Understanding Email Opt-In
Understanding email opt in is actually a lot easier than it may seem if you are encountering the concept for the first time. It is also known as permission marketing as its basic nature is to encourage visitors to a web site to subscribe to a newsletter by filling in an online form with their email address and name, and then submitting the information.
In this way the visitor has performed an email opt in, they have freely given their prior consent to receive an email newsletter in return, which is just a convenient way for the marketer to keep in touch with the new subscriber. The newsletter may be published once a day or once a month. Some are only published occasionally and there may be several months between issues. It all depends on the individual marketer.
Double Opt-In email subscription
The agreed best practices for compiling an email list is to use double opt-in. This simply means that after a new subscriber opts in by submitting their information, they receive an email from an autoresponder asking them to provide confirmation that they really do want to subscribe to the mailing list. This usually means that they are asked to click a link in the email message, which will take them to a web page that declares them to be a confirmed opt-in.
This form of email authentication is encouraged by everyone within the industry who strives to maintain best practices. Unfortunately though, there are some who do not adhere so closely to the accepted standards. They practice unsolicited email marketing, also known as spam. Anyone who has an email address will know what spam is. It’s the wave of unwanted messages you receive daily, usually containing outrageous offers to do just about anything for you, from increasing certain body parts to decreasing other parts, and more often than not, guaranteeing to make you rich overnight.
Spam obviously works for some, but it is not only heavily frowned on by every respectable email marketing service, but also illegal. Those who send out unsolicited, and therefore not email opt in messages, are finding themselves in prison in some cases. It simply is not worth doing.
A responsible email marketing campaign on the other hand, works through prior consent. Every confirmed opt-in new subscriber knows what they will receive, and they are happy to do so too. They also know they can opt-out at any time should they change their mind and choose not to continue receiving the regular targeted offers. The subscribers are given a choice in the matter.
