I had my eyes opened recently to an email marketing point that I was having trouble determining an answer to.
Should you require double opt-in or verification of an email address when someone subscribes to an online newsletter or offer? One side of me fought this idea with the thinking that it just adds another hoop for someone to jump through.
After a conversation with AWeber’s CEO Tom Kulzer, (my list and autoresponder service provider) I’ve become a firm believer in the necessity for double opt-in.
The argument that turned my head was the fact that when you don’t require verification, a person can fill any name and email in and then, when you unknowingly mail that address, guess who the spammer is – you!
Tom tells me that on all their various lists the name bob@aol.com shows up about 80 times an hour.
I think double opt-in is a much more professional approach for the small business to take as well. After all, it’s what the big guys do. With Aweber setting double opt-in up is like flipping a switch.
- Some other tips:
- Don’t put the link to your download in your redirect page, it allows them to grab what they are after without verifying or giving your an accurate address.
- Put verification instructions on your redirect page with the verification subject line to look for and ask them to white list your email address.
Bottom line, with double opt-in your subscriber lists will be much more responsive, you won’t be sending (even though innocently) spam and your subscribers will thank you for making the world a better place to live.