Acquisition Models
Before you begin acquiring email addresses you must decide how you are going to handle the new subscribers. The first email sets the tone for your on-going relationship so you must make the right impression.
Opt-In: With the opt-in acquisition model, you simply allow subscribers to sign up for your mailing lists using a checkbox on your site. The first email they receive is your next scheduled newsletter or email campaign. This model has the lowest retention rate as the more time that goes by before your subscribers hear from you, the less likely they are to remember they signed up for your list.
Opt-In with Welcome Message: Also referred to as confirmed opt-in acquisition, this is the most popular acquisition model. After subscribers opt-in to your email lists, you send them a welcome message thanking them for signing up and reminding them what they signed up to receive. Welcome messages have the highest open rate of any other campaign, so it is the perfect time to offer a special incentive or coupon. Delivery of the welcome message also confirms that the email address is valid, which protects your reputation and deliverability.
Double Opt-In: The double opt-in acquisition model requires the subscribers to confirm that they subscribed to your list. Instead of sending them a welcome message after they signed up for your list, you send the subscribers an email with a link they must click on before they are added to your lists. Even though there is an extra step involved, this method has the highest retention rate. You might lose a few subscribers that never click on the confirmation, but the ones that do are the ones that are the most interested in receiving your messages.
