Permission Marketing – revisited
30 Jan 2009 (Fri)
NOW THAT SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING has become the in-thing, it’s useful to revisit the concept of “Permission Marketing” probably first introduced by Seth Godin in his book, “Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends, and Friends Into Customers”.
As quoted by William Taylor in Fast Company:
The biggest problem with mass-market advertising, Godin says, is that it fights for people’s attention by interrupting them. A 30-second spot interrupts a “Seinfeld” episode. A telemarketing call interrupts a family dinner. A print ad interrupts this article. “The interruption model is extremely effective when there’s not an overflow of interruptions,” Godin says. “But there’s too much going on in our lives for us to enjoy being interrupted anymore.”
The new model, he argues, is built around permission. The challenge for marketers is to persuade consumers to volunteer attention – to “raise their hands” (one of Godin’s favorite phrases) – to agree to learn more about a company and its products. “Permission marketing turns strangers into friends and friends into loyal customers,” he says. “It’s not just about entertainment – it’s about education.”
Finally, as Seth Godin put it in his blog:
Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them… Permission is like dating. You don’t start by asking for the sale at first impression. You earn the right, over time, bit by bit…
In order to get permission, you make a promise. You say, “I will do x, y and z, I hope you will give me permission by listening.” And then, this is the hard part, that’s all you do. You don’t assume you can do more. You don’t sell the list or rent the list or demand more attention. You can promise a newsletter and talk to me for years, you can promise a daily RSS feed and talk to me every three minutes, you can promise a sales pitch every day (the way Woot does). But the promise is the promise until both sides agree to change it. You don’t assume that just because you’re running for President or coming to the end of the quarter or launching a new product that you have the right to break the deal. You don’t.
- “All Marketers Are Liars”
- “iPad Research – Test and Keep” scam?
- An Open Twitter Request
- Saying “No” To Say “Yes” (Web of Mass Distraction II)
- Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008
- Insight#1: To ‘Open’ or Not to ‘Open’?
- What is E.S.P.R.I*.T.?
Posted by J.K. in Business, Problems, Technology | 8 Comments |
February 5th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Very useful article.Thanks for the info.
February 7th, 2009 at 4:28 am
I can’t say I like social marketing, as a marketer, but it is what it is, and we just have to adapt or get left behind.
February 14th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I am really grateful to you for providing me with such useful information.
February 14th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Your point is a good one. My experience of social media sites is that if you join, you are regularly bombarded with messages related to products that are of no interest. I know that the sites act to combat this, but the root problem is that this is seen as a low/no cost way of getting business for people looking for a fast buck. They should take your advice.
February 15th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Basically, the downside of social networking is that you will have a hard time reaching your target market. It is like target shooting with blind folds on. Permission marketing might take some time. Although it is an assurance that only interested and willing parties gain access to information, still not all will be able to discover it. Not many people are still online but in the future when all people have realized the power of the net, then may be it will become the most valuable option for marketing.
February 23rd, 2009 at 4:39 pm
I completely agree with this concept. It’s unethical for marketers to advertise without consent or compromise.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Very useful information.
Thanks
Joseph
January 27th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Permission marketing is ushering a revolution in the domain of advertisement by asking permission from its viewers for seizing their attention in a novel way. It is a new trend which is gaining currency in among advisers who are trying to do something new for winning the loyalty of probable customers by attracting their attention without making them bored by telling them what you are offering and all that. You have superbly and precisely pointed out the existing lacuna of the prevalent advertisement campaign and have suggested what we have to do.