What is Double opt-in?

You have probably experienced a double opt-in many times when signing up for a newsletter via social media, for example. Today, it is increasingly common to find this technique in most registration forms. It is a practice whose main objective is to make your email marketing campaigns more ethical, efficient and of better quality. Do you want to know how it works? Keep reading!

How does the opt-in work?

As you know, we always have to have the consent of the recipients before we send them emails and store their email address in our email databases. It is the user himself who decides to subscribe to our mailing list by ticking a box in messages such as “Subscribe here” or “Would you like to receive our offers by email”. Once users have freely opted-in to our list, we can send them our emails without having to do anything else.

We can take advantage of the opt-in process to link a form with a series of questions about our new subscriber’s interests. This will allow us to collect valuable information and use it to segment our email lists.

Single or Double opt-in?

Now that you know that the word “Opt-in” means to opt in to something or to take part in something, you can imagine that “double opt in” can be interpreted as “to opt in to something twice”.

When we use the double opt-in technique, what we do is ask the users to confirm again that they wish to register via a confirmation email they receive in their inbox. In this form, they have to confirm that they want to join the mailing list and receive communications by email. If the recipient does not click on this email, we will never include their email address in our communications.

If the only requirement of the single opt-in is to wait for the user to decide to subscribe, and the sending of the confirmation message is entirely optional, why should we use the double opt-in? Don’t miss out on the benefits of double opt-in email campaigns!

Advantages of double opt-in

What happens if a user receives a confirmation email but does not open it? What if he/she opens it, but does not click on the link to confirm the subscription? In these cases where registrations are not completed, users do not become part of our subscriber list.

Although it is true that the use of this technique has some risks like these, it also has many benefits that make it the option we always recommend for your email campaigns:

1. Quality Leads

The main benefit of this technique is that it increases the quality of our subscriber list. Thus, by being certain that users have opened the confirmation and welcome email, we know that they have shown interest in our business, and that they are quality leads.

2. Better results

The double opt-in has better results than the simple opt-in in terms of deliverability, openness, clicks and conversions. Also, as it helps us make sure that the email address that the user has entered exists, it also serves to reduce the bounce rate in our future campaigns. Need help controlling email marketing metrics in your campaigns?

3. GDPR Regulations

From a legal point of view, the single opt-in allows us to comply with the GDPR. However, the double opt-in offers an extra level of protection and prevents anyone from signing up by mistake. The confirmation email serves as proof that the contact agrees and also allows us to verify their email address.

4. Customer relations

Take advantage of this technique to create a good relationship with your customers. Remind them why they signed up and what benefits await them, and redirect them to a thank you page on your website.

Conclusion

As you have already seen, although double opt-in requires extra effort on the part of the user, its advantages make it worthwhile.

Remember to also include an opt out option in your emails, so that your recipients can easily unsubscribe if they wish to do so.