Email Opt-Ins – What Are They?
Opt-in is when someone subscribes to your email list voluntarily. For example, when a viewer visits your website and enters their email address, their email is now in your list. This is single opt-in. When you send an email link to the viewer asking them to confirm, you are employing a 2-step process to add a viewer’s email to your list. This is double opt-in. This type of marketing is called permission marketing.
However, these aren’t the only ways of getting subscribers. There is another option available, which allows you to send emails without asking for permissions. This is called soft opt-in, wherein you can send promotional emails or content to people wanting to know about something specific. For soft opt-ins, the email address was acquired during negotiations for the sale, or during the sale, of a product or service offered by the marketer.
Is Your Email List an Opt-In List?
If your contact list was generated through these two methods, then your list is an opt-in list:
- Contacts who signed up using a subscription form on your website.
- Customers who checked a box saying “please add me to your email list” (or something along these lines) when submitting a form on my website.
If you’ve obtained your contacts obtained through social media or tradeshows or any means other than the ones specified above, then it is not an opt-in list.
Long story short, if the contact willingly conveyed the message “please add me to your email list”, then it is considered opt-in.
Single or Double?
This is a conundrum that everyone faces. And it is a tough choice to make. You’ll find several marketers who swear by both techniques. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of both of these techniques:
Here’s my take – choose a technique depending on the type of event.
For example, if you are sending e-newsletters or other forms of content, you require your target audience to be adequately qualified. In this case, you should go for double opt-in. It is a surefire way of driving greater engagement with your subscribers and ensuring that they are qualified enough. Sure, it is expensive and a bit tedious. But, in this case, the choice is between quality and quantity. Always opt for quality.
However, if you are sending a promo or an offer, your target is to reach the maximum possible number of people. In this case, you should go for single opt-in. It is a one-step process and a surefire way of speedily growing your email list. Spending time, resources and efforts using a double opt-in makes no sense for such an event. Only use double opt-in if you:
- have faced deliverability issues in the past
- are a potential target for malicious intent
- want to prevent your IP address from being blacklisted (risk to your reputation)
The Perfect Opt-In Form and the Secret to Boosting your Subscriber Lists (Spoiler Alert: You might not like it)
Pop-ups drive you crazy, I totally understand, for they used to drive me crazy too. But they get the results. Take a look at these:
Pop-ups drive 1375% more subscribers. – Aweber
Opt-in pop-ups result in 1,000% increase in conversions. – Ask Leo
Like it or not, pop-ups work like a charm.
KissMetrics sums it up perfectly by saying, Pop-ups are like Justin Bieber. They annoy everyone but still manage to be wildly successful.
So if you aren’t using pop-ups on your website, it is high time that you start using them.
Confused about the pop-up type? Here is a simple chart for determining which type of pop-up you should use:
Word of advice: Don’t surface pop-ups for people who are already subscribed. That is a flaw in how some scrappy blogs get these pop-ups running and end up pissing people off. – Anum Hussain, HubSpot
For more information on the type of pop-up to use, check out this article by on Crazy Egg.
Which opt-in process do you use? What are your thoughts on pop-ups? Share your opinions and insights with us here! #emailmarketing @mailee.me
