What Is “Confirmed Opt-In” for Email Subscriptions?

One of the hardest things for clients to get their minds around is the need to have a confirmed subscription list.

In most people’s minds, it seems sensible to send an email to a list of prospective customers without a second thought of whether it may be considered the dreaded SPAM.

Unfortunately, common sense does not win out here. It is a sad fact, but it has been shown, year after year, that approximately 90% of all the email flying around cyberspace is SPAM or abusive in some way1.

Because of that, many governments around the world have enacted, or are in the process of enacting, anti-SPAM laws.

The precise definition of spam differs slightly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in accordance with local laws. For example, in Europe and Canada, the law is based on an “opt-in” approach, whereas the United States has adopted an “opt out” approach. Nevertheless, most would agree that “spam” can be defined as electronic communications that likely are not wanted or expected by the recipient.
  • In the USA alone, it can cost you up to $16,000 per email2.
  • In the Netherlands, a “confirmed opt-in”, or “double opt-in” is required by law3.
    • Explicit consent is needed before sending a commercial email to any company
    • Even for existing databases you will need this consent (opt-inning your old databases

Just about all jurisdictions, whether they follow the “opt-in” or “opt-out” model require that all communication have an opt-out link that leads to a one-step opt-out process. In the U.S., the opt-out (or unsubscribe) must be processed within 30 days. In Canada it’s 5 days. And so on.

All is not doom and gloom however.

There are some very good reasons why you would want to use a confirmed opt-in approach.

  • Obviously, it is the law in so many jurisdictions. The effort of segregating subscribers by country and keeping track of changes to the laws would be unreasonable.
  • By requiring that potential subscribers confirm their participation in your list, you are seriously reducing the number of bogus, automated or spam sign-ups.
  • Once a subscriber is confirmed, you know that they are actually interested in receiving what you are sending. At least the first time! Having pre-qualified leads in any business is a plus.
  • Only the subscriber can actually sign up. Nobody can sign someone else up for a mailing list.
  • And finally, perhaps the most important…
Sending emails to past or prospective customers, without their consent, runs the risk of annoying them to the point of them not wishing to have anything to do with you in the future.

Click for larger view

So finally, after all that, here is a quick chart of how the process works.

The unsubscribe, or “opt-out” process is not shown here.

It is very simple: In every communication sent to a user, there is a link to unsubscribe or opt-out. That (usually) will send the user to a page that confirms their action.

  1. Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG). Email Metrics Report Third and Fourth Quarters 2010.www.MAAWG.org.
  2. Federal Trade Commission (U.S.). CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business
  3. CMS Derks Star Busmann. Dutch new law prohibits ‘B2B spam’

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