Exploring All the Opt-Ins

Sometimes technical terms are like the menu of a coffee bar that can leave you scratching your head. The email marketing menu lists items like "opt-in," "opt-out," "single opt-in," "unconfirmed opt-in," "confirmed opt-in," and "double opt-in." Articles about mass email marketing often assume their audience is up to speed on all these terms. At Pathfinder Email Consulting, we deal with a lot of customers just breaking into the mass email marketing business, and like the novice coffee drinker, they have one simple question, "What does all this gibberish mean?" Consider this a primer.

Opt-Out
In the old days, the only option (when given an option at all) for an email message recipient was to opt-out of a list to prevent any further email message delivery. This was a standard practice for bulk email marketers, often giving rise to the perception that their email marketing practices were suspect. Eventually, illegitimate bulk email marketers began using this as a method to confirm harvested email addresses. When a batch of email messages was sent, those that opted-out were confirmed as legitimate addresses and sold to the highest bidder. The CAN-SPAM Law of 2003 is mostly criticized for leaving the opt-out option as the primary recourse for people finding themselves on a bulk email list to which they did not subscribe. An unsubscribe request is a subset of the opt-out procedure and presumes that the owner of the email address actually subscribed, or opted-in at one time. An unsubscribe opportunity should be included in every legitimate email message. Fortunately, most legitimate email marketers adopt a higher standard than just opting-out, and actually send email messages only to those who explicitly opt-in to receive an email message. Legitimate marketers also include a way to unsubscribe, and they honor all those requests in a timely manner.

Opt-In
When someone subscribes to receive an email message, such as a newsletter, they are asked to provide an email address to which the email newsletter will be delivered. Making this type of request is an explicit opt-in, or subscription, purportedly made by the owner of the email account. The subscriber has chosen the option of receiving an email newsletter, for example. The publisher has all the necessary information, namely an email address, to send the subscriber what they are asking to receive. If the subscriber is lucky, the publisher will only send the information that is requested and will not rent or sell the email address to a third party. If the publisher is lucky, the email address provided is really valid and belongs to someone who really is interested in receiving email messages. There are two main types of opt-in procedures: unconfirmed and confirmed.

Unconfirmed Opt-In
A subscription page that only asks for someone to provide an email address, but does not require verification, is an unconfirmed opt-in. Unconfirmed opt-in is also frequently called a "single opt-in," to be differentiated from the common term "double opt-in" that we address later on. Unconfirmed opt-in web forms may also request more information such as a password, or even an entire page of information via a secure site. However, they are still unconfirmed opt-ins if no verification is made. There are many obvious problems with unconfirmed opt-in subscriptions. People can sign up using someone else's email address, leading to unsolicited bulk email a.k.a. spam. These allegations are damaging to the sender's reputation, are difficult, and often time consuming to correct. There is no confirmation to the publisher as to whether the email address used is actually valid, potentially increasing the volume of undeliverable messages. It also fails to secure a commitment to the newsletter from the subscriber. People who confirm their subscriptions are more loyal and interested. They typically do not report the sender as a spammer when they are tired of the email message, but simply unsubscribe if they no longer wish to receive it.

Confirmed Opt-In
When a subscriber is asked to verify their subscription request, indicating they really do want to receive the specified publication, that is a confirmed opt-in. Typically, this is done by immediately sending the subscriber a confirmation email message, usually with a link to activate their subscription. This verifies to the publisher that the email address is valid, and it reaffirms the subscriber's commitment to receive the information requested. The confirmed opt-in is considered a best practice for mass email marketers. If the publisher follows confirmed opt-in procedures, they are more likely to use best practices in all email marketing and other business practices, which inspires confidence. A confirmed opt-in procedure also improves the overall effectiveness of the mass email marketer's list. On many websites, confirmed opt-in practices are sometimes erroneously referred to as "double opt-in." Spammers coined the term "double opt-in" to give the impression that confirming a subscription was a duplication of effort. Mass email marketers who use this term may be viewed as novices, and therefore are not really using best practices in their other email marketing efforts. The most accurate and appropriate term is confirmed opt-in.

Whether you are just getting started or are looking to brush up your email marketing vocabulary, words mean things. When you are at the coffee house, you definitely don't want to accidentally order a decaf espresso – what's the point? Make sure you are not only using the best practices available in your mass email marketing efforts; be sure to also use the correct terms to avoid any misperceptions.

Copyright 2008, Pathfinder Email Consulting