Excuse Me ... May I Have Your Permission?

Traditional mass-media marketing has met its match in the marketplace. And who or what has thrown the gauntlet? The answer is you … consumers who have had enough with annoying interruptions. Gone are the days when mass marketing alone would imprint company brands into the minds of consumers and lead to a sustainable consumer-company relationship. No, because consumers are bombarded every day by approximately 3,000 marketing messages on television, t-shirts, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, billboards, buses, etc. we are fighting back by opting-out. We ignore mass-media marketing and each day companies waste millions to billions of dollars on messages that are not taking root.

Marketers everywhere, there must be another way to break through the opt-out frenzy! Seth Godin, author of Permission Marketing and Founder and CEO of Yoyodyne, the industry’s leading interactive direct marketing company (acquired by Yahoo! in late 1998), pioneered a new way of marketing that builds brands and relationships between consumers and companies (http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/bio.html). Godin writes, “You tell consumers a little something about your company and its products, they tell you a little something about themselves, you tell them a little more, they tell you a little more – and over time, you create a mutually beneficial learning relationship” (http://www.fastcompany.com/online/14/permission.html). By definition permission marketing (also known as opt-in marketing) is “centered around obtaining customer consent to receive information from a company” (www.marketingterms.com). So, how do companies persuade consumers to give consent to marketing messages much less seek out opportunities to opt-in?

As Godin continues, “the first rule of permission marketing is that it’s based on selfishness.” Companies have to give a little to get a little and also, make the getting fun and interactive for consumers. Therefore, permission marketing is coupled with game shows, contests, or sweepstakes. For example, Yoyodyne created an online game centered on Carter-Wallace’s Arrid XX “Get a Little Closer” campaign. Traditional print and Web banners marketed the chance to win a trip to the Caribbean and more than 30,000 people responded. During the course of the game, the average player received 24 e-mails. Players were required to read the e-mails to stay in the game, and after 700,000 e-mails, Yoyodyne did some research. They found out that the likelihood of purchase had doubled, from 24% to 49%, and amazingly, 25% of players had already bought Arid XX during the game. (http://www.fastcompany.com/online/14/permission.html) Through permission marketing, Carter-Wallace was able to build a relationship with game players forming trust and a thirst for more chances to win.

Of course, once you have consumers’ attention, it’s important to have developed your message and method of delivery, something Godin calls marketing curriculum. Companies must be ready to dazzle their opt-in consumers in order to build trust and make the most from their online relationships. However, permission marketing does not stop at “game players.” From there, it creates dedicated consumers who continue to penetrate the untapped market and push through the background noise.

Now that we’ve seen how a large company conducts permission marketing, how is it relevant to small businesses? Most consumers will give when they have been given too. We must remember what Godin says, “The first rule in permission marketing is that it’s based on selfishness.” What can your company give in order to build relationships with new customers? For smaller companies, permission marketing may even be easier because these companies tend to know their customers better and it is through these relationships that they continue to thrive. One way to conduct permission marketing as a small company is to offer a discount on services or products in return for an e-blast response opting-in for the company e-newsletter. On the e-newsletter include a Q&A section where consumers can ask questions and get answers. The possibilities for permission marketing are limitless. Companies need only be creative, and say “Excuse me … may I have your permission?