Before you launch your first email marketing campaign, you will need to decide if you want your email list to use single opt-in or double opt-in when signing up. In order to know which one to use, you will need to understand the differences and pros and cons to each.
What is a Single Opt-in Email Sign-up?
Single opt-in is referring to the process when a new user is automatically added to a newsletter or marketing list by submitting their email address. The subscribers are instantly added to the marketing list and will start receiving emails from you immediately.
What is a Double opt-in Email Sign-up?
Unlike single opt-in, double opt-in requires the user click a link in a confirmation email to confirm that they would like to join your mailing list. This system eliminates many of the ‘bad’ email address that may get entered into the system, such as typos or bots.
Factors to consider for opt-in mailings
List Growth
Everyone wants to have a large database full of email subscribers to their newsletter. As you know, the more obstacles in the way, such as ‘click here to confirm,’ interfere with people joining your list. It seems straightforward to use single opt-in as it is always going to result in a larger database versus double opt-in which you will lose new subscribers since there is a less likely chance that they will click the ‘click here to confirm’ button in their email.
Contact Quality
Quantity is not always quality. As much as large numbers of subscribers is appealing, you want users that will actually read your emails and buy products. In respect to contact quality, a smaller database with active subscribers who open and click through your email is better in the long run than a huge database with users who ignore them.
Double opt-in is a great way to keep the integrity of your database, even though you may not get as many subscribers with single opt-in. The people who go through the effort to double opt-in really care about what you have to say and are willing to read your emails.
Spam and Deliverability
Single opt-in brings a greater risk of spam complaints, because signing up for email updates wasn’t the real reason that they got signed up (for example, submitting an order and your email is automatically signed up for newsletters unless you deselect the box for signup). With this method, you will have to carry out regular maintenance, such are removing ‘hard bounce’ email addresses from your database. There will be more spam emails entered as well as several emails will be undelivered which will most likely give you an issue with your newsletter provider (Mailchimp for example).
Alternatively, when a subscriber unsubscribes from your newsletter that was signed up using double opt-in, they will less likely be marked as spam because they showed interest in your company when they signed up.
Advantages and disadvantages of single opt-in
Pros:
- This is the easiest method for subscribers; they provide their email address once and they’re good to go.
- This is the fastest way to build a list. The subscriber doesn’t have to confirm that they would like to receive emails.
- You will be able to send newsletters or messages right away to new subscribers – there is no need to wait for them to confirm their subscription.
Cons:
- This method does not confirm that the users entering the email actually owns that email. Sometimes users enter the incorrect address or faulty address are enter – in either case, you don’t want to send emails to incorrect places.
- A hacker could submit third party email address, and the users who own those email addresses could complain that they are receiving unsolicited emails – which could result in your company getting blacklisted by spam services.
Advantages and disadvantages of double opt-in
Pros:
- Double opt-in can help target your audience to those who are interested in receiving the information you are sending them. Since the user took the extra step of confirming the subscription, they are more likely interested in your marketing message compared to someone who fails to confirm.
- The extra step of confirmation protects you from sending emails to wrong or fake email address.
Cons:
- The confirmation email could get put in the junk folder especially if the user has never received a message from your server. So unless they check their junk mail, they may never get the opportunity to confirm your subscription.
- Some people are lazy; they may not even click on the confirmation button or they may change their mind by the time they receive the confirmation email.
Which should you choose?
There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing between single opt-in or double opt-in. The best approach is to assess your business’ unique situation and choose a method that suits your specific needs and goals. You can analyze the sign-up, confirmation, and conversation rates of the method that you are currently using and gain perspective of whether your business would benefit from a different approach.
Choosing which type of opt-in you want to use with the sign-up process is the first step to take when building your email list. However, this is not a permanent decision and you can always change your mind later!
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