Double Opt-in: What Is It and How to Set It Up?

Whether in your real mailbox or your digital one, no one likes to get junk mail. For that reason, if you plan on sending marketing emails or promotional newsletters to new customers, it's a good idea to get their explicit permission. This way, you can avoid annoying your recipients and keep bots off your email distribution lists.

The easiest way to get such permission is through the so-called double opt-in method. In this article, we'll let you know how it works, as well as how to configure your newsletter's registration process to support it.

Double opt-in refers to an email marketing confirmation process that ensures that the recipient really wants to receive commercial emails and newsletters. As the name suggests, it's a two-part process:

First, a recipient inputs their email address in a form, for example, to receive a newsletter. A confirmation email is then sent to that address. In the second part, the individual needs to click on a link in the email in order to confirm that they actually want to receive the content requested in the first step. Only then is their email address added to the distribution list.

While you might be wondering what the point of such a process is, it does offer a few useful advantages:

In the European Union, double opt-ins have been particularly relevant since 2018, when the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) entered into force. This provides legal guidelines for how personal data is handled. Since other opt-in methods don't entirely meet the GDPR's stringent criteria, double opt-ins have become the de facto standard:

Because of the above, double opt-ins have become the only registration process that legally meets the GDPR's robust criteria.

The double opt-in process needs to be actively confirmed by the individual requesting to be added to a distribution list, ensuring that only valid email addresses make the cut. In this way, falsely input email addresses are filtered out as are those left by bots.

At the same time, you'll also sift out those users who decide that they don't want to be on your distribution list after all. You shouldn't lose any sleep over these, since they likely weren't drawn enough to your products and services, meaning that they would have ignored your messages and announcements anyways.

As a result, embracing the double opt-in method strengthens the overall quality of your email distribution list.

A better distribution list means that your emails will be opened and read more frequently. You'll avoid hard bounces altogether since using the method filters out non-working or erroneous email addresses. Because double opt-in makes sure that only those visitors wind up on your distribution list who are really interested in what you have to offer, the likelihood is greater that they'll actually be willing to interact with your content.

Everyone gets spam and email newsletters that we really should unsubscribe from. For lots of potential customers, the polite request to confirm that they really want to receive promotional materials is a nice change of pace. In this way, you leave a positive impression, already at the beginning of your client-seller relationship (even for those who don't confirm their willingness to subscribe to your newsletter).

In order for your double opt-in process to be reliable, you'll need to make sure that you configure it properly. Don't worry though: This isn't difficult to do. The easiest way to handle it is with a dedicated email marketing solution since these support double opt-in by default and leave little room for error.

In addition, professional email marketing tools offer all sorts of features that can help to make your newsletter more visually appealing. With their insightful statistics, you'll be able to see how successful (or not) the steps you take are. This, in turn, allows you to identify areas for improvement and make adjustments, with better and more efficient newsletters as the end result.

We tested 12 email marketing services, and our findings can help you in determining which best meets your needs:

But even if you don't want to use an email marketing service, we'll show you how to setup a reliable and legally-conform double opt-in process for your email registration pages.

The first thing you'll need is a form that visitors to your site can use to signup for your newsletter, such as by checking a box. You have to display your email address (or the email address they'll be receiving emails from) here. Since an email address is considered personal data, you're also legally required to include a data privacy statement on this page, informing potential subscribers which data is collected and how it's used.

Acceptance of your data privacy policy is a prerequisite for registering for your newsletter. For this, you'll need a checkbox that includes a link to your data privacy statement.

Of course, you could also request additional information, submission of which must be kept voluntary for would-be subscribers. However, we recommend limiting yourself to only the most essential data, since you need to ensure its security. The following information might be of interest:

Personal information should only be transmitted in an encrypted fashion. For that reason, you should use the HTTPS protocol for your newsletter's registration/deregistration pages.

After clicking on "Signup" or "Register", your new would-be subscriber will receive a notification in their browser that their data has been successfully sent to you. They'll also be asked to check their email inbox for the message with a confirmation link. Clicking on this will successfully conclude the newsletter registration process.

In order for the confirmation email not to wind up in the user's spam folder, it will need to meet some requirements. It cannot contain ads or offers of any kind. Additionally, the email should only have a simple message and information, such as when the email address was input (a timestamp) and the IP address of the computer it was done from.

The individual who signed up for your newsletter needs to explicitly agree to this in the confirmation email. Only after clicking on the link this email contains will their email address be added to your distribution list.

As the sender of a newsletter, you should be able to supply records showing when someone signed up for your newsletter and with which IP address they did this. Therefore, make sure that you save the text of their entry on the registration page, their consent to your data protection statement, and their interaction with the confirmation email.

The easiest way to do this is by integrating all these texts in the confirmation email and saving it. In case this feature isn't offered by your email marketing tool, you can automatically BCC yourself on each new subscription. We recommend setting up a separate email address just for this.

Hint: Even if it's tempting to send a follow-up email to those who fail to confirm their newsletter registration, we advise not doing this, since it can save you frustration.

Once the new subscriber has clicked on the confirmation link, a page should open in their browser, informing them that they've successfully signed up for your newsletter.

However, there also exist scenarios in which registration isn't completed, such as when someone is already signed up for the newsletter, the data transfer didn't work, or the confirmation link expired. In these cases, there are alternative landing pages that provide more detailed information about why registration failed.

Even though the advantages of double opt-ins outweigh their disadvantages, there are still a few worth mentioning:

Make sure that every newsletter you send offers subscribers a way to unsubscribe. For this, we also recommend using a two-step process, so that people don't unknowingly unsubscribe. It likely won't come as much of a surprise, but double opt-out is the counterpart to double opt-in, and also needs to be confirmed via a second email.

Like its more positive counterpart, with double opt-outs you'll need to pay attention to a few things:

Should consumer-friendly email marketing be your priority, it's a good idea to integrate the double opt-in method. This ensures that your emails reach their intended recipient, and more importantly, that those people truly wish to receive them. Most critically though, they keep you in step with the GDPR.

The easiest way to integrate double opt-ins to your newsletter that conform with the GDPR is through the usage of a professional email marketing tool. To find out which of these is best for you and your needs, be sure to check out our EXPERTE.com comparison of email marketing tools.

As always though, when it comes to legal matters, the best advice is provided by lawyers.