Should you use double opt-in to comply with global anti-spam legislation? Not necessarily. But you should explicitly confirm a subscriber’s intent to subscribe.
Countries around the world have been establishing and ramping up enforcement of anti-spam laws in an effort to curb the massive problem of spam and phishing. While the US rules tend to favor businesses, most of the laws in other countries favor consumers and are getting much stricter, so it’s important that email marketers understand how to set up a workflow that enables you to confirm that your subscribers are giving explicit consent for you to email them.
First, Some Definitions
There are many terms floating around related to this issue.
Explicit consent / Express permission / Explicit permission – someone explicitly signs up to receive emails from you. Either by subscribing to your blog or newsletter, by ticking a checkbox agreeing to receive ongoing emails, or by asking someone to add them to a subscriber list (e.g., dropping their card in a bowl at checkout that has a sign “subscribe to receive weekly coupons.)
Implied consent / Implicit consent / Implied permission – someone who filled out a form to access a white paper where the “submit” button was accompanied by language stating something like this: “by clicking, you’re opting in to receive emails from us”; someone who already has or had in the past a business relationship with your company.
Confirmed opt-in – refers to an action that a subscriber takes where they are explicitly signing up to receive your emails. It can use a single or double opt-in methodology. This might involve checking a box on a form to confirm their desire to register for emails in addition to another offer, filling out a “Captcha” field to validate that they’re not a robot, or confirming their email address through a link in a confirmation email.
Double opt-in – Refers to a process that requires a two-step opt-in process. For example, a visitor who submitted their email address with the explicit intention of subscribing then receives an email or text requiring them to take a second step by clicking a link to confirm their intent to subscribe.
Single opt-in – visitor signs up to receive an offer or to subscribe to a blog or newsletter in a single step and does not receive an email asking them to confirm their intent to subscribe.
What’s the Difference Between Implied vs. Explicit Consent?
Each jurisdiction sets rules for what constitutes consent. So it’s important to understand the difference between implied and explicit consent. This blog post explains the specific meanings of these two terms.
Which Anti-Spam Rules Apply?
Different jurisdictions have different rules for email marketing. Generally, the rules apply to you, even if you’re not located in that jurisdiction. For example, Canada has prosecuted US companies for violating the CASL rules. Here is a review of global rules with links to sites with more detail.
Should You use Single or Double Opt-In?
There is not one answer on whether single or double opt-in is best.
Single opt-in is a bit simpler to set up, and adds less friction to the subscription process. This allows your list to grow more quickly. However, it also means your subscriber list is slightly lower quality and may have lower deliverability than a double opt-in approach.
Double opt-in is a bit more complicated and adds friction to the subscription process and will result in somewhat slower list growth. However, it also ensures that the people on your list really do want to receive your emails. They’re likely to be a much more engaged audience. Double opt-in also improves deliverability, making it more likely that your emails will land in subscribers’ inboxes instead of their spam filters. Studies have shown that confirmed opt-in email lists consistently out-perform those with a single opt-in in terms of engagement (e.g., opens and clicks).
Double opt-in is the “gold standard” for building an email list, but it’s not appropriate for all use cases. For more information about the pros and cons, here’s a great article comparing single vs. double opt-in.
Not everyone agrees that double opt-in is a good idea. Generally, 20-30% of subscribers will fail to click the confirmation link. Some marketers believe that the vast majority of subscribers that fail to confirm do so by accident, not by intent. Since double opt-in prevents you from adding someone to your mailing list until they confirm, you are preventing yourself from emailing many people who genuinely want to receive your emails.
The jury is still out on this issue, so consider deploying both options on different offers and measure the effectiveness of each approach. Track subscription volume, open rates, and clicks for each to see how they perform with your audience.
Setting Up Confirmed Opt-In in Marketing Automation Platforms
Many of the basic email service providers (ESPs) like MailChimp, Constant Contact and GetResponse have standardized the use of a double opt-in methodology. Some offer the flexibility of letting users choose whether to implement single or double opt-in.
The more sophisticated marketing automation systems provide more flexibility and the capability to integrate with multiple CRMs. So in many cases, users need to do more to set up the opt-in process. So if your system doesn’t provide the functionality out of the box, here’s how you can set it up yourself.
