Learning Objective

By the end of this guide, you'll know how to mark leads as interested or not interested from the Inbox and lead list, understand why and when to use these qualifications, enable AI to automatically classify replies, and understand what happens when you confirm the action.

Why This Matters

Not all replies are equal. A lead saying "Yes, let's schedule a call" is valuable. A lead saying "Remove me from your list" is not, but both count as replies in your stats.

Marking leads as interested or not interested:

Cleans your data – Separates genuine opportunities from opt-outs
Improves accuracy – Campaign reports show true engagement, not inflated reply rates
Stops irrelevant outreach – Automatically stops the sequence for that lead in that campaign
Helps prioritize – Focus on leads showing real interest

Prerequisites

Before marking leads:

You have replies in your Inbox or leads in your campaign lead list
You understand what qualifies as "interested" – Positive engagement signals (asking questions, booking meetings, requesting info)
You understand what qualifies as "not interested" – Opt-out requests, negative responses, "not a fit" replies

Core Lesson: How to Mark Leads

Method 1: Mark from the Inbox

Go to Inbox, open the conversation for the lead you want to qualify, then in the contact panel on the right open the Campaigns tab and click Interested (green heart) or Not interested (red heart).

⚠️ Important: When a lead is marked as Interested or Not Interested, the sequence automatically stops for that prospect in that specific campaign.

Method 2: Mark from a Campaign Lead List

Go to Campaigns, then open the campaign you want to manage.

From the campaign lead list, click the lead’s name to open the contact panel, then go to the Campaigns tab and click Interested (green heart) or Not interested (red heart).

Why Mark a Lead as Interested?

When a lead shows genuine interest, clicks your links, replies positively, asks questions, or requests a meeting—marking them as Interested helps you:

Track campaign success accurately
Identify high-value prospects quickly
Measure real engagement beyond basic reply rates
Prioritize follow-up on leads most likely to convert

Example positive signals:

"Yes, I'd like to learn more"
"Can we schedule a call?"
"This sounds interesting, send me details"

Why Mark a Lead as Not Interested?

When a lead replies negatively or requests removal, marking them as Not Interested helps you:

Keep data clean – Separate opt-outs from genuine replies
Maintain accurate metrics – Don't count negative replies as positive engagement
Stop wasting sends – Prevent further emails to disqualified leads
Stay compliant – Honor opt-out requests properly

Example negative signals:

"Please remove me from your list"
"Not interested"
"Wrong person, stop emailing me"
"We already have a solution"

Important: Irreversible Action

⚠️ Marking a lead as interested or not interested is permanent. You cannot change it later.

When you mark a lead, lemlist asks you what else should be paused:

For this contact:

Pause other active campaigns – Stops this lead in other active campaigns (optional)

For this company:

Pause this campaign for other leads – Stops all leads from the same company in this campaign (optional)
Pause all campaigns for all leads – Stops all leads from this company across all campaigns (optional)

Choose the pause options you want, then click Confirm.

💡 Best practice: For opt-out requests, pause other active campaigns for that contact to ensure they don’t receive further outreach.

Use AI to Automatically Mark Leads

lemlist AI can automatically analyze replies and mark leads as interested or not interested, reducing manual work.

How it works:

AI reads each reply
If positive → Lead marked as Interested
If negative → Lead marked as Not Interested
Sequence automatically stops for marked leads

Open your campaign Settings, then in General settings enable Use AI to mark lead as interested and/or Use AI to mark lead as not interested.

How to Handle Leads Marked as "Not Interested"

Option 1: Mark tasks as done

Navigate to the Tasks section in your lemlist dashboard.

Locate tasks associated with "Not Interested" leads and mark them as done to end any ongoing activity.

Option 2: Bulk remove leads

Go to the Contacts section.

Use checkboxes to select multiple "Not Interested" leads.

Click the trash bin icon to delete them in bulk.

Option 3: Add to Unsubscribe list

To prevent these leads from being contacted in any future campaigns:

Go to Settings → Unsubscribes
Add their emails to the Unsubscribe list
They'll be excluded globally across all campaigns

💡 Recommended: For leads who explicitly requested removal, always add them to the Unsubscribe list for compliance.

Troubleshooting

Issue: Can't change a lead from "Interested" to "Not Interested" (or vice versa)

Root cause: This action is irreversible by design

Fix:

Unfortunately, once marked, you cannot change it
Prevention: Double-check before confirming to avoid mistakes

Issue: Lead is still receiving emails after being marked "Not Interested"

Root cause: They may be active in other campaigns

Fix:

When marking as "Not Interested," enable Pause other active campaigns in the confirmation window
Or add them to the global Unsubscribe list to block all campaigns

Issue: AI is marking leads incorrectly

Root cause: AI misinterprets ambiguous replies

Fix: