Creating Confirmed Opt-In Processes

Maintaining a quality email list is vital to the success of your marketing campaigns. Confirming that a lead is opted in to receive your content is ideal, since a lead signs up on your page and then confirms their interest in your company by responding to an email.

This does not end once you import contacts. You will need to constantly maintain lists of contacts who have opted in and ensure that those who sends. 

This article will detail how to create processes for maintaining confirmed opt-in statuses.

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Article Contents

• Creating Custom Opt-In Content
• Creating Opt-In Lists
• Creating Action Groups
• Creating an Opt-In Workflow

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Creating Custom Opt-In Content

To create a custom opt-in process, you will first need to create an opt-in email. Using opt-in processes validates the email address a lead has provided, in addition to verifying that they would in fact like to receive further communications. This process is useful in requesting that a lead join a mailing list.

To create custom opt-in content, do the following:

1. Create a form or a native/third-party form.
2. Place your form on either a landing page or website.
   
    
3. Create an email to verify the lead's email address and/or interest in receiving communication.
4. Insert a link or button into the email that asks the lead to confirm or verify they want to receive emails.
   • Note: We recommend using the FUNNEL URL - SECURE URL when linking directly to Lead Gen & CRM landing pages.
5. Modify the link or button settings to redirect to the landing page or website.
   
   

Creating Opt-In Lists

Creating a Manual List

You should always be reviewing your lists of leads to ensure that you are remaining compliant with Lead Gen & CRM's email-sending standards. Manually reviewing your leads lets you keep those who have not opted in or unsubscribed from receiving unwanted emails.

Manual lists are important to the overall opt-in process. They house those leads that do not satisfy the opt-in status and let you confirm lead statuses as a whole.

To create an opt-in manual list, do the following:

1. Click Lists in the left toolbar.
2. Click    Options > New List.
   
   

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3. Enter a name for the list.
   • Note: For list management purposes, consider naming this list as something similar to Need to Confirm Opt-In Status.
4. Select the folder to add the list to from the Add this list to the folder drop-down menu.
5. Click the Make this list available in the Contact Manager checkbox.
6. Select the Manual list option.
7. Click Create List.
   
   

Ideally, you should review this list on a regular basis. That way, you can account for the leads that are on the list. You cannot send emails to these leads without risking your sending reputation or otherwise being non-compliant with best-sending practices. 

Creating a Rules-Based List

Rules-based lists will dynamically remove a member when the lead no longer meets any lead action rules. These lists can be configured to remove those leads who have not opted in to receive your emails.

To create a rules-based list that focuses on leads who have opted in to receive your content, do the following:

1. Click Lists in the left toolbar.
2. Click    Options > New List.
   
   

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3. Enter a name for the list.
   • Note: For list management purposes, consider naming this list as something similar to Confirmed Double Opt-In.
4. Select the folder to add the list to from the Add this list to the folder drop-down menu.
5. Select the Rules-Based list option.
6. Click Create List.
   
    
7. Click Create Rule.
   
    
8. Select is explicitly opted in to receive email, located under Lead.
   
    
9. Check all of the opt-in reason checkboxes.
10. Click Save.
    
     

Once created, this list will contain any and all leads that are confirmed to be opted in. These are leads that have shown explicit consent in that they want to continue receiving your emails.

You should be confident that these leads want your content. These leads will be more likely to engage with your content. This means that whenever you send emails, you should send emails to those leads that are on this list.

Creating Action Groups

Once you have created your lists, you can create the heart of your opt-in automation: a branching action group. When created and activated, this action group will send unsubscribed leads to your manual list, and those leads who have opted in to your rules-based list. 

To create the action group that contains opt-in rules, do the following:

1. Click Automation > Action Groups in the left toolbar.
   
   

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2. Click New Action Group.
   
   

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3. Select Event-Based.
4. Click Get Started.
   
   
   
   
5. Enter a name for the action group.
   • Note: For action group management purposes, consider naming this action group as something similar to Send Custom Opt-In Email.
6. Select the folder to add the action group to to from the Add this action group to the folder drop-down menu.
7. Click the Make this action group available in the Contact Manager checkbox.
8. Click Save.
   
   

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9. Ensure the Action Group is toggle is set to Active. 
   
