This is my series of 30 brief interactive marketing tips. I’m posting each business day at 8:30 a.m. EST. Catch them all by subscribing to my blog or bookmarking the site. All of the posts will be tagged “30 interactive marketing tips” and listed on this page.
#24 – Use Double or Confirmed Opt-In for Email Subscribers
When it comes to email lists, quality AND quantity both count. Blasting your email to uninterested, bogus or dead email addresses could potentially hurt your reputation with ISPs. Translation: Your emails could get stuck in the junk mail folder.
When soliciting emails, verify the authenticity and interest of new subscribers with either a double opt-in (e.g. “you must click this link to confirm your subscription”) or confirmed opt-in (e.g. “You have been subscribed to the Digital Alex newsletter. Click here if this is incorrect.”)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Alex,
Good tip, I would just add that the marketer should take into account who the audience is, and how tech-integrated they are. I’ve seen quite a few email marketing campaigns fail with a double opt-in because the visitors weren’t familiar with them and didn’t know they had to take an action…resulting in a large number of lost opportunities.
Hey Pinny,
That’s a very good point. In cases like that, verified opt-in might be more appropriate.
This raises a more universal point about usability and user experience. You should plainly explain the status of an action a user has taken, what the steps in a process are and set expectations when action is required.
Cheers,
-Alex