Confirmation Email
Everything you need to know about the double opt-in process
There are some important things around the confirmation email feature to think through as you have a few options for subscriber verification. Subscriber verification is important for security reasons to ensure only real people are signing up for your campaign. These are your options:
Require Confirmation Email, the subscriber will be considered verified only when the email is confirmed
Require Email and SMS Confirmation, subscriber will need to first confirm their phone number via SMS and then their email address (subscriber will be considered verified only when both are confirmed)
Disable Confirmation Email, neither SMS or email confirmation will be sent, the subscriber will be added without any verification (email is still a required field)
When you activate the email verification method in your campaign, we automatically send a confirmation email to those who sign up. This email serves as a verification step, ensuring the accuracy of their provided email address. This process is commonly known as "double opt-in".
Why we send a confirmation email
We use email confirmation as a means to ensure the legitimacy of each referral and prevent people from circumventing the system.
Additionally, in some countries, verifying email addresses is a legal requirement before their use. The double opt-in process safeguards against the unauthorized emailing of individuals who did not willingly sign up for your campaign.
The double opt-in also offers several other benefits:
Protection against spambots, email scams, and fake subscribers, thereby potentially reducing your monthly billing rates.
Assurance of valid email addresses and confirmation that your subscribers genuinely wish to receive communication from you.
Creation of an archived record documenting the subscriber's consent.
Can I disable the confirmation email?
While HIGHLY discouraged, it is possible to disable the confirmation email. Go to your campaign dashboard > Edit Campagin > Unique Identifier and disable the toggle "Enable Verification Method".
Can I send the confirmation emails through my own ISP?
At the moment it is not possible to use your own ISP to send the confirmation email.
What happens if a subscribers doesn't verify their email address?
If a subscriber doesn't verify their email address within the time frame set by you in the "Confirmation email" page (by default 3 days), our system will permanently delete them from our database.
Our system automatically sends a reminder to those who don't verify their email address 6 hours after they sign-up.
How to change the verification time
To change the verification time (the amount of time people have to verify their email address, by default set at 3 days) go to your campaign dashboard > Edit Campaign > Automations > Confirmation email.
Scroll down and you will see a drop-down menu like the one in the image below:
Remember to save your changes after your apply your changes.
Some people are not verifying their email address
This is normal and it will always happen. According to research (backed by big email companies, such as MailChimp), the average drop-off rate for confirmation emails is between 10% and 25%. Yes, you read that right. Up to 1 out of 4 people will never bother to confirm their email address. Why would they do that? This is a true mystery, but there are possible reasons: people forget to check their inbox, signup for products they are not really interested in, the email goes to the spam folder, you name it.
My confirmation emails go to the spam folder. How do I fix it?
Sometimes, your confirmation emails will go to the spam folder. It's very annoying when it happens but the most important thing that you need to remember is that it's inevitable. No company in the world has 100% delivery rate in the primary inbox.
Modern email providers like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook use extremely sophisticated anti-spam algorithms that use hundreds of factors to determine whether an email is spammy or not. Because so many factors are involved, it's impossible to determine the exact reason for why an email is marked as spam; however, we do know that two of the most important factors are "domain reputation" and "account history".
Domain reputation
Domain reputation refers to the reputation of the sending domain, in this case, ReferralHero (since all emails are sent by us unless you specify a different sending address).
To send emails, we utilize Postmark, which is an email provider known for its track record of high deliverability rates. This, combined with the best practices that we implement, results in an overall deliverability rate for ReferralHero of over 98%, which is exceptionally high for the industry.
Account history
The real "beast" when it comes to spam filters is personalization, which means that spam filters adapt to the history of each person. For example, if you mark as spam or simply ignore a specific type of email (eg: invoices), email providers such as Gmail or Yahoo will think that you're not interested in this type of emails and/or will eventually mark it as spam.
So if some of your users receive the confirmation emails in the spam folder, is highly likely that they have marked some confirmation emails in the past as spam,
What you can do to improve your deliverability
Unfortunately, there is not a lot that you can do, but here are some best practices.
Don't use "spammy" words in your confirmation email body and subject. Avoid words like "special", "free", "etc". Just stick to the default and you'll be fine.
Tell your users to add the sender address "no-reply@referralhero.com" to their trusted senders' list. When enough people do it, Gmail will figure out that your confirmation emails are not spam.
Use a company email address as the reply-to address. If you're using a free email provider (gmail, yahoo, outlook, etc) and sending transactional emails, spam filters will raise a red flag. Better to use your company email address instead. Go to your campaign dashboard > Settings > Emails.
Use a custom domain sender. Although our default sending domain has a very high reputation, you might benefit (not last from a branding point of view) by using your own sending domain address. To do so you must be on the Pro or Premium plan. Get in touch with us to set it up.
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