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What is Skull E-Adz Targeted & Fresh Opt- In Email List Marketing?
A double opt in email list generally means that all email addressees on the list have responded positively to a confirmation email that confirms their desire to be on the list.
This means that every individual on the list has both signed up to be on the list and confirmed the sign up by email.
A double opt-in email list is like any email based newsletter or e-course where people can sign-up through the Internet either on a webpage or sending an email to mailing list management software.
What makes an email list “double opt-in” is that any person who subscribes must confirm their request twice
The first time is when the user submits their email address to the web based form. For example, anyone who submits their name and email to our Skull Blog must enter their first name and email address and then hit the button to submit their request to join the newsletter.
After the initial request is received by the email list software, a special confirmation email is sent to the address the person input into the form. This is the second opt-in. The email contains a link which the recipient must click to confirm their subscription request. Once they have done this they have “double opted-in”.
Why Is Double Opt-In Important?
There are several reasons why double opt-in is necessary, but a few key reasons we believe make it mandatory.
The double opt-in confirms that the person who entered their email address actually wants to subscribe to the list. If this extra confirmation is not present (single opt-in) then any person could enter any email address to sign-up any other person.
Imagine if you upset someone and they decided to get revenge on you by entering your email address into hundreds of pornographic email newsletters. You would be forced to abandon that email account (unless you really really like porn) if these lists were single opt-in.
From the email list owner’s perspective it’s important that only people who genuinely want to be on your list are signed up. If you use a single-opt on method and, like the example I gave above, someone entered hundreds of email addresses of people who did not want to subscribe to your list, you would end up with a very poor quality list. Those “spam” subscribers wouldn’t respond to what you were offering since they are not your target market.
Do You Want An Effective Email List?
The whole point of an opt-in email list is to attract people who subscribe demonstrating that they are prospects for what you offer – their request for information signifies this. Using a double opt-in list is extremely important for keeping the quality of your email list high.
Consider you are selling advertising space in your email newsletter. You could boast that your email list has 20,000 members but they are all single opt-in and very likely many of the addresses on the list are not valid or go to people who never requested to be on your list. Your advertiser purchases some space in your newsletter but gets poor results so doesn’t buy again.
Now imagine a list contains 2,000, double opt-in hungry prospects that match a key target market. That same advertiser buys space in the newsletter and because of the more precise targeting and confirmed email addresses on the list, generates a better response. The result – a happier advertiser who becomes a repeat buyer of adspace in your newsletter.
Just being able to say “XYZ number of DOUBLE OPT-IN subscribers” is a much better selling point for any person attempting to monetize their list via advertisement placements.
Reduce SPAM Complaints
All email list owners get unsubscribers and spam complaints – it’s the nature of email marketing. People hate spam and anything that smells even a tiny bit like it or if a person can’t remember signing up to your list, may result in a spam complaint (AOL email subscribers are the worst for this in my experience). Even if you have a nice big fat area at the start of your newsletter that describes how to unsubscribe for an email list you will still get people who hit that complaint link.
By using double opt-in you can reduce spam complaints down to single digit percentages or lower. A single opt-in email newsletter lends itself to abuse, resulting in more spam complaints and potential banning of your domain name by the major ISPs. This is something you must avoid at all costs because once you are on an email blacklist it is hard to get yourself off.
One final point on spam – while double opt-in is not law yet I foresee in the very near future it will be. Using a single opt-in email list will be illegal and anyone found doing so may face legal prosecution. If none of the above arguments are enough to sway you, the threat of legal action should do it. | 
