The Nomenclature of Opt-In
There's a war of words being fought over what constitutes an opt-in subscription. Who uses which terms, and why.
There's a war of words being fought over what constitutes an opt-in subscription. Who uses which terms, and why.
As with so many aspects of email marketing, there’s much confusion over the meaning of “opt-in.” Different camps use the same terms to mean different things. Today, an overview of the nomenclature, and who uses which terms and why.
Opt-Out
Recipients are added to the list without their express permission. They remain there until they request to be removed.
Opt-out was long advocated by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) as the way to go. It argued the “one bite at the cherry” principle: every business should have the right to send you one email.
Opt-out isn’t outlawed by CAN-SPAM, but most respectable marketers realize it simply isn’t acceptable. Sending email is cheap. So many organizations could theoretically send to a given individual that the number of “one bite” messages would be overwhelming.
Single Opt-In
Recipients are added to a list through a single subscription act (filling in a form on a Web site, sending an email to a specific address, or filling in a business reply card). No confirmation is sent, nor is the subscription verified.
Some call this “opt-in,” others “opt-out.” There are a number of problems with this kind of subscription. The most common are:
Notified Opt-In
Recipients are added to a list through a single subscription act. An email is sent to notify them of their addition and to enable them to opt out if they wish.
This is a single opt-in subtype, and generally suffers from the same problems. Some people call this “confirmed opt-in” because a confirmation notice is sent to the new recipient. However, most consider confirmed opt-in to require active confirmation.
The problems of single opt-in are somewhat mitigated if the notification message is sent soon after subscription. Falsely or erroneously subscribed recipients can get off the list before they’re bombarded with list email.
Confirmed Opt-In
After a recipient indicates her desire to join a list, a confirmation message is sent to the address. Affirmative action must be taken to activate the subscription.
This process is often called “double opt-in” by marketers. The logic is the recipient must perform two actions to join a list. Many in the anti-spam community call it “opt-in,” considering closed-loop confirmation an absolute requirement of opt-in. The reasoning is without confirmation (by email or other assured mechanism) the opt-in request is unsafe and unreliable.
Confirmed opt-in (COI) has two main stumbling blocks for marketers:
How do you decide what type of opt-in is right for which circumstances? That’s a topic for the future.
Until next time.
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