What is double opt-in marketing?
Izabela is a leading contributor to the Bouncer’s blog. She is inspired to help companies all around the world to get emails into their recipients’ inboxes
Double Opt-in Vs Single Opt-in
Single opt-in allows users to subscribe to marketing emails in one step. This means that the only thing that they need to do to be subscribed is type in their email address in the necessary field. It can be a helpful process for any marketing teams or businesses that want to ensure that the process of signing up for automated email newsletters is as easy and quick as possible. One of the main benefits of single opt-in is that it provides an ideal opportunity to grow your email list faster. It is simple and easy to complete, which is very helpful if you want to build a large list of contacts quickly.
How Double Opt-in Compares – What is Double Opt-in?
On the other hand, double opt-in works in a similar way to single opt-in, except for that there is an additional confirmation step for the purpose of verifying the email addresses added to your list. Once this setting has been enabled, any contacts that are created will get a follow-up email that contains a link to confirm that they want to subscribe.
Why Email Double Opt-in Is Useful
The additional step included in the double opt-in process can be useful for gathering higher-quality leads for your email marketing campaigns. For example, somebody might input their email address in a text box but not always realize that they have signed up to receive marketing emails by doing this, which can lead to frustration on their part when they begin receiving emails. The double opt-in process allows you to be completely sure that each contact that signs up actually wants to subscribe to your mailing list, which ultimately leads to more engagement and conversions.
Advantages of Confirmed Opt-in or Double Opt-in
Using double-opt-in subscription forms will usually lead to several advantages for marketers compared to single opt-in processes. These include:
- Higher email deliverability: Double opt-in can be used by marketers to eliminate any misspelled emails, spam traps, and competitor attacks designed to harm the reputation of the sender. Double opt-in allows you to build a higher-quality mailing list, in turn, only sending your email marketing materials to subscribers who are engaged. This results in higher deliverability rates, open rates, and overall performance.
- Quality Leads: When your email contacts go through this two-step verification process, you can be sure that there are not signing up to receive your marketing emails by accident. Therefore, you can build a contact list of people who are actually interested in your brand.
- GDPR Compliance: Although double opt-in is not required under GDPR, it can be used to drive home the fact that you care about following the rules when it comes to sending email marketing campaigns.
Disadvantages of Double Opt-in
While there are certainly many benefits to using a double opt-in process for your email marketing campaigns, there are also some drawbacks to be aware of. These include:
- Lower Conversions: You might lose subscribers if some people who are actually interested in your products or brand don’t have the time to check their inbox, miss your email, or don’t follow through with the two-step process.
- Slow List Growth: Since this subscription process includes two steps, it takes more time for users to join your mailing list. Some might not be interested after they receive the confirmation email while others may forget. Because of this, it’s important to be aware that it can take longer to build your mailing list with this method.
What is Double Opt-In in Email Marketing Main Advantage for Businesses?
A double opt-in subscription model means that you will only be sending email marketing materials to engaged users. While this can make it harder to build a mailing list, it will result in more people opening and clicking your emails, which will ultimately improve your email deliverability by boosting your sender reputation. Despite it taking longer to collect a double opt-in mailing list compared to a single opt-in, it will result in the ability to build better relationships with your audience, which leads to more loyal and engaged customers.
How Do Confirmation Emails Perform?
If you want to start using double-opt-in forms for your email marketing campaigns, you may be wondering how many people are likely to engage with your subscription confirmation emails. Around 60% of people will never open a subscription confirmation email, and it’s usually because they are not actually interested in subscribing. While this might seem like a lot, it’s always better to eliminate unengaged, disinterested subscribers from your community since this will only harm your sender’s reputation, as they will not be interested in the emails you send. Double opt-in might result in fewer subscribers, but it is an essential method for building long-term relationships with subscribers.
Single Opt-in Vs Double Opt-in: GDPR
GDPR is an EU privacy law that came into action in May 2018. The main goal of these regulations was to provide consumers with more control over their personal data and how it is used. Since then, any company that collects and processes data belonging to EU residents should be compliant with GDPR.
Double opt-in is not a requirement to be GDPR compliant, but it can be a way to demonstrate to your customers and subscribers that you take these regulations seriously. This is because with double opt-in, the customer will not be added to your mailing list until they have consented to it, and GDPR is all about consent. Under these regulations, you need to gain somebody’s permission if you collect, process, store or handle somebody’s data in any way, and you need to have proof of them giving their permission. GDPR also states that the consent should be active rather than passive, so implied permission and pre-ticked boxes are out. You need to use clear language to explain how you are going to use the customer’s data throughout every step of the process. A double opt-in subscription method meets these criteria perfectly. It’s difficult to dispute that the customer consented to you sending them marketing emails if they have entered their details into a sign-up form and then opened an email and clicked on the link within it to give further permission. On the other hand, a single opt-in process may not always make it as clear that the customer has consented. For example, they may have signed up to your mailing list as they went through the checkout process to buy something from your site, or when entering their email to get a freebie.
How to Use Double Opt-in Strategies to Get More Subscribers
It’s down to individual business owners and marketers to decide how to implement the double opt-in approach into their business. Now that you know what double opt-in is and how it can benefit your company, it’s worth considering the different strategies for designing opt-in pages and collecting the emails of your customers for further communications with them. Some strategies to consider using include:
- Loyalty Programs: One common strategy to use is loyalty programs. With this, you can offer frequent discounts, special access to restricted features, and various products, depending on the loyalty of the user. At the same time, users will need to provide their email address to sign up for this, allowing you to send them informational materials about new services, products, deals that they may be interested in, and more.
- Discounts: One popular strategy to use is to offer new visitors to your website some discounts on your products after they subscribe. You can use the confirmation email to make sure that they are happy to subscribe to your mailing list and to provide more information about the offers and discounts. However, there is a risk that the person will opt-out once they’ve taken advantage of the discount, so you need to ensure that an easy unsubscribe option is provided.
- Content Upgrade: If you provide useful content to your subscribers, this is a good option to use to get them to subscribe to your mailing list with double opt-in. You can ask for their email address in exchange for receiving upgraded content and send a confirmation email to make sure. This works well for blogs where you can offer exclusive content in return for a subscription.
No matter which option you use, it’s important to pay attention to how the sign-up form is designed, making it easy for visitors to sign up and confirm their email addresses along with being clear on what you offer and what you want from them in return.
Quality is always better than quantity when it comes to building your email list, and a double opt-in strategy is the best way to achieve this.
Most popular on our Blog
