KPIs. At the same time, contacts can still sign up for external communication (e.g., newsletters). In that case, they’ll use the external compliance profile, where tracking and consent apply just like for any other external audience.
This gives you a clean separation between internal and external communication, fully supported by the standard compliance model.
There are three different options to update or load the consent settings for internal contacts:
1. Using a Marketing List Create a marketing list containing all internal contacts and then load the consent in bulk through the marketing list functionality.
2. Manual Update Open each contact individually and manually adjust the consent settings for the internal compliance profile.
3. Bulk Update via Excel or Power Automate Create consent records by uploading data through Excel or by using a Power Automate flow to automate the creation of consent records for internal contacts.
I hope this gives you an idea on how you could solve the internal external differentiation.
