The latest version of PowerWebForm has been enhanced to include a double opt-in option for web form entries. This blog will walk you through what double opt-in means, the benefits it offers your company and how you can implement double opt-in with ease using PowerWebForm and Dynamics 365.

To start, let's break down the different opt-in options. When individuals are on your website and fill out a web form to subscribe to your newsletter or download the latest webinar on demand that is considered a single opt-in. With single opt-in, as soon as an individual fills out a web form they are immediately added to a marketing list. This means no validation checks are in place to make sure the email address was entered correctly, without any typos or extra spacing. There are some serious disadvantages to single opt-ins, including polluting your marketing lists in CRM with bad data and the increase of spam complaints from unwilling subscribers.

Double opt-in prevents these issues from happening by sending a confirmation email, immediately after a web form is submitted to potentials subscribers. The email includes an embedded URL link that must be clicked on in order for the individual to opt-in and agree to receive future digital communications. As a result, marketing lists that use double opt-in tend to have better engagement rates over time- Who doesn't love that?

Double Opt-In Process:

Not only does having a double opt-in process in place keep your marketing lists clean, in some countries, it's the law. The Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL) has forced many companies to make sure they are compliant with the new standards, including having proof of double opt-ins. With any sort of bulk emailing your company is doing, it's always best practice to have individual opt-in to receive your emails, to ensure you are complying with anti-spam laws and so that your emails have a higher deliverability rate.

Now that we understand the importance of double opt-in, check out how to apply it to your web forms with PowerWebForm!

To require double opt- in on your web forms using PowerWebForm, start by navigating to the PowerPack section of your CRM and select PowerWebForm. Whether you are creating a new web form or updating an existing one, you will see "Opt-In Selection" as a field type under the General tab on the web form. To apply the double opt-in process on the specific web form, simply select yes.

The next step is to sit back and watch PowerWebForm do the work for you! If "Opt-In Selection" is set to yes, once a web form is submitted a double opt-in record is created in CRM, which fires off a pre-configured workflow that generates and embeds a unique URL link into a confirmation email. This email is then sent to the address that was entered in the email address field on the submitted web form.

When the URL link has been clicked on and the subscriber, agrees to receive future communications from your company the opt-in will be verified and the record will be updated in CRM. If a contact or lead chooses to opt-out of receiving future emails, the workflow will stop.

Apply Double Opt-In to your web forms using PowerWebForm today! For additional information on PowerWebForm and how to implement double opt-in on your next web form check out the PowerWebForm user guide. Not a PowerWebForm subscriber? Download your free 30 day trial of PowerWebForm to get started. 

Happy CRM'ing!