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Written by Brett Atkin
January 23, 2006
I have a client that chooses to not use double opt-in for email list. They have somewhere around 40,000 subscribers across 5-6 lists. Their attitude about incorporating double opt-in is really starting the bother me. We've talked about the risks over and over again and they don't care about the occasional spam report, CAN-SPAM implications, the impact to our overall deliverability through Constant Contact, possible reputation and branding impact, etc...
So, I'm interested in opinions on how to deal with this attitude. From the search engine and the spam association point of view, could I be hurting my business if the connection is made between their business and mine?
Or, am I just being overly righteous?
Thanks.
Brett Atkin
brettatkin.com
Written by
Trevor Johnson
January 24, 2006
"I have a client that chooses to not use double opt-in for email list... Their attitude about incorporating double opt-in is really starting the bother me." - Brett Atkin
As it should. If you search the net, you'll find numerous studies have been showing proving that confirmed opt-in (the correct term) mailings produce greater customer loyalty than single opt-in lists. The studies demonstrate that higher loyalty from confirmed opt-in lists in terms of significantly higher open rates, click-through rates and sales conversion rates than single opt-in. I'm sure your client must be interested in those types of numbers. Talk to your client about those benefits.
"From the search engine and the spam association point of view, could I be hurting my business if the connection is made between their business and mine?"
The search engines are unlikely to take umbrage at your for association with email spammers (they are more concerned about search engine spammers than email spammers) but from a spam point of view you are definitely putting yourself at risk. If any of the thousands of email systems administrators and abuse desk techies who frequent and swap notes in the USENET newsgroups such sees a relationship between you and your client and announces it, you can be very sure to feel plenty of pain. If your client refuses to amend their ways, protect yourself and dump them.
"Or, am I just being overly righteous?"
No, you are being a decent internet citizen by being concerned about preventing spam and improving system security. The internet world needs more people like you.
Trevor Johnson, Chairman
bestprac.org
Written by
Simon Grabowski
January 24, 2006
Dear Brett et al,
At GetResponse we are committed to educating our users about permission-based email marketing and we face the problem you have described every day, many times over. Granted, the conversion from unconfirmed ("single") opt-in to confirmed ("double") opt-in has always been a controversial issue. Some marketers think that they will experience a drastic decrease of results when they begin confirming subscriptions.
I understand that you've already attempted to talk your client into going confirmed by focusing on the negatives (spam complaints, deliverability woes, hindered reputation, CAN-SPAM etc.). Why don't you try it from another angle? Cleaner, permission-based lists generate more sales.
Way back in 2004, when we made the switch to confirmed opt-in for our own follow-up campaign on getresponse.com site, we saw:
* 27% reduction in overall subscriptions (ouch!)
* 12% decline in removal requests
* 19% decline in "hard" bounce-backs
* 16% decline in spam complaints
.. and, surprise surprise:
* a 2% _increase_ in sales.
Where did the increase come from? My theory is that subscribers that take a proactive step of confirming their intention to subscribe may tend to be more appreciative of your marketing messages, and therefore more likely to buy from you in the future.
So don't paint a gloomy picture for your client, but talk about their benefits. Take it one step at a time with them, and get them to switch a single list as a test.
Confirmed opt-in works.
Simon Grabowski
getresponse.com
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