Jeffrey Bertoen

Opt-in and double opt-in: do you ask for permission?

Written by Jeffrey Bertoen on

Getting started with email marketing or mobile marketing? Then be sure to use an opt-in. It is important for your relation to grant 'unequivocal' permission for further processing their personal data. The relation clearly indicates that the personal data can be processed and used for a specific reason. For example, for sending a newsletter.

Granting permission to send emails or text messages is done by submitting the email address or mobile phone number on a website. Or by sending a 'subscribe'-mail to a specific subscription-address.

Double opt-in

Use a double opt-in system to confirm the permission of the relation. This can prevent spam complaints. Double opt-in or confirmed opt-in means the permission granted by the relation is verified. The verification consists of sending an email to the given email address asking the recipient for confirmation of his subscription. The relation can then verify by replying by email or by clicking on a confirmation hyperlink.

Soft opt-in

You do not need to ask for permission when existing clients are contacted concerning similar products or services. This concerns a soft opt-in. Soft opt-in can be used when email marketing is used:

  • Within a proper group of companies
  • Towards an existing customer relation
  • When selling an own product or service
  • When the provided information falls within the expectations of the recipient

When the provided information falls within the expectations of the recipient We recommend always using an opt-out. The customer has to be able to unsubscribe at all times.

Related articles

opt-in double opt-in email marketing emailing errors marketing software spam soft opt-in opt-out

The use of abandoned shopcart emails in Europe

The European eCommerce market is thriving. The European market overtook the world’s largest market, the US, in 2010. Two years later, in 2012 the European B2C eCommerce market grew by 19% (source: Europe B2C Ecommerce Report 2013). In other words, it’s a booming market in which many hope to achieve success. Based on our own experience we know that there are still too much webshop owners that don’t fully exploit the data they gather from their webshop. Data obtained from abandoned shopcarts for example.

Assisted by partners from Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany we decided to visit several webshops to see if they used this event driven email campaign and what the differences were per country and per eCommerce platform used.