It is already more than halfway down in 2020, but marketers don’t seem to agree whether single opt-in or double opt-in is better. Usually, the email addresses are submitted on a blog, gated content, social media post, and even on chatbots nowadays. Marketers often get confused about using either of them and in this article, we are going to understand both of them while also discussing their pros and cons. Dive in deeper to know more about them and which one is ideal for your business.
The Differences Between Double And Single Opt-In Forms
The basic difference between a single opt-in and double opt-in form is in making your subscriber confirm assigning a process. When a new user provides you with their email address, they click on a CTA button to give consent for further correspondence in case of a single opt-in. The double opt-in requires them to click on a confirmation link to kick start communications. While there is no perfect definition to explain the difference between the two, we can generally assume that in the case of single opt-in, you just need the user to submit their email address while in the case of double opt-in some type of confirmation is required. In this article, you will be able to understand about them elaborately.
What is Single Opt-In?
In the case of a single opt-in form, the subscriber has to submit their email address simply. They don’t need to provide any confirmation, and they start getting messages henceforth. While this is very convenient for your subscribers, chances are high that you may end up with unintentional subscribers and waste your efforts.
Benefits of Single Opt-In
Single opt-ins allow your subscribers to add themselves to your mailing lists instantly. You can grow your subscriber list pretty fast, as it is simple for both you and your subscribers.
Cons of Single Opt-In
On the negative front, single opt-ins are prone to attract low-quality leads and high spam rate or unsubscribes. This translates effectively into low ROI and deliverability problems. Getting marked as ‘spam’ will also compromise your sender reputation. The list hygiene suffers the most as your subscribers are not very sure about hearing from you.
What is Double Opt-In?
When you select to use a double opt-in form, your subscribers have to confirm their willingness to engage with your brand apart from submitting their email address. Then, the company sends out an email containing a link to confirm the subscription. This improves the quality of subscriber lists as many people put down fake email addresses. As the user has agreed twice, you are more likely to drive engagement. You will need to include separate HTML email templates for sending out confirmation emails along with necessary personalization.
Benefits of Double Opt-In
The biggest benefit of using double opt-ins is that you have really motivated subscribers who are sure about receiving your email messages. A lot has been said about creating relevance to drive email marketing campaigns, and using double opt-ins is a smart way to conduct a litmus test. Regardless of your sector organization size, you can enjoy a higher engagement rate, refined sales funnels, and comparatively higher ROI since you have a solid, organic base. Along with a high CTR ratio, you can enjoy better deliverability and low spamming – unsubscribe rates. You will have hardly any bounces because of bad email addresses. Getting better quality leads remains the biggest benefit for businesses and the first step to higher profitability.
Cons of Double Opt-In
The only negative side you may experience is the difficulty of growing your email list. As your subscribers need to confirm their interest by clicking on a link sent to them in their mailboxes causes inconvenience, they might postpone it only to abandon it later. You will need to have a close watch on your double opt-ins since interviewing them with marketing automation is a bit more challenging than single opt-in. This inconvenience also translates to slower conversions.
Legalities And Double Opt In
The legal considerations for both of them aren’t very clear. However, we recommend using them as they can be treated as legal proofs in many cases.
Which One To Choose Among Them
We cannot agree to select the idea of both as the most suitable for your business, but in theory, we should always go for a double opt-in form. It improves your open rate, engagement rate, and helps fight unsubscribe – spam rate. You can ask your email developers to see which one of them fits into your campaign plannings.
Summing Up
A lot of factors govern whether single opt-in or double opt-in is the right choice for you. We find that brands go for single opt-ins in their initial days when they are trying to add more people to their mailing list. On the other hand, a double opt-in reduces unnecessary correspondence and helps you target the most engaged prospects. No matter which of them you use, making a solid first impression is necessary. We hope that you find this article insightful and actionable for your email marketing strategy.
Author Bio
Kevin George is Head of Marketing at Email Uplers, one of the fastest growing custom email design and coding companies that specializes in professional email template creation and PSD to HTML email conversion; they are expert Mailchimp developers. Kevin loves gadgets, bikes, jazz and eats and breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on his blog.
