Double Opt-In Email is the Gold Standard for Email Marketing List Building
There is no better way to build your list, than from people who really want to hear from you!
Email marketing is a highly inexpensive way of promotion as compared to all other modes of advertising. Whether you have a large budget or a shoe-string one, an email marketing campaign will almost always make a compelling case for itself. Email marketing is also a very effective way to maintain regular correspondence with your customers and entice prospects to buy your products and services, no matter where they are. Also, if you design and execute your email campaign well, you’re likely to give the sales and traffic on your website a big boost.
A 'spammer' in the works
Internet surfers always worry about the possibility of their privacy being compromised. With the amount of rampant spamming going on today, this worry is justified. People are afraid that their personal data might be misused if they signup for an email campaign. This is why they are extremely selective about opting in for any kind of email communication.
So how can you convince them to signup? One way is to assure them that you respect their privacy and won’t divulge their email addresses to anyone else. Another measure you could, and probably should, take is to use a double opt-in system.
What is Double Opt-In Email?
Double Opt-In Email (also referred to as Confirmed Opt-In) is a two-step process that allows a user to join your mailing list. The user must initially sign up (typically from your website), and then respond to a follow-up email. Only once he has responded to the follow up email will he receive any further email. There are two basic advantages of this system. Firstly, you can verify if the email address provided is valid, and secondly, you will have fewer spam complaints because only users who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer will sign-up.
Tracking & Reporting
While sending out emails is the key task for any email newsletter distribution service, they also play a crucial role in understanding the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign. The best ESPs give you real-time tracking information and reports in easy-to-analyze visual formats. With this, you can figure out how many opens, hard and soft bounces, click-throughs and forwards your emails are getting. And if you use Benchmark Email, you can even compare different email campaigns side-by-side to see the progress you’re making in a single screen!
For a double opt-in system, you require an intuitive email marketing service like Benchmark Email. Benchmark Email’s Permission Pass system dispatches emails to your subscribers to confirm that they wish to receive emails from you. Their subscription gets confirmed only if they click on the link in the email.
In addition to the advantages listed earlier, here are some more benefits you can enjoy with double opt-in signups:
Your subscribers list will be a lot more focused and qualitatively superior. Consequently, more recipients will respond to your emails.
From a financial perspective, you will spend less money reaching customers and prospects who will add to your bottom-line.
It will help you safeguard against the possibility of getting blacklisted, because of fewer spam complaints.
Double Opt-In: The way ahead
With time, it may be made compulsory, by law, for companies to have a double opt-in system in place before initiating an email marketing campaign. Your list may be shorter because of this double opt-in system; however, you can expect better returns from it in the long run.
The way we see it, double opt-in email is the way to go!
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