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How to create double opt-in emails

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With double opt-in, your follow-up and scheduled emails go only to entrants who click a subscribe link in your autoresponder. Turn on Require Double Opt-In in your company profile, then add the {{subscribe}} link to the autoresponder for each list. Without that link, no one can subscribe.

How it works

Double opt-in is a setting on a company profile, so it applies to every email that uses that profile.

EmailWho receives it with double opt-in on
AutoresponderEvery entrant. It carries the subscribe link.
Follow-upOnly entrants who clicked the subscribe link.
ScheduledOnly entrants who clicked the subscribe link.

Entrants who click the link see your subscription message and are marked as subscribed. Use double opt-in when you need confirmed consent, for example to meet GDPR requirements or your own email policy. If you don't need it, leave it off: with it on, people who never click the link don't receive your follow-up or scheduled emails.

Turn on double opt-in

  1. Open any email, or create one in the Emails Manager, and click the Company Profile name at the top.
  2. In Subscription settings, tick Require Double Opt-In.
  3. Edit the subscription and unsubscribe messages if you want to, then click Save and Select.
  1. Open the autoresponder for the list, or create one. Make sure it uses the company profile where you turned on double opt-in.
  2. In the email content, type the words people will click, such as "Confirm your subscription", and highlight them.
  3. Click the link (chain) icon, enter {{subscribe}} as the URL, and click OK.
  4. Finish the email and click Save & Activate.

You can also click Email Subscribe URL in Available Merge Fields to insert {{subscribe}} where your cursor is. It appears in the email as a plain web address, so a text link reads better.

If something goes wrong

What you seeWhat to do
Follow-up or scheduled emails aren't reaching anyoneCheck the autoresponder for that list includes the {{subscribe}} link and is Active. Until entrants click it, they aren't subscribed.
The link shows as {{subscribe}} text, or as a long web addressMake it a text link: highlight words, click the link icon, and enter {{subscribe}} as the URL.
The link is missing from your test emailThat's expected. Test it by entering your published campaign with your own address.
You turned double opt-in on by mistakeUntick Require Double Opt-In in the company profile and click Save and Select. Follow-up and scheduled emails go to all entrants again.

FAQs

Does the autoresponder go to people who haven't subscribed?

Yes. The autoresponder is the email that carries the subscribe link, so every entrant receives it. Double opt-in applies to follow-up and scheduled emails.

Why isn't the subscribe link in my test email?

The {{subscribe}} link fills in only on emails sent to real entrants. To check it, enter your published campaign with your own email address and click the link in the autoresponder you receive.

Does turning on double opt-in affect people who entered before?

Yes. Once it's on, follow-up and scheduled emails using that company profile go only to people who have subscribed, including anyone who entered earlier and never clicked a subscribe link.

Can I change the message people see after they click the subscribe link?

Yes. Edit the subscription message in your company profile's subscription settings. The unsubscribe message is in the same place.

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