Double opt-in in HubSpot: set it up and fix the errors

What double opt-in in HubSpot does, and what it doesn’t

Double opt-in checks one thing: that the person who typed an email address into your form owns that inbox. HubSpot sends a confirmation email, the person clicks the link, and from then on the address counts as confirmed. Before the click, HubSpot holds back every marketing email to that contact.

Double opt-in does not decide which emails a contact gets. Subscription types do that, for example Newsletter or Event invitations. A contact who ticks the newsletter box is subscribed straight away, before any click. The confirmation then lets through the emails they subscribed to. A marketing email only goes out with both.

• Marketing email only. One-to-one emails and sequences from sales are not blocked by double opt-in. Sales emails follow the One to One subscription type.
• Not WhatsApp or SMS. HubSpot’s double opt-in covers email. WhatsApp and SMS have their own subscription status.
• One address, one confirmation. The status belongs to the email address. If a contact’s primary address changes, the new one needs its own confirmation.
• Existing contacts. When you switch it on, contacts you have already sent marketing email to count as confirmed (“Confirmed from previous behavior”). Contacts you never emailed count as not confirmed.

Before you switch it on: the order of work

Switch double opt-in on last. If the forms and subscription types aren’t ready, you confirm addresses that aren’t subscribed to anything, and the first newsletter goes to nobody.

1. Step 01

   Create your subscription types

   Settings > Marketing > Email > Subscription Types. One type per kind of email a reader would choose separately, for example Newsletter, Event invitations and Product updates. Three or four are enough. Each one becomes a checkbox on your forms and a line on the preferences page.

   

2. Step 02

   Limit marketing email to subscribed contacts

   Settings > Privacy & Consent. With data privacy settings on, which is the default for portals hosted in the EU, open “Recommended next steps to stay compliant” and switch on “Limit emails to contacts with a subscription”. Marketing email then only goes to contacts who are subscribed and have a legal basis. Our EU data centre guide covers the rest of this settings page.

   

3. Step 03

   Put a checkbox per subscription type on your forms

   In the form editor, add the Data privacy field. Under “What consents do you want to collect?” add one checkbox per subscription type. HubSpot doesn’t allow these boxes to be ticked in advance. Then open the Options tab and change the thank-you message to tell people to check their inbox.

   

   

4. Step 04

   Decide about existing contacts

   Contacts you have emailed before count as confirmed. Contacts imported from another email tool where they already confirmed can be marked as confirmed in bulk (see below). Everyone else stays unconfirmed and gets no marketing email until they sign up again.

How to set up double opt-in in HubSpot

Go to Settings > Marketing > Email and open the Double opt-in tab. Click “Set up double opt-in”. HubSpot walks you through five short steps.

1. Step 01

   Choose the default language

   Pick the language most of your forms use. Contacts get the confirmation email in the language of the form they filled in, and the default language when no version matches.

   

2. Step 02

   Write the confirmation email

   Give it a clear subject line, such as “Please confirm your email address”. Click Edit to change the text and the button. Then click “Publish and continue”. HubSpot only publishes it once your company address is filled in for the email footer.

   

   

3. Step 03

   Choose the confirmation page

   The confirmation page is what people see after the click. HubSpot’s default page works. Your own landing page can say what comes next, for example when the first newsletter arrives.

   

4. Step 04

   Add a follow-up email if you want one

   Tick “Use follow-up email” to send a welcome after the click. Forms that send a follow-up email of their own wait for the confirmation anyway.

   

5. Step 05

   Switch it on and choose where it applies

   Back on the Double opt-in tab, switch it on. Under “Manage where double opt-in should be used” choose all forms and pages, only some, or all except some. The choice of forms needs Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise.

   

   

Double opt-in in German and English: two languages in one portal

A DACH company usually needs the confirmation email in German and English. On the Double opt-in tab, open “Manage double opt-in emails and pages” and click “Add language”. Each language gets its own confirmation email, page and follow-up. Then set it active in the Actions menu of its row.

• The form decides. HubSpot picks the version by the language of the form, not the browser or the contact’s country. A German page with a form set to English sends the English email.
• Check every form’s language. In the form editor’s settings. A form created through the API or copied from an old one is often still on the default.
• The default can’t be switched off while double opt-in is on. Make it the language most of your forms use.
• Write German, don’t translate. HubSpot’s default German text is a translation. Formal “Sie”, one short sentence, and a button that says what it does: “E-Mail-Adresse bestätigen”.

Imported and existing contacts: confirm or send the email by hand

Imports never trigger the confirmation email, and an import can’t mark contacts as confirmed. You have two ways out.

1. Step 01

   Send the confirmation email to one contact

   On the contact record, open Actions and choose “Send opt-in email”, then the language. The record action works for one contact at a time, and not for contacts who unsubscribed from all email.

   

   

2. Step 02

   Mark contacts as confirmed in bulk

   Select the contacts in the contacts list, open More and choose “Update double opt-in status”. “Confirm double opt-in for selected contacts” sets the status to “Customer marked confirmed” and sends no email. Use it only when you hold the proof, for example contacts who confirmed in your previous email tool. Moving from another CRM or email tool? Our CRM migration guide covers the import itself.

