Permission marketing – do it right!

Permission marketing refers to all of the marketing activities that you have been given - guess? -permission for. The foundation of this is the use of a legitimately constructed database containing only the data of subscribers who agreed to receive marketing communications from you.

And this desire to receive your message has to take the form of express consent. When necessary you have to be able to show documentation in electronic form (data stored on the server) or paper form (scans) when exactly the consent was given. This is the only this way to ensure that you get the best results and build long-term relationships with loyal subscribers. More importantly, it means no worrying about legal matters.

Double Opt-in

The most important issue of permission marketing is building a database with the use of the Double Opt-in model. This means that every sign-up must be followed by an activation email sent on the inbox of the person who wishes to subscribe. Clicking the activation link in the email constitutes confirmation of the intent to subscribe, meaning that you can add the email address to your database. FreshMail will automatically add it for you and mark it as ‘active’.

What are the advantages of using Double Opt-in?

• you can be sure that the email address actually exists
• you can be sure that your have a real person on your mailing list, not a dangerous spamtrap
• you will record fewer hard bounces (undelivered emails) so in fact, you save money because you don’t pay for emails no one will get
• you are perceived in a better light by email services - remember: if you have too many hard bounces, it may be a cause to treat your campaigns as spam
• you have proof (email and data on the server) that someone clicked on the activation link from a certain IP number at the exact day and time that the subscription request was made

Stop fussing and start earning

When the subject of permission marketing comes up, we have to mention Seth Godin - well-known pioneer of digital marketing and the one who popularised the idea of permission marketing. His position is persuasive: ‘Why offer people services they don’t want? It’s neither logic or pleasant, nor effective. Instead of irritating potential clients, permission marketing offers incentives which encourage clients to voluntary accept of your proposal.’

Seth Godin proposes a completely different way of thinking about business promotion. If you reach only those subscribers who have an interest in your product, you can effectively develop a stable relationship with them, based on trust. By building the awareness of your brand in this way, you can significantly increase your sales..

Godin suggests asking yourself four very important questions which allow you to draw the proper conclusion for your business and, based on that, build your future strategy:

1. Does every marketing action you take help you to build a strong relationship with your clients? Does it encourage clients to seek contact with your company and start the process of communication?

2. Do you have a database of clients who gave you their permission? Do you know how many people gave you the permission to contact them?

3. If clients gave you the permission to communicate with them, would you have anything to say? Have you prepared a marketing plan to establish the way you want to talk about your product?

4. If you already have a group of clients, do you work on this relationship to make your communication even more effective?

Are you interested in this approach? Watch the video below or read Seth Godin’s book: ‘Permission marketing’.