Single Vs Double OPt-in mailing lists?

I am trying to decide between single and double opt-in mailing list. In both cases, I will go with aWeber.

1. Single Opt-in

People fill the form and they are instantly in mailing list - no confirmation mail they have to open and click the link to be in.

Disadvantage: More people will get the email in spam folder.

2. Double Opt-in

After signing up, they have to click the link from confirmation email.

Disadvantage: Many people will not be logged in into email and therefore skip the email and never make it to your list.

Advantage: More emails will make it to inbox than in first case.

Comparison:

Some guy posted on his blog that in first case, only 3% of people will get email in spam folder and in second case 50-60% will miss the confirmation link.

What are your experiences with this? I prefer to hear test results over blind assumptions.

Thanks

 

You will have much better results down the road with a double opt in list.

 

I personnaly use Double opt in.

Aweber officially states below in their site.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Confirmed Opt-in Status We strongly recommend leaving confirmed opt-in ON.
All subscribe methods require Confirmed Opt-In to ensure only recipients who have specifically requested to be on the list are subscribed.
This means you have proof someone opted-in, fewer unsubscribe requests and far fewer spam complaints.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

A big name marketer stated in his video that his Double Optin non confirming rate is 30 to 40%.
My case is maximum 20%

 

Double opt-in will give you better results. Even if the mail doesn't end up in spam filter, people who complete a double opt in are more likely to remain on your list or open your items. You can try both and test for yourself and stick with what you get better results with. Personally I only use double opt-in as I get far better results. If you are planning on a list you are going to burn quickly, you may be ok with single opt-in.

 

Both have cons and pros but I've always used double opt-in, less complain.

 

Double opt-in is MUCH better. You don't want any hassles, but satisfied customers.

 

Well this is kind of what I need. I don't plan on sending multiple emails, rather collect very targeted list, send my aff. link to product they are targeted to and end of story.

So if I want to email them only once, what do your recommend in that case?

Thanks for all the answers so far.

 

not all single opt-ins emails lands in the junk folder so logically you would have more recipients.

 

i prefer double opt-in

if someone is not willing to check and click the link for the stuff anyways he/she is not a good prospect.

its me though,

 

I use double opt-in on 90% sites, because it just work better (on my 3 years mailing experience).

 

Very curious as to why you would only email the list once?? The vast majority of people will be reminded of a product 5 to 10 times before making a purchase. If you only mail them once, you are doing both your list and yourself a big disservice.

 

I have been thinking to send them to Facebook fan page because having new people joining goes viral and it grows on it's own. Also having them as fans is the same thing as mailing list, maybe even better.

Do you think this idea sucks?

 

Well, no. That might be a good idea for building a list, too. But 'building' a list is only the first part of the equation. Follow up with the list is equally as important. It's where the sales are made.

Many people have developed what's called 'relationship' marketing... you build a relationship with your people who come to realize that you are trustworthy and that you have their interests at heart, too, not just your own. Of course, it works best if that's true. lol

As a result, you gain a solid clientele that leads to repeat sales and residual income.

 

I agree, I was going to ask the question as well. If you simply will send the user to the offer one time, or send one offer, there isn't much need for the list in general. When I think of burning the list, I usually think of sending offers to the list right away, then sending one or two follow ups. That usually makes the list less useful in the long run because trust isn't there. However I now sent each user to an offer 2-4 times instead of just once. So people who missed my first e-mail may are able to see the follow ups, etc.

The Facebook fan page is a good idea, they can be very effective. If possible, use both. If you are marketing to a group of people based on a common theme (i.e. fans of a band, people who want to get a six pack, etc), you can use the fan page as another means of building your list in addition to search traffic, twitter traffic, forum traffic, etc.

The power of a list is in the ability to market to the same people on multiple occasions while building a relationship with them, making them more likely to follow through on your offers.

 

For sure. And if you look around... some of the best marketers have an ezine of some sort they send to their list on a regular basis. They will include articles that relate to the interest of their list providing informative content, not just sales spiel on another product.

 

Mailing lists is method that exists for more than 10 years now.

Newest information is that Facebook gets 25% of USA page views, which means people check Facebook more often than email.

Advantages: they just need to click like to be able to receive updates, no spam folders, you see exactly who they are etc.

Time to move on from mailing lists I guess, and this is what I am going to do.

Thanks for the tips everybody.

 

You have a good point. Just remember, in the end this is a numbers game. So regardless of whether you are rolling with FB pages or e-mail, or both. The more the better! Good luck, and glad to help!

 

Double opt-in for sure.

Many of the disadvantages you state can be worked around some what.