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.

Please note: any contact that you create manually will not automatically receive a double opt-in email. You'll need to send an opt-in email to the contact manually via the contact record.

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 enabled General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) functionality 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.

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 that do not include a subscription confirmation link. This includes new contacts who filled out a 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.
• 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 Contacts > 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, Enterprise, or Legacy Marketing Hub Basic accounts

• In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the main navigation bar.
• In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Marketing > Email.
• Click the Subscriptions tab.
• Before you enable this feature, click Publish opt-in email to customize the email that will go out to customers after they submit a form. 
  
  1. To edit the email confirmation content, click into the email body. The email footer will contain a Confirm button for contacts to confirm their subscription. Although you can customize the appearance of the subscription link button, changing it to a CTA is not supported.
  2. To customize the subject line, from address, and other details of the confirmation email, click Settings.
  3. To review your email, click Review and publish in the upper right, then click Publish in the side panel. Once you publish the email, you'll be automatically redirected to your settings. 
     
     

• To navigate back to your email subscription settings, click the Subscriptions tab.
• Click the Enable double opt-in toggle switch on.
• Click the Enable options dropdown menu to choose how the double opt-in feature should be applied:
  • All pages: use double opt-in on all your HubSpot pages and non-HubSpot forms. New contacts created through an import or API request will need to have their subscription types confirmed too.
  • Enabled for some pages only: use double opt in on specific HubSpot pages only.
  • Disable for some pages only: use double opt in on all HubSpot pages and externally embedded forms, but don't use the feature on specific HubSpot pages. New contacts created through an import or API will need to have their subscription types confirmed too.
• 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.

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

• In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the main 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.