Set up double opt-in for emails

Double opt-in offers an extra confirmation step to verify each email address added to your contact database. When this setting is enabled, contacts who are created through a HubSpot form, non-HubSpot form, lead ad form submission, or via the Forms API will automatically receive a follow-up email with a link to confirm their email subscription.

How double opt-in works in HubSpot

• If the double opt-in feature is disabled at any point:
  • Any contacts created during the time it was enabled will become eligible for email.
  • If you have access to the workflows tool, and you have a workflow configured to send an email to an enrolled contact, they will be sent the email as scheduled, without requiring opt-in confirmation. Any previous emails that weren't sent due to lack of confirmation will be sent immediately.
• If your form already includes a follow-up email, contacts will be sent the follow-up email once they've clicked the link in the double opt-in email to confirm that they want to opt in.
• Double opt-in settings are specific to the email address submitted on the form or the email address that the record was created with. If the primary email address on a contact record changes, the subscription settings won't carry over. If you need to revise the email address of a contact, be sure to update their subscription types on the contact record.
• If you have turned on data privacy settings in your account, clicking through the double opt-in confirmation email won't automatically set a contact as opted-in to your subscription type. A contact can only opt in to a subscription type through one of your forms by selecting the checkbox in your notice and consent field.
• If you have a workflow configured to send an email to an enrolled contact, and the contact hasn't yet confirmed their double opt-in status, the workflow will send them up to three automated marketing emails until they confirm their opt-in status. If the contact still hasn't confirmed their double opt-in status after three attempts, the workflow will stop retrying and move on to the next action.

How double opt-in impacts your contacts

• When double opt-in is enabled, contacts who have not confirmed opt-in will be dropped from any marketing emails:
  • This includes new contacts who filled out an applicable form and do not click the confirmation link in the double opt-in email, as well as existing contacts who have never received a HubSpot marketing email. The criteria for which forms are enabled for double opt-in depends on your account subscription:
    • All account subscriptions allow you to set up double opt-in across all forms in your account.
    • If you have a Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise account, you have the option to enable double opt-in for specific forms or pages.
  • If your account has data privacy settings turned on and the email includes a subscription confirmation link, contacts who haven't confirmed opt-in will not be automatically dropped from marketing emails.
• Contacts who were sent marketing emails from your HubSpot account before double opt-in was enabled will be considered confirmed and remain eligible to receive emails from you.
• Contacts created from an email sent with the HubSpot Sales Chrome extension or HubSpot Sales Outlook add-in will need to confirm their subscription before being included on marketing emails. These contacts will remain eligible for sales emails sent from the contact record.

• Once you have the double opt-in feature enabled, you can manually send an opt-in email to an unconfirmed contact from their contact record. Above the contact name in their contact record, click the Actions dropdown menu, then select Send opt-in email. If the contact has already confirmed their subscription, this opt-in email will not be sent.

Please note: manually sending an opt-in email will not work for unsubscribed contacts as it violates CAN-SPAM laws.

• Once you have the double opt-in feature enabled, you can update the double opt-in status for your contacts in bulk from your contacts home. This will not trigger the opt-in email send but will mark the contacts as having confirmed double opt-in. This option is designed for specific use cases, such as when you just migrated to HubSpot from another email marketing platform and want to retain your existing contacts' double opt-in status.
  • In your HubSpot account, navigate to CRM > Contacts.
  • Click the checkboxes next to the contacts you want to update.
  • At the top of the table, click the More dropdown menu and select Update double opt-in status.
  • In the dialog box, select the Confirm double opt-in for selected contacts radio button then click Save. 

Set up double opt-in for Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise accounts

• In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
• In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Marketing > Email.
• Click the Subscriptions tab.
• Scroll down to the Double opt-in section, then click to toggle the Turn on double opt-in switch on.
• Click the Select where DOI should be turned on dropdown menu, then select an option:
  • All forms and pages: use double opt-in on all your HubSpot forms, pages, and non-HubSpot forms. New contacts created through an import or using the import API will need to have their subscription types confirmed.
  • Turn on for some forms and pages only: limit double opt-in to specific pages or forms. Then, click the Pages and Forms dropdown menus and select the checkboxes next to the associated pages or forms.
  • Turn off for some forms and pages only: double opt-in will be enabled for all pages and forms except the ones you configure. Click the Pages or Forms dropdown menus and select the checkboxes next to the pages or forms you do not want double opt-in to be enabled for.

Please note: configuring double opt-in for specific forms with the Business units add-on is not currently supported.

• To select the page a contact will visit by clicking the confirmation link in the email sent after their form submission:
  
  • Click the Confirmation page dropdown menu, then select a landing page or website page you've created in HubSpot.
  • If you don't have a confirmation page ready, you can click Create new page to create a new landing page.
• If you want your contacts to receive an additional follow-up email after they confirm their email subscription, select the Include follow-up email checkbox.
• To customize and publish your email, click Publish follow-up email. If you've already created a follow-up email, you can click Edit follow-up email to review your follow-up email and make additional changes.
• In the bottom left, click Save.

Set up double opt-in for Marketing Hub Starter and HubSpot CRM accounts

• In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
• In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Marketing > Email.
• Click the Double opt-in tab.
• Click to toggle the Send double opt-in email switch on to enable this feature. In your settings, you can customize the following details:
  • Sender: use the dropdown menu to specify who the email is sent from.
  • Double opt-in email language: use the dropdown menu to select the language for your email.
  • Subject line: customize the subject line of your double opt-in confirmation email. You'll see a preview of how the email will render at the bottom of the pane.