Setting Up a Secure and Seamless Newsletter Subscription Process

Learn how I set up a secure and efficient newsletter subscription process using Cleverreach, covering everything from SPF to DKIM and template customization.

:: published on 2023-09-15

This week, I set up the technical infrastructure for my upcoming newsletter, AllAboutSearch. By the way, you can already subscribe!

After researching various platforms, I finally decided on Cleverreach. It has everything I need, and most importantly, it came highly recommended by my lawyer. Cleverreach supports double-opt-in, meaning that a confirmation email is sent to users, who must then click the included link to complete their subscription. The platform also offers the option to sign a data processing agreement, which is crucial for compliance.

The first step in my journey was implementing the subscription process. Thankfully, this took only a few minutes, as Cleverreach provides HTML code that can easily be integrated into a website. While there are numerous plugins available for integration with various CRM or CMS platforms, I didn’t need any of them for my setup.

The second step involved making sure that emails sent via Cleverreach are reliably received by the intended recipients and do not get sorted into their junk or spam folders. One effective method for improving email deliverability is by adding an SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record to your domain’s DNS (Domain Name System) settings. An SPF record is a type of text record that identifies which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. This helps email receivers determine the legitimacy of the incoming email, thereby reducing the likelihood of it being marked as spam. The specifics on how to set up an SPF record for Cleverreach can be found at Cleverreach Support.

To verify the SPF record, you can use the following command:

nslookup -query=TXT your-domain.com 8.8.8.8

In addition to SPF, Cleverreach also supports DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). DKIM is an email security standard designed to ensure that messages aren’t altered in transit between the sending and receiving servers. It provides a way to verify that an email was genuinely sent by the domain it claims to come from. Technically speaking, DKIM is also a DNS TXT record. Since the details are specific to your Cleverreach account, you’ll need to look up the exact value for the record in the Cleverreach admin application.

To check the DKIM setting, you can use:

nslookup -query=TXT token._domainkey.yourdomain.com your-domain.com 8.8.8.8

Finally, I customized the templates for emails and web pages related to the subscription and unsubscription process. My goal was to make them user-friendly, informative, and consistent with my overall design.

Don’t forget to inform your users about the use of a data processor. Publish a webpage, such as https://allaboutsearch.com/privacy, and make sure to reference it in your confirmation email.

And that’s it! The setup is complete, and I’m excited to start rolling out my newsletters soon.