Confirmed opt-in for email marketing programs used to be considered a top notch practice. Is it still useful or should we automatically be using single op-in for email marketing? Here are some misconceptions about Double opt-in and some benefits to using this practice.
1. “It’s a bad idea if you want your list to grow!” Size is not the only thing that matters. So although single opt-in lists are bigger than double opt-in lists, they are not as valuable. At the end of the day it’s more important to have a better list than a bigger one. It is important to look at the open and response rates. Double opt- in is a winner when it comes to that, so here is a case where bigger really isn’t necessarily better.
2. “With deliverability these days, there is really no guarantee that the confirmation email will even be seen.” Okay, obviously this makes sense. If no confirmation email marketing is seen than subsequent emails won’t be viewed either. Simple solution then- take care of your deliverability problems. This can be done by authenticating your server and sending domain, and getting your subscribers to “whitelist” your address. However, what does any of this have to do with double confirmed opt-in? Nothing, because none of these things are connected, they are stand-alone proven best practices that have nothing to do with one another.
3. “The confirmation email might get lost.” See above answer.
4. “What about your client flagging my email as spam and then going straight into the junk file?” This can all be easily solved by reading over the part about asking subscribers to “whitelist” your sending address in their email client.
5.”As it is things are not easy out there, why make things even more difficult for you and your clients?” No one ever said that anything worthwhile in life would be easy. If you want things to be easy and you want a big list than there is no problem, the simple answer is Spam. This will allow you to add almost any email address to your lists. And while you are at it you can also buy illegal software that takes over unaware email addresses. However, ethical, intelligent, and committed marketers know that if they want genuine and successful results from their campaigns, that size is not the only thing of importance.
