SOI affiliate marketing means Single Opt In. DOI means Double Opt In. Double Opt-In means that the user needs to verify their e-mail after they have signed up. Single Opt-In means that the user only needs to enter their e-mail (or fill in a form) and that’s it – no verification required. Assuming two offers are identical, the SOI version will always convert better (in terms of numbers of opt ins) since there’s less to do for the user.
Getting people to enter their name and email (or fill in a form) isn’t always easy. But getting them to opt in and then confirm what they have done is even more difficult!
SOI Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketers build email lists of subscribers (see the power of email marketing) to send their offers to. In their emails they place their affiliate links and that’s how they earn money. With SOI Affiliate marketing you (the affiliate) deliberately switch off the double opt in setting within your autoresponder software. I use Aweber, and often affiliates will have to contact them directly in order to get them to turn off the double opt in function.
The double opt in is a safe guard which autoresponders usually recommend using. The problem is, many of your subscribers will opt in, and then forget to confirm once they receive the confirmation message. Or, this message can be lost in their spam folders and never seen. When this happens, they don’t get your follow up email messages.
If you’re paying for traffic to a landing page, and have double opt in turned on, you’re likely to spend a lot more money for less subscribers; since a number of them won’t confirm. This is why many affiliates use SOI (Single Opt In) rather than opt for the confirmation message being sent out.
However, some believe that the double opt in will ensure a better quality lead. Some single opt in’s may even be fake emails, used to access more information without giving up the users actual email address. With a double opt in, you make sure that the email is genuine.
SOI Affiliate Marketing – Paying For Traffic
Some affiliates will drive traffic (leads) to a landing page where they take the details of the user from a form. Here’s an example of a landing page form:
To access the information using SOI, you only have to enter your details and click on the submit button. The information will be sent to the email address you have entered into the form. With a double opt in, you have to click a link in your email message to confirm you are the user of that email address.
If an affiliate is paying to drive traffic to their landing page, and collecting data, they will spend more money with a double opt in. Since a percentage of subscribers will never confirm, and those subscribers will be lost.
Quality Versus Quantity
Depending on the type of lead you are trying to attract, and your particular niche within the affiliate business, you can choose between the two types of opt in. If you’re spending money and attracting a large quantity of leads, you’ll want to turn off the double opt in feature in your autoresponder.
However, if you’re more concerned with a quality lead, it can be worth leaving it on. With your double opt in switched on, only genuine leads will get your messages. Your open rate can be much higher too with double opt in; since leads are actively confirming their interest.
It’s more difficult to get your messages with a double opt in (for the lead). So those who are only vaguely interested, or want a quick fix, are less likely to seek out your confirmation message and click on it.
Traffic & Intent (Target Audience)
With a good offer, many people will want to opt in, if you target the right audience. But if you’re spending money on that audience, you also want those people to convert into paying customers. Conserving marketing budget and minimising waste is therefore pretty important, especially if you’re only testing a particular marketing campaign.
Getting to know your perfect target audience therefore is pretty important for an affiliate. Without a deep understanding of your target market, you can easily spend money on leads which don’t convert into customers. See why target market is important.