Setting up a confirmed opt-in workflow is not an overly complicated process, but will need some planning. Here’s how the workflow would operate in most marketing automation platforms (MAP) and an integrated CRM:
Setting Up a Single Opt-In Workflow
- Create a checkbox field in your CRM and MAP database to indicate that a lead is explicitly opted-in (“Explicit Opt-In”)
- Create a list for Subscribers that automatically updates with any new opted-in subscribers.
- Existing forms for downloading offers need to be modified to include an opt-in checkbox where they can tick the box to opt in to receiving emails.
- The checkbox must be accompanied by language that clearly explains what they’re opting into.
- The checkbox should NOT be pre-checked. (Pre-checking is permitted in the US but not in most other jurisdictions.)
- That checkbox should be tied the Explicit Opt-In field in the database.
- If the visitor doesn’t tick the box, their contact info can still be added to your database as a lead, but they can’t be added to your email list. So the Explicit Opt-In field in your CRM and MAP remains unchecked.
- Those that tick the box have their lead record updated to check the Explicit Opt-In field and get added to the Confirmed Subscribers list.
- Pages with an explicit subscription offer (e.g., forms that are explicitly for subscription to your blog or newsletter) don’t need that checkbox, as long as the call to action language is explicit that they’re subscribing to receive recurring emails.
- Update their record to check the Explicit Opt-In field.
- Add them to the Confirmed Subscribers list.
Setting Up a Double Opt-In Workflow
- Create a checkbox field in your database to indicate that a lead is a confirmed opt-in (“Confirmed Opt-In” or “Double Opt-In”).
- Create a list for Confirmed Subscribers that automatically updates with any new confirmed subscribers.
- Prepare an Opt-In Email. This email should include language covering the following:
- Thank them for subscribing or opting in to receive emails from you.
- Clarify what they can expect to receive and how often.
- Remind them that they can unsubscribe at any time.
- Reinforce any offers you made to encourage subscription.
- Provide a call to action to click a link confirming subscription.
- Include a button or link with language like “confirm my subscription.”
- Prepare an Opt-In Confirmation Landing Page. This page should include language to confirm their opt-in, reinforce messaging from the email, and provide a link to any offer tied to the opt-in process.
- Existing forms for downloading offers need to be modified to include an opt-in checkbox where they can tick the box to opt in to receiving emails.
- If the visitor doesn’t tick the box, their contact info can still be added to your database as a lead, but they can’t be added to your email list. So the Opt-In field remains unchecked.
- Those that tick the box get put into the Workflow for Confirmed Opt-ins described in Step 7.
- Pages with subscription offer (like subscribing to your blog or newsletter) don’t need that checkbox, because it’s explicit that they’re subscribing to receive these emails.
- Add them to the Workflow for Confirmed Opt-ins described in Step 7.
- Prepare a Workflow for Confirmed Opt-ins. When a visitor fills out a form and indicates a desire to subscribe (either via ticking a checkbox in step 5 or subscribing in step 6):
- They get the automated Opt-In Email described in Step 3.
- When they click the link in the email to confirm subscription:
- They’re directed to the Opt-In Confirmation Landing Page.
- Their contact record is updated to check the Confirmed Opt-In box.
- Their record is added to the Confirmed Subscribers list.
Keep Opt-In Records Indefinitely
Regardless of which opt-in method you choose, record keeping might be valuable in the future. I recommend that you capture and record screen shots of each step in the process. Then, if it’s ever needed, you can back up your claims that a person explicitly opted in to receiving emails from your company. Keep dates for when a specific workflow was implemented and taken out of production. This is especially valuable in the event that a question about a subscriber’s expressed intention to opt-in comes up after you’ve migrated to a new website or marketing automation platform, where the landing pages, forms and workflows might differ.
More Information about Email Marketing
For more information about email marketing best practices, check out these blog posts:
Complying With Global Anti-spam Laws
Email Marketing – Implied vs Explicit Consent
5 Tips to be an All-Star Email Marketer
- 4 Steps to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Sales Prospecting – February 12, 2021
- The Reality of Cold Calling for B2B Sales – January 11, 2021
- Can Inbound Marketing Generate Enough Leads? – January 9, 2021
