Email marketing has become as common as coffee. The world market seems to have taken a liking to both. Sending email to advertise and promote products is the new marketing mantra. With all the advertisers and promoters of the world sending email, the recipients of these emails are sure to get frustrated.

Each day mailboxes are flooded with emails, some important and others useless. Users have grown smarter with time. They activate their Spam filters, delete messages that seem to advertise online and at times even take legal action against annoying email senders.

Sending email has become tough. What is even tougher is making sure that the email reaches and connects with its readers. There is no use in sending email to a user who isn't the least bit interested in the subject. This is why online advertisers began the practice of opting-in.

An opt-in mail is a mail that the user has agreed to accept. To put it simply, the user wishes to receive a mail on a particular topic or from a particular sender. The email addresses of the users who have given their consent are saved in a list called the opt-in list. The next time advertisers send email they refer to the opt-in list that corresponds to a topic and then shoot the emails. Referring to the opt-in list ensures that recipients of the mails are enthusiastic about reading those emails. As a result, the marketing impact is more powerful.

The process of opting-in is simple. There is usually a link either included in the email or on the website. Clicking on this link would add the user to the opt-in list. The process of opting-in has now evolved. There are choices available for opt-in. You can set up an opt-in list which requires single opt-in or you may choose to use confirmed opt-in.

The single opt-in is a relatively simpler option. The user is required to click on the link which leads him to a subscription form. The user is required to key in a few details in the form fields. Most of the times, the only information asked for is the email address. Once the user has filled this in, the process of opting-in is complete. The user is now subscribed and will be on the opt-in list. The disadvantage with single opt-in is that users could enter a random email address. Thus, the email addresses on your list may not be of a user who really wishes to read your email.

On the other hand, in the confirmed opt-in, the user who is subscribing must not only enter his email address but also go to his account and confirm his request for subscription. The confirmed opt-in is considered a better choice as it largely eliminates any chance of spam complaints. Also, the confirmation procedure reduces any misspelled email addresses. Users who go through the entire process are sure to be interested. Sending email to such users proves helpful as they will respond to campaigns and news letters.