Obtaining a guest's explicit consent to receive email marketing campaigns is the law in certain regions.  After the initial marketing consent is received, a second step must follow for them to explicitly acknowledge their intent to receive marketing emails.

Note that this Double Opt-in process applies to all contacts in the database. This includes PMS contacts, and it includes existing contacts. All contacts with a value of TRUE for marketing consent must at some point click the double opt-in link to confirm their consent.

When the Double Opt-in setting is first turned on, existing contacts that did not have an opportunity to confirm their consent can be sent a one-time opt-in campaign. Speak to your Customer Success representative for more info on this.

To ensure compliance with Guest Data Privacy Requirements (GDPR) and other similar laws and regulations, follow the steps below to create and send a double opt-in campaign. 

These instructions assume that there will be a single double opt-in campaign that triggers for all contacts. If further segmentation is desired, multiple templates, segments, and campaigns can be created (just ensure that each double opt-in segment is mutually exclusive so that each contact can only be included in one of them).

This feature must be activated by a Cendyn Administrator.
 

Create a double opt-in email template (Campaigns > Email Templates)

• Include content in the email that explains to guests that by confirming their subscription, they are agreeing to receive marketing emails.

• Using the Special Links section in the template builder, add a link to the email using the new Confirm Subscription option (alternately, create a button and add the same link)

Create a new audience in Segmentation

• Use the following parameters: Contact Info > Marketing Consent > True

Create a new Automation campaign

• Use your newly created segment and email template to send an email to your guests when the initial marketing consent is received using the email template with the "Confirm Subscription" link.  Be sure to select to only send this email once per guest.

By creating an automated campaign, any time a new contact is added to the system where marketing consent is received as "True", or an existing contact has their marketing consent updated to "True", an email is triggered to the guest asking them to confirm their subscription.  Their response to that email updates the double opt-in status on that contact profile.

Ensure all campaigns have a segmentation filter applied that only includes contacts with Double Opt-In status set as True.

What Guests Experience When Signing Up for Email Marketing Campaigns

1. As soon as Cendyn CRM receives a new contact, the Double Opt-In status is set to False.
2. When the marketing consent value for that contact becomes True, the automated double opt-in campaign triggers an email to the guest with the Confirm Subscription link (this happens immediately if the contact was created with this marketing consent enabled).
3. When the guest clicks on the link to confirm their subscription, the double opt-in is returned to Cendyn CRM and two things happen:
   1. the guest is routed to a landing page thanking them for signing up.  From this landing page, they can elect to update their preferences.
   2. Their double opt-in status within Cendyn CRM is set to True.

From this point, they can receive email marketing campaigns until and unless their marketing consent status is set to False for any reason, at which time their Double Opt-In value will also be set back to False.

Note that the Contact info > Double Opt-In filter MUST be included in marketing campaigns to ensure that this status is taken into consideration. Without this filter, Double Opt-In status will be ignored: