I recently came across a thread on LinkedIn that sparked the topic for this article. As I scrolled through, I was concerned by how many Marketing Professionals believed Double Opt-In can be an alternative to verification and hygiene services.
I have to disagree with that.
Double opt-in does not take the place of real-time verification and hygiene, and here’s why.
Double Opt-Ins Can’t Help With…
1. Fat-fingered (typo) Emails:
Double opt-in is a great way to confirm the opt-in, but what if your subscriber never makes it that far? Because of that simple fat-fingered data entry, your subscribers never receive the opt-in email, resulting in a missed business opportunity.
Implementing a Data Verification solution at the point of capture, also called “real-time verification,” improves the quality of your organically collected sign-ups to ensure that your double opt-in email makes it to your subscriber’s inbox.
No more “gdosdfel@gnail.com” opt-ins from people who want your free report.
2. Disposable Domain Email Addresses:
Think of them as a burner account. Disposable Domains are temporary free email addresses created by recipients who click the DOI to receive that coupon or discount code.
They look like the absolute best customer, double opted-in, clicked the link, downloaded the coupon, and purchased an item. You might be wondering, okay, what’s wrong with that?
They aren’t real!
A disposable domain only has a lifespan of minutes, hours, or days, then like a time bomb, poof gone, and you’re left still wasting your marketing efforts sending to them.
To make matters worse, they are connected to a public inbox, which means big-time privacy issues. If that email was ever used to change a password or contains medical information, payment information, all of this sensitive information is now open to the public.
DOI is particularly vulnerable to disposable domains, but so is real-time email verification. Disposable Domains can pass a simple verification check, and can be very damaging to your reputation.
The best way to identify Disposable Domains is by running your list through email hygiene after capturing the emails.
Webbula Email Hygiene uses an active and passive filtration process to achieve maximum protection by leveraging real-time technology, spam traps signatures scan, validated suppression files, feedback loops, and more.
3. Bots
Bots are designed to locate sign up forms on the web and submit fake email addresses. While they might not be harmful, the cumulative effect of fraudulent sign-ups can negatively impact your sender reputation and open, click, and conversation rates.
Bots can open and click through your emails, bypassing your DOI, and real-time verification, because, again, they look like real emails! The only accurate way of identifying bots is through email hygiene after capturing the emails.
In Conclusion
I am certainly not against DOI by any means, but it’s important to understand that DOI has its weaknesses. Marketers shouldn’t put all their eggs in one basket and think of it as a substitute for Real-Time Verification or Email Hygiene.
Real-time validation adds excellent value; it gathers higher quality lead emails and helps you maintain a healthier list. But email hygiene allows you to identify those dangerous threats like bots and disposable domains that slip past real-time verification.
That is why it’s essential to have multiple steps to ensure you’re gathering the best email addresses to maintain a good sender reputation, deliverability rate, and other critical metrics for marketing success.
Having issues gathering good quality email addresses from your forms? Let’s chat, email me directly, or fill out a form, to discuss how we can help you.
About the Author
Jenna Devinney, Marketing Specialist
Jenna Devinney is the Marketing and Communications Specialist at Webbula. She manages social media, creates eye-catching content, and oversees web design. She’s a jill of all trades writing a surplus of 100+ blog articles over two and a half years in the email hygiene and data solutions space.
