When you're in the beginning stages of creating an email list, you'll need to decide between single opt-in vs double opt-in.
What's the difference?
With single opt-in, you add subscribers to your mailing list as soon as he or she subscribes. There's no further action the subscriber needs to take before receiving your emails.
With double opt-in, subscribers need to do two things before you add them to your mailing list:
- Provide their email addresses and indicate they want to subscribe;
- Confirm their subscriptions by clicking the appropriate link in a confirmation email they receive.
What are the upsides and downsides to using single opt-in?
Upsides
- Because you immediately add users to your email list, they can begin receiving messages right away.
- You won't lose users who, for whatever reason, don't click through on the confirmation email.
Downsides
- You'll receive fake email addresses. For example, if you're running a promotion or a contest, some people will provide fake addresses just to receive the giveaway.
- You'll receive email addresses that are incorrect. People can accidentally enter in their email addresses incorrectly, and they'll never know unless they follow-up with you on why they aren't receiving emails from you. However, it's more likely that the user forgets and you lose out on a contact.
What are the upsides and downsides to using double opt-in?
Upsides
- Because users have to sign up for your list and confirm their signup, you know that they really want to be on your list. These users tend to have higher levels of engagement with your emails.
- You prevent spam addresses (fake addresses, addresses entered by a bot, etc.) from being added to your list. Not only does this mean you'll see lower rates of things like hard bounces, you'll keep your lists cleaner, making later maintenance (such as list cleaning) easier.
Downsides
- You might lose out on customers who don't confirm their email addresses, even though they did sign up for your emails and want to receive them. Maybe they forgot to confirm, or the confirmation email got caught in their spam filter.
- You might seem spam-like, especially if the user receives a lot of emails from you soon after signing up. For example, someone might not be thrilled if you send a confirmation email, a welcome email, and your weekly email during the week after they've subscribed.