   

Adding the First Branch: Email Action and Time Delay

Once you have created the action group, it will be empty. You will need to add the automation branches and filtering logic. As this action group will be doing two separate things at once, it will need two distinct automation branches. 

The initial part of the first automation branch will be based on leads responding within a set amount of time to your created opt-in email, then add the contacts who have not opted in to your manual list.

To create the first branch of the action group, do the following:

1. Click Automation > Action Groups in the left toolbar.
   
   

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2. Select the previously created action group.
   
   
   
   
3. Click + Add > Action.
   
   
   
   
4. Select send the email, located under Communication.
   
   
   
   
5. Enter the name of your created opt-in email.
6. Click OK.
   
   
   
   
7. Click + Add > Time Delay under the created email action.
   • Note: Consider setting the time delay to be something close to a week. This will give your leads an appropriate length of time to see your email and respond to it. If a lead does not respond to an email within a week, they are not likely to at all.
     
     
     
8. Enter the desired number in the Numeric Value field.
9. Select the desired measurement of time from the Unit of Time drop-down menu.
10. Click OK.
    
    
    
    
11. Click + Add > Action under the created time delay.
    
     
    
    
12. Select change contact field, located under Contact Edit Actions.
    
     
13. Type Is Unsubscribed in the Field Name field.
14. Select True from the To This Value drop-down menu.
15. Click OK.
    
    
    
    
16. Click + Add > Action under the created unsubscribe field action.
    
     
    
    
17. Select add to list, which is located under List Actions.
    
    
    
    
18. Enter the name of your previously created manual list.
19. Click OK. 
    
    

Adding the Second Branch: Gated Email Trigger 

To complete this action group, you will need to add a second branch. This branch will send all leads that have opted in to your rules-based list.

This branch is separated from the first branch by a gated trigger. Gated triggers only activate if the trigger's condition is satisfied by the contact already being part of the parent workflow. This will keep those contacts who have opted in to receive your content from your manual list, and add them to your rules-based list.

To add this branch, do the following:

1. Click Automation > Action Groups in the left toolbar.
   
   

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2. Select the previously created action group with an email and contact actions.
   
    
3. Click + Add > Trigger under the created email action.
   
    
4. Select visits from the email, located under Email.
   
   
   
   
5. Select 1 time from the How Often drop-down menu.
6. Select or more from the Comparison drop-down menu.
   • Important: If you select exactly in the Comparison drop-down menu, the action group will not function as intended. This is because if a lead has satisfied the action group's logic once before, this counts as exactly once. This means the lead will not go through the trigger and will be automatically unsubscribed.
7. Click the Remove from parent action group checkbox.
8. Select the Gated Trigger option.
9. Click OK.
   
    
10. Click + Add > Action under the created gated trigger.
    
     
11. Select change contact field, located under Contact Edit Actions.
    
     
12. Type Is Opted In in the Field Name field.
13. Select True from the To This Value drop-down menu.
14. Click OK.
    
    
    
    
15. Click + Add > Action under the created opt-in field action.
    
     
16. Select remove from list, located under List Actions.
    
    
    
    
17. Enter the name of your previously created manual list.
18. Click OK.
    
    

Creating an Opt-In Workflow

Once you have created your action group, you can add it to workflows. The workflows will operate based on the trigger that starts the automation.

The action group will then automatically activate, requesting that the lead that triggered the automation confirm that they are opting in to receive your future communications.

To create a workflow for confirming opt-in statuses, do the following:

1. Click Automation > Visual Workflows in the left toolbar.
   
   

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2. Click Create > Visual Workflow.
   
   

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3. Enter a name for the workflow.
   • Note: For workflow management purposes, consider naming this workflow as something similar to Opt-In Action Group Workflow.
4. Click OK.
   
   
   
   
5. Click + Add > Trigger.
   
   
   
   
6. Select fills out the form, located under Form.
   
    
7. Enter the name of your previously created opt-in form.
8. Select at any time from the When drop-down menu.
9. Click OK.
   
   
   
   
10. Click + Add > Action Group under the created trigger.
    
    
    
    
11. Enter the name of your created opt-in action group.
12. Select the Start this action group option.
13. Click OK.
    
    
    
    
14. Set the workflow's activity toggle to Active.
    • Note: If your action group is inactive, it will not be able to be selected.
       

Regarding Multiple Initial Triggers and Different Workflows