What is an opt-in?
Opt-in is a permission-based inbound strategy where marketers or website owners solicit consent when sending promotional offers and content about a brand through email. The content can be about new blog posts, product announcement, or stories about your brand.
There are two types of opt-in – single opt-in or double opt-in. They are usually presented in the form of landing pages, pop-ups, widgets, or downloadable materials on the site.
Single opt-in vs. double opt-in
You’ve probably heard the terms single opt-in and double opt-in, but what’s the difference? Here’s a quick rundown of the two.
A single opt-in allows a one-click subscription method where subscribers get to receive marketing offers almost instantly. Its main advantages are:
1. Fast and easy build of mail subscriptions
2. Less hassle for customers
3. Highly advantageous for people on the go or are using mobile when signing up
Meanwhile, a double opt-in requires you to confirm your subscription after signing up before they can send newsletters to your email. This method is fairly easy as well, and benefits such as:
a. Getting real, high-quality email addresses
b. Reduce risk of getting inactive email users
c. Better click-through rates
Are opt-ins required on every website?
Opt-ins are not only beneficial in boosting your marketing strategy – it’s a must. About 100 billion of spam sent daily to emails asking for viewership or financial solicitations. These unwelcome emails have been a popular tool for duplicitous activity.
The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003 lays down the requirements email-sending. Marketers, bloggers, website owners, and businesses should represent their identity in good faith and void of all deception.
What’s more, they should also provide users to opt-out or unsubscribe from further newsletters or marketing promotions in the future. To further prevent spam, marketers even use double opt-ins as a verification method where it requires users to confirm their email.
Why email opt-in matters to your business
People hate spam – and, you wouldn’t want them to think your business is one, too. Having an opt-in integrated into your site would protect you and fare you well in a better position with users. Unconvinced? Here are some reasons why an opt-in can do your business good.
Boosts lead generation
An email opt-in helps you build a mailing list of interested buyers, viewers, or partners. Even if they haven’t purchased anything from you, they’ll gradually become aware of your brand until they’ll contact you in a heartbeat.
Builds trust and credibility
A website that publishes a disclaimer that they’ll be sending emails for marketing purposes only gets more subscribers than those who don’t. Because of the transparency you’re showing to customers, they’ll gravitate more emotionally to that ideal of trust.
Predicts user’s interests
Business owners get an insight on which content works best to capture a user’s interest. Will a free e-book work in exchange for an email than our regular post? How about a discount on their first purchase?
Better promotion open rate
Untrusted site emails usually end up in spam or trash before users can even open them. With an opt-in, your emails get to be sent in their primary lists where they can open and enjoy reading.
Easy, emotional engagement with customers
The opt-in gets to connect with customers on an emotional level where they can converse on what’s new, or on a follow up on customers who left items on their shopping cart. What’s more, it allows website owners to send “personal emails” like welcome and thank you messages.
With an opt-in form, it encourages a prospective customer to sign-up for marketing features with their consent. If that isn’t good business practice, then we don’t know what is.
Tips on improving opt-ins
It’s always been a challenge for most marketers to get enough email subscribers to increase customer loyalty and engagement. In order to boost your opt-ins, here are the necessary steps to take.
Choose a platform
You need a reliable mail system to acquire customers’ emails and automate your messages out to them. Favored platforms are mostly Aweber and MailChimp that can do personalization, scheduling, and optimization. They also have customized or template-built pages ready for you to redesign.
Decide what to offer
Nowadays, marketers wouldn’t simply ask for a person’s email without exchanging something in return. For example, they often give free e-books, access to a webinar, or a huge discount on their first purchase. Making valuable offers creates hype around users – they couldn’t just resist your offer, so they have to sign up.
Include opt-in even for mobile users
Some opt-ins only work for desktop users. However, it’s essential to adopt a multichannel approach where users see your offers in mobile versions too. When optimizing your opt-in, make sure to consider offering it in multiple channels.
Place social media channels in your opt-in
Many people who can’t reply back to your offer in opt-in may choose to contact you through different social networks. Whether that’d be on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, let your subscribers get plenty of choice on how to reach you.
Talk about how they can benefit from the offer
A reputable site can only attract as many readers as they can, but they need further engagement. People usually engage with a business if they deemed it trustworthy. Talk about how they can benefit from your offer. Show reviews, testimonials, or real people who will talk about your products.
Let subscribers choose to opt-out also
Surely you don’t want to lose subscribers, but letting them choose to unsubscribe can be beneficial as well. It makes them feel safe joining your list because of the control you’re giving them.
