In some countries, businesses may be required to obtain confirmed consent before sending marketing communications. Double opt-in is a process used to confirm that a person has intentionally subscribed using the email address or other contact details they provided.

With double opt-in, a person first submits their details and then confirms their subscription, typically by clicking a link in a confirmation email. The subscription is only activated once the confirmation is completed.

Double opt-in should be managed separately for each communication channel. For example, a customer confirming their Email subscription does not automatically confirm their SMS or WhatsApp subscription.

Double opt-in helps ensure that subscribers have intentionally requested marketing communications, while improving data quality and providing a stronger record of consent.

Setting up double opt-in

You can trigger the opt-in confirmation email using either of the following methods:

1. V5 API activity configuration

   When using forms hosted within Taguchi, the activity configuration can trigger the confirmation email when a new sign-up is received. Depending on your integration, sign-ups may also be handled directly by the integration.

2. Scheduled trigger

   An hourly scheduled trigger can identify people who have recently been added to the master list and have not yet received a confirmation email.

   For example, you could target people added within the last 12 hours who have not received a confirmation email within the previous 7 days. This approach can also be used to capture contacts added through manual uploads.

Confirming the subscription

The confirmation email should link to a confirmation page where the recipient must take an explicit confirmation action (for example, selecting a Confirm subscription button). Only after that action should the page send a POST request to a trusted server-side confirmation handler. Because client-side JavaScript can be bypassed, the token validation and marketing-list subscription must be performed by that server-side handler, which checks that the short-lived, single-use token is bound to the contact and communication channel before subscribing the contact to any marketing list.

This allows the confirmation process to be completed only after the recipient has actively confirmed their subscription.

What you need

The following components are required to implement a double opt-in process:

• A confirmation email trigger (for example, a scheduled trigger)
• A trusted server-side confirmation handler that validates the short-lived, single-use token bound to the contact and communication channel, then calls the V5 API Endpoint (Authenticated) using an API token stored only on the server to subscribe the contact. This validation and the API credential must not be exposed to browser JavaScript.
• A confirmation page that submits the confirmation action to the server-side handler above, rather than posting directly to the API endpoint from the browser (for example, a web form)
• A small amount of custom JavaScript in the web form, where applicable, limited to submitting the confirmation action to the server-side handler (see webform trigger set up using V5 API)
• A master list which stores the subscribers who completed the form
• A marketing list which stores the subscribers who confirmed and consented to receive marketing communications

To configure this workflow, a Taguchi user needs the appropriate Content and Integration role privileges (and Database role privileges if the lists must be created or managed). The web form also requires a small amount of custom JavaScript from your front-end developer.

If you need help setting up double opt-in, please contact Support.

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