Why You Need to Earn Permission in Your Marketing

Permission marketing was a term coined by Seth Godin (all hail) well before its time. From a book that was published in 1997 the concepts and ideals ring just as true today as it did then.

So what is Permission Marketing?

It’s the concept of engaging audiences who actually want to receive your marketing message. Either explicitly gained when a consumer ‘likes’ a page or subscribes to an email list, or implicitly understood when someone actively and happily consumes marketing content that excites them, provides value to them, entertains them or tells stories to them.

Permission marketing seeks to always create marketing content that people actually want to engage with. It’s no longer about interrupting you in the form of loud, attention seeking ads. Its about you allowing the brand to communicate their marketing to you.

If there is anything to take away from this blog post then it this:

REALISE THAT ATTENTION IS SOMETHING TO BE VALUED, NOT WASTED.

When you have someone’s attention it’s precious and should be treated accordingly. In our information heavy world attention becomes an important asset as consumers are getting better and better at ignoring brands messages.

Ok, so how do I get attention I hear you ask?

• Be entertaining
• Be engaging
• Be honest
• Be helpful

There could be a whole blog post on these traits alone however, what’s most important is when you gain your customer’s attention you need to show respect!

Permission marketing is very similar to dating. You don’t ask for the sale on the first date. You earn it over time and if you have done it right they will want you to come back again and again. This moves past traditional interruptive marketing efforts and allows for synergy like one-to-one or other personalized marketing activities and that leads to MORE ATTENTION and importantly MORE RETENTION.

It always comes back to the relationship with your customers … how do you keep your customers attention? What do you do to show respect?

Tell us about it in the comment box below, we would love to hear your experience.