|
Email Best Practices: Single vs Double Opt-in
Single Vs. Double Opt-in
Whether to use Single or Double (aka confirmed) opt-in is a decision you need to make when you're setting up your SmartForm. There are advantages and disadvantages of both options, which we'll explain here right after we explain the difference between them. In addition, we've created a THIRD option called Double-Opt In Optional, which is cool and which we'll also explain.
Basically, the difference between single and double opt-in is that with single opt-in, your prospect fills out your form and they're immediately added to your list. With double-opt in, they'll be send a 'confirmation email' which they need to click in order to be added to your list. This added step ensures that the email address that was put in your SmartForm is actually owned by the person who typed it. Said another way, double opt-in makes it impossible for strangers (or hackers, or robots, or spammers) to add email addresses to YOUR list which are not owned by them.
Requiring that your subscribers double opt-in is a great practice if you want to keep your list squeaky clean and it can improve the inbox deliverability of your e-mails while simultaneously ensuring a higher probability that the people on your list will actually engage with your emails. You may get fewer subscribers because of this small extra hoop you’re making people jump through, but, you’ll know that the subscribers you do get are those who really and truly want to hear from you and ultimately your list will be of greater value to you.
Of course the drawback is that there's an extra step for people to take before they are successfully added to your list. Since some marketers feel that this is too much of a hurdle, they'll choose to use Single Opt-In.
The decision is up to you, but WE RECOMMEND DOUBLE OPT-IN REQUIRED for all forms. We believe that the benefits are easily worth losing the few contacts who don't complete the signup process.
To fully understand how the different settings work, we've created this graphical representation of what happens in each of the three Opt-In settings after someone fills out your form. Below that is the written explanation of each setting.
Single Opt-in
Single Opt-in is the most basic setting. The prospect fills out your form and is immediately added to your database.
Double Opt-in Required
When a person fills out your "double opt-in" form, they will instantly and automatically be sent a "confirmation email" that will ask them to confirm (by clicking a link) that this is, indeed their email address and that it was in fact them (and not some disgruntled ex-girlfriend) who filled out your form. This is a great practice to keep your list squeaky clean, and can improve the inbox deliverability of your emails while simultaneously ensuring a higher probability that the people from your list will actually engage with your emails. You may get a few less subscribers because of this small extra hoop for people to jump through, but, ultimately your list will be "cleaner" and of greater value to you.
If you set your form to require double opt-in, the contact will not be available to email NOR will they be added to any sequences or tags that you've set in the SmartForm until they click the confirmation link in the email they'll receive.
Optional Double Opt-in
If you make it so that double opt-in is optional, you will still be able to mail people who only single opted-in, but you're NOT protecting your database from bad addresses. The UPside of Optional Double-Opt In is that for the contacts who DO click the confirmation link that they receive, they'll be double-opted in and will be likely to receive better inbox delivery than your single-opt in contacts. To learn all about email deliverability, and the steps you can take to get the very best inbox deliverability, download the critically acclaimed, 2009 best-selling guide by our beloved CEO, Landon Ray entitled, "Getting your Email Deliverd: The War for your Inbox".
Confirmation Instructions Page
This should be a page where you thank the person for filling out the form, but let them know that they're not QUITE done yet, and you instruct them to go immediately to check their email and click the verification link in the confirmation email. You might also tell them to "whitelist" your email address so that your emails are even surer to go to their inbox! We've provided a generic, default "confirmation instruction" page for you to use in case you're not concerned with customizing it.
FAQs
Some questions we've heard...
Relevant Links
Go to top
|
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.