Opt-in Email in Theory and Practice

Opt-in email is all about permission-based contact.

By sending email only to people who want it, you differentiate your messages from spam and increase the value of your list, among other benefits.

Lyris ListManager makes permission-based email fast and hassle-free because it automates the opt-in process.

Double Confirmation

Opt-in email comes in a variety of forms. A "single" opt-in list is created by inviting members to join via a web form; once they submit the form, they're signed up for the list.

If you add another step — requiring that all new members confirm their subscription via email — then your list is double opt-in," also called "double confirmation."

Double confirmation validates that an email list is truly permission-based, and it has become the standard for qualifying a list as a legitimate, non-spam means of business communication.

Lyris ListManager is exceptionally strong at double confirmation. When a new member joins a list, ListManager can send a confirmation request via email immediately and automatically.

ListManager delivers the confirmation request to the new member so quickly and reliably that the desire to join your list is still top-of-mind. This means the member is far more likely to complete the confirmation process.

Failsafe Confirmation

After ListManager delivers the confirmation request to a new list member, the recipient must take action to confirm her membership. Lyris ListManager makes that action easy with failsafe confirmation.

Failsafe confirmation simply requires new list members to click "reply" and "send" to the confirmation request.

Two clicks, that's it — no complicated steps, no cryptic commands to learn. Your members will be satisfied, your list will grow in size, and your email communication will meet the highest opt-in standards.

Why Double Opt-in Is Important

At Lyris, we are firm advocates of the double opt-in practice. Double opt-in is the most ethical way to create a list, and helps build more valuable membership lists.

Owners of double confirmation lists command higher advertising rates because their lists are 100% permission-based, and therefore garner better responses from readers.

Double confirmation is also the only safeguard against being blacklisted by various anti-spam organizations on the Internet, which as a matter of policy now block email from lists that are not double opt-in.

Have you been blacklisted? Find out if your IP address or domain name have been blacklisted with our FREE blacklist tool.

Blacklisting is a serious threat: it can shut down a list almost immediately, cost thousands of dollars in lost revenue, and destroy your credibility with advertisers and business partners. The best way to avoid blacklisting is to run a double opt-in list.

Finally, double confirmation makes list administration easier, and helps keep an email list clean — that is, comprised of valid addresses and willing subscribers. Clean lists are delivered faster, because the server doesn't spend time retrying bad addresses. If you're a ListHosting customer, clean lists also mean lower hosting bills because you aren't sending messages to recipients who don't exist.

If you'd like to learn even more about opt-in email, take a look at our resources page.

Contact us at editor@lyris.com to share your ideas. We may include it in the next issue of Making Mail Work!