How many times you have signed up to