   

   

Don’t send the old list a newsletter that asks them to confirm. Without a confirmation HubSpot doesn’t send it, and with the double opt-in switched off you’d be emailing people who never agreed. If you have no proof, ask them through your sales team or at the next event to sign up on a form.

Why the double opt-in email isn’t sent, and other common errors

The table lists the errors that come up again and again in German-speaking portals, each with its cause and fix.

Your own double opt-in with a workflow

HubSpot’s double opt-in has two gaps. The confirmation email goes out once, with no reminder. And contacts that arrive another way, for example event leads through an automation tool, never get it. A workflow closes both gaps and needs Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise.

Our view: keep HubSpot’s double opt-in switched on, but limit it to a form you never use (“Turned on for some forms and pages only”). The contact tools stay, such as the confirmation status and the send button on the record, and your workflow sends the emails. Every form outside the scope then sends marketing email without waiting for a click, so your workflows have to check the status themselves.

1. Step 01

   Trigger on the subscription, not the form

   Create a contact workflow. Enrolment: Email subscription “has opted into” Event invitations, and Marketing email confirmation status is unknown. The trigger catches every source, forms and automations alike.
2. Step 02

   Send your own confirmation email

   Add “Send email” and create the email in the workflow. Write the text, select the link text, and set “Link to” to “Email subscription link” and “Subscription type” to “Subscription confirmation”. The Subscription confirmation link writes the click to the confirmation status, just like HubSpot’s own email.

   

3. Step 03

   Wait, check, remind once

   Add a delay of three days, then a branch on Marketing email confirmation status. Confirmed goes to the end. The rest get one reminder with the same link. One reminder is enough; more read like spam.

   

4. Step 04

   Make every marketing workflow wait for the click

   Workflows that send marketing email to these contacts start with a branch or filter on the confirmation status. Use all six confirmed values: Confirmed, User clicked confirmation, HubSpot Rep. marked confirmed, Customer marked confirmed, Confirmed from previous behavior and Confirmed due to form.

Two good uses for this: downloads, where the file is sent only after the click so a fake address gets nothing; and events, where leads from a registration tool get the same confirmation as form leads. For the workflow basics, see HubSpot workflows for sales teams.

How to see who confirmed

The newsletter count in your subscription list looks bigger than the number of people you can actually email, because it includes everyone who hasn’t clicked yet. Whether a contact counts as confirmed depends on the value of “Marketing email confirmation status”, as listed in HubSpot’s article Understand double opt-in confirmation status. Two segments then show the real picture.

1. Step 01

   Segment: confirmed subscribers

   Contacts, Segments, active segment. Email subscription has opted into Newsletter, and Marketing email confirmation status is any of the six confirmed values. The segment is your real audience.

   

2. Step 02

   Segment: waiting for confirmation

   Same subscription, status unknown, Confirmation Pending or Confirmation Email Sent. Watch the number each month. If it grows, people don’t find the email: check the subject, the sender and the spam folder.

   

For one contact, open the record and click “View subscriptions” in the Communication subscriptions card. The History tab shows when each subscription was set and where it came from.

Double opt-in in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Whether the GDPR or German, Austrian and Swiss law need double opt-in, and for which emails, is a legal question, and your data protection officer or lawyer decides it. What the software does is clear, and these points matter for companies here.

• Proof sits in two places. The subscription history holds the date and source of the consent. The property history of “Marketing email confirmation status” holds the date of the click. Show your data protection officer both before you go live.
• EU portals start with data privacy settings on. Check the setting anyway, and keep “Limit emails to contacts with a subscription” on.
• The cookie banner is separate. Double opt-in covers email, the banner covers tracking. Our cookie banner guide covers that side.
• Where the data sits. Confirmation emails, clicks and subscriptions are stored like every other contact field. Our EU data centre guide shows what stays in Frankfurt.
• Lifecycle stage is not consent. A Subscriber is someone who signed up for something, not someone you may email. Keep consent in subscription types, as our lifecycle stages guide explains.
• One person, two records, two confirmations. A duplicate contact with another address needs its own confirmation. Our duplicates guide shows how to keep them down.

How we set up double opt-in

We start with the emails, then the setting: which emails does the company send, who gets each one, and what must reach a contact without a confirmation.

1. Step 01

   List the emails

   Newsletter, events, product news, downloads, and the emails that aren’t marketing at all, such as order or contract notices. Order and contract notices go to sales email or to transactional email, which is a paid add-on.
2. Step 02

   Build subscriptions and forms

   Three or four subscription types, a checkbox for each on every form, the form language set, and the data privacy setting checked.
3. Step 03

   Switch on and test in both languages

   Confirmation email, page and follow-up in German and English, tested with a real sign-up in each.
4. Step 04

   Close the gaps

   A workflow for sources without a form, a reminder, the two segments, and a monthly look at how many people never click.

Frequently asked questions