Do you know the difference between a single and double opt-in process? Which one should you use to win new email subscribers? Read on for our guidance.

Single Opt-In

So, this is basically a sign-up process where a user does not need to verify that they signed up to receive email campaigns. The user submits their email address, (and maybe some further details about their preferences), and they’re added to your email marketing database. This can be an instant process if you use Campaignmaster Subscriber Forms.

Double Opt-In

A double opt-in requires confirmation that the subscriber has indeed signed up. This is achieved by sending an instant email notification to the user after form submission. This notification email requires the user to physically click on a link within the email to confirm their legitimate ownership of that email address. What’s more by gently pushing your subscriber to check their inbox, they are also verifying their intent to receive your content. By the way Campaignmaster can handle both single and double opt-in’s easily for you.

It’s also worth noting the double in opt is not essential for GDPR but we say two consents are better than one!

Additionally, German courts are not satisfied with a single consent declaration by the customer, so double opt is a legal requirement in Germany.

If you’re still unsure of which opt-in process is better for you, I’ve listed the pros and cons below.

Pros of Single Opt-In

Gain new subscribers quickly

Cons of Single-Opt In

One entry of your email address may not be accurate so you haven’t got a new subscriber after all
Spambots could submit fake email addresses
A wrong email address means a hard bounce which over time can affect your sender reputation
Giving someone else’s email address (ever heard of revenge spam?!) resulting in the genuine owner reporting as spam so again affecting your sender reputation

Pros of Double Opt-In

Obviously a cleaner list
No ‘revenge spam’ attempts
Further opportunity to up sell at point of verification (discount on verification)
Higher engagement from genuine subscribers
Privacy laws are becoming more and more stringent so having full consented, double opted-in email data will be more compliant than ever

Cons of Double Opt-In

Slower list growth as requires further human interaction
Verification may end up in the junk box delaying the sign up process further

The question then is which is better? In our expert opinion, it depends on your business and the priorities you place on building a subscriber database. Probably not the straight answer you were looking for, but that’s email marketing for you! Different processes work for different businesses.

Double opt-in will gives you a cleaner list but may be slower in terms of list growth but if you find you have high hard bounce rates due to inaccurate email data then I would suggest you opt for double opt-in.

If you want to grow a list quickly single opt-in is the obvious choice.

Still, I thought I’d share this double opt-in process from Richard James to give you further food for thought:

A pop up window appeared after around 5 seconds to encourage me to sign up:

An instant notification telling me the process is not so long and to check my inbox:

Here’s the prompt notification in my inbox along with a contact email address if I have any questions about the list I am being added to which is a nice touch: