Is COI/DOI email opt-in still a relevant best practice?

Summary

The consensus across email marketers, documentation, and experts is that COI/DOI remains a relevant and crucial best practice for email list management. It's viewed as a process that ensures higher-quality leads by verifying subscriber interest, thereby improving engagement and deliverability. Key benefits include reducing the risk of spambots and spam complaints, preventing list bombing, and complying with data protection regulations like GDPR. While some debate the necessity of COI in every scenario, the overwhelming sentiment is that COI/DOI contributes to a cleaner, more engaged, and ultimately more successful email marketing strategy. The debate around list cleaning versus list hygiene at inception also highlights the importance of a holistic approach to maintaining a healthy email list.

Key findings

  • Relevance: COI/DOI is consistently recognized as a relevant and useful best practice for email marketing.
  • List Quality Improvement: Implementing COI/DOI leads to higher-quality subscribers and improved list hygiene.
  • Spambot and Spam Complaint Reduction: COI/DOI helps protect against spambots and reduces the likelihood of spam complaints.
  • Deliverability Enhancement: By ensuring a cleaner and more engaged list, COI/DOI enhances email deliverability.
  • Regulatory Compliance: COI/DOI aids in compliance with data protection regulations by demonstrating active and unambiguous consent.
  • List Bombing Prevention: COI/DOI effectively prevents list bombing by verifying subscriber intent.

Key considerations

  • Implementation: COI/DOI requires subscribers to actively confirm their interest, typically via a confirmation email.
  • Alternatives: While some argue for the use of list cleaning and validation services, others emphasize that proper list hygiene should begin at inception.
  • Effectiveness: COI/DOI is most effective when combined with other list management practices.
  • Balance: It's important to balance the benefits of COI/DOI with potential drawbacks like slower list growth and the user experience
  • Third-party risks: Using 3rd party opt-in forms increase your risk of bots signing up

What email marketers say
16Marketer opinions

The consensus among email marketers and experts is that COI/DOI (Confirmed/Double Opt-In) remains a relevant and highly recommended best practice. COI/DOI processes ensure higher quality email lists by verifying subscriber interest and email address validity, reducing the risk of spambots and improving sender reputation. While single opt-in might lead to faster list growth, COI/DOI focuses on list quality, resulting in better engagement rates and deliverability. Implementing COI/DOI also assists in complying with data protection regulations and protects against list bombing. Some argue that list cleaning services can supplement hygiene, others suggest proper hygiene begins with list inception. COI/DOI processes help legitimate senders avoid sending issues by reducing threats to deliverable email addresses and filtering out unengaged or invalid subscribers. However, perspectives vary, and some suggest COI is not necessary in every situation, highlighting alternative methods for acquiring legitimate subscribers.

Key opinions

  • Relevance: COI/DOI is widely considered a relevant best practice for maintaining a healthy and engaged email list.
  • List Quality: COI/DOI ensures higher-quality subscribers by verifying their interest and validating email addresses, leading to improved engagement rates.
  • Spambot Protection: Implementing COI/DOI helps protect against spambots and reduces the likelihood of spam complaints, which can negatively impact sender reputation.
  • Deliverability: COI/DOI improves deliverability by ensuring that only genuine and engaged subscribers are added to the list.
  • List Bombing Prevention: COI/DOI is effective at preventing list bombing attacks by verifying subscriber intent.
  • Compliance: COI/DOI is essential for complying with data protection regulations by ensuring unambiguous consent for data collection.

Key considerations

  • Single vs Double Opt-in: While single opt-in allows for faster list growth, COI/DOI focuses on quality over quantity, resulting in better long-term outcomes.
  • List Cleaning: Although list cleaning services can supplement hygiene, proper list hygiene should begin at list inception.
  • 3rd Party Opt-in: Using random 3rd party opt-in forms connected to an ESP via API without COI increases the risk of adding bots to the list.
  • Validation Tools: Email validation services like BriteVerify can catch typos, invalid email addresses, and other issues, supplementing the benefits of COI/DOI.
  • Alternative Acquisition: In some instances, like loyalty programs or B2B software downloads, COI may be deemed unnecessary, but consideration should be given to the user experience and potential risks.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks mentions that list cleaning isn't a substitute for proper list hygiene at inception and that list cleaning services are a waste of money.

December 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from GMass explains that double opt-in requires people to confirm their email address before being added to a list, leading to higher quality subscribers. It reduces the chances of invalid or mistyped addresses and filters out those who aren't truly interested in your content.

November 2023 - GMass
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that COI is still a very relevant useful best practice that they recommend all senders use.

January 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign responds that double opt-in is when people who subscribe to your email list must confirm their email address before they start receiving emails from you. This is achieved by sending a confirmation email to anyone who fills out your form.

January 2025 - ActiveCampaign
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks disagrees on the take on Email Validation services. Mentions that BriteVerify tool has helped many clients clean up their lists / check a list they are legally required to send to / implement at point of sign up to catch typos or fake email addresses.

November 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Omnisend shares that the advantages of using double opt-in are: Higher-quality subscribers, improved deliverability, more engaged audience, cleaner email list, and better sender reputation.

September 2023 - Omnisend
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that if you use a random 3rd party optin form on your site that connects to your ESP with an API, they guarantee you have bots on your list if you aren't using COI.

March 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that Webbula’s tech is stunningly great at helping legit senders avoid sending issues due to threats in “deliverable” email addresses and use that data intelligence to understand where the bad data is coming in from.

August 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus explains that Double opt-in (DOI) is an email confirmation process that verifies that your new subscriber actually wants to hear from you. DOI is triggered after a potential subscriber fills out your email signup form. After they submit their form, they receive an email asking them to confirm that they want to be added to your email list.

October 2023 - Litmus
Marketer view

Email marketer from Klaviyo shares that double opt-in is still a relevant best practice because it helps build a cleaner, more engaged email list. They advise that while single opt-in might grow a list faster, double opt-in focuses on quality over quantity, which can lead to better long-term results.

July 2023 - Klaviyo
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sleeknote answers that double opt-in (also known as confirmed opt-in) is the process of sending a confirmation email to people who have signed up for your email list. They only get added to your email list if they click the link in the confirmation email. As a result, you end up with a list of people who want to receive email from you, which improves engagement and helps you land in the primary inbox.

March 2024 - Sleeknote
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks shares the pros of COI such as ensuring correct subscriber information, better protection from spambots, reduced spam complaints, and higher engagement and the cons being more challenging list growth.

December 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Uplers explains that Double Opt-In (DOI) has the potential to enhance your email list by leaps and bounds. DOI ensures that you only add real subscribers to your email list and that the probability of bot sign-ups is reduced significantly. Thus, it helps you enhance your sender reputation and improve email deliverability in the long run.

March 2021 - Email Uplers
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that confirmed opt-in (COI) is a process where subscribers must confirm their interest in receiving emails. They share that this practice ensures higher quality leads and better engagement rates by verifying email addresses and subscriber intent.

August 2022 - Mailjet
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks respectfully disagrees that hygiene services are a waste of money. They have dealt with a great many of them and they have provided some invaluable information when needed most.

May 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that list bombing is still a thing, as are many bots and that anyone that says COI is harmful to real subscribers getting dropped hasn't run optin forms at scale. The majority of “real subscribers” that don't confirm are not real subscribers.

January 2024 - Email Geeks

What the experts say
1Expert opinion

The expert from Spam Resource emphasizes that Confirmed Opt-In (COI) is a crucial measure for preventing list bombing. By verifying the subscriber's intention through a confirmation process, COI ensures that only legitimate subscribers are added to an email list. This approach effectively mitigates the risk of malicious actors introducing fake or unwanted email addresses en masse.

Key opinions

  • List Bombing Prevention: COI significantly reduces the risk of list bombing by ensuring that only legitimate subscribers are added to the list.
  • Verification of Intent: COI processes verify the subscriber's intent to receive emails, preventing the inclusion of unwanted or fake addresses.

Key considerations

  • Security Measure: COI should be viewed as a fundamental security measure to protect email lists from malicious attacks.
  • Proactive Approach: Implementing COI is a proactive approach to maintaining a clean and legitimate subscriber base.
Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource explains that COI helps prevent list bombing by ensuring that only legitimate subscribers are added to the list. By confirming the subscriber's intent, it reduces the risk of malicious actors adding large numbers of fake or unwanted email addresses.

May 2024 - Spam Resource

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Documentation from various sources indicates that double opt-in (DOI) or confirmed opt-in (COI) remains a relevant and recommended best practice. DOI/COI improves list quality by ensuring subscribers are genuinely interested and verifying email addresses. This process reduces spam complaints, enhances sender reputation, and leads to better deliverability. Additionally, DOI/COI aids compliance with regulations like GDPR by demonstrating that subscribers have actively given unambiguous consent for data collection.

Key findings

  • List Quality: DOI/COI improves list quality by ensuring subscribers are genuinely interested and verifying email addresses.
  • Reduced Spam Complaints: Implementing DOI/COI reduces the likelihood of spam complaints.
  • Enhanced Reputation: DOI/COI enhances sender reputation, leading to improved email deliverability.
  • Regulatory Compliance: DOI/COI aids compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR by demonstrating active and unambiguous consent.

Key considerations

  • Implementation Process: Requires users to verify their email address by clicking a confirmation link sent to the address they signed up with.
  • Maintenance of List Hygiene: Helps maintain list hygiene by ensuring only those who actively confirm their subscription are added.
  • Requirement for Unambiguous Consent: Necessary for collecting and processing personal data under regulations like GDPR, making DOI/COI an essential practice.
Technical article

Documentation from Sendinblue explains that double opt-in is a best practice because it improves list quality by ensuring subscribers are genuinely interested in receiving emails and verifying the email addresses are valid. They claim it reduces spam complaints and increases sender reputation, leading to better deliverability.

July 2022 - Sendinblue
Technical article

Documentation from SparkPost explains that a double opt-in process confirms that a subscriber wants to receive emails, which helps maintain list hygiene and improve deliverability. It reduces the likelihood of spam complaints and ensures only genuine subscribers are added to the list.

August 2024 - SparkPost
Technical article

Documentation from WPForms answers that Confirmed opt-in is a method in which you require users to verify their email address before they're added to your contact list. This is done by sending a confirmation email to the address they signed up with. They must click a link inside that email to confirm their subscription.

April 2022 - WPForms
Technical article

Documentation from the European Data Protection Board explains that unambiguous consent is necessary for data collection. Implementing double opt-in helps demonstrate that subscribers have actively and deliberately given consent to receive emails, aiding compliance with regulations like GDPR.

June 2022 - European Data Protection Board