Why are archived members being set back to active?

There is only one scenario that could lead to an archived member being set back to active: The data wizard was configured to include archived members.

When the Data Wizard runs, you can optionally exclude archived members. This helps ensure they aren’t inadvertently resubscribed in Mailchimp. 

To do this, the Data Wizard relies on the archived status stored within Salesforce—not directly from Mailchimp—because it’s not feasible to perform a bulk query of Mailchimp in real-time during the Data Wizard process.

To ensure archived members aren't resubscribed, check the following:

• 'Filter Archived Member' is enabled on the wizard's last page.
• Ensure their status in Salesforce is up to date via a refresh or primary sync (see below)
• You haven't asked us to disable storing archived members in salesforce.
• You understand how Mailchimp compliance affects archived members (see below). 

Primary sync sets the status

A challenge arises if you’ve archived members in Mailchimp, but the Primary Sync hasn’t yet run. In that case, Salesforce still sees the member as active. When the Data Wizard runs, it processes the record and marks it as resubscribed—essentially undoing the archive.

To avoid this, ensure you run the sync before running the data wizard after bulk archiving members. You can also click refresh on a single member or on the audience member list, as they run a focused version of the primary sync.

Understanding Mailchimp compliance after archiving a member

Mailchimp won't allow us to update or resubscribe members once they unsubscribe themselves (email link or a form), but you can update members who have been unsubscribed by an admin.

Below are the statuses archived members had before they were archived, and what happens when they aren't filtered out of the import: 

• • After archiving, the data wizard can't subsequently resubscribe these members 
    
    • Previously self-unsubscribed (can't be processed in bulk)
    • Previously cleaned emails (invalid email; change the email in Salesforce first)
    • Previously pending (double opt-in incomplete)

• • After archiving, these members will be subsequently be resubscribed:
    • Previously subscribed
    • Previously admin-unsubscribed
    • Previously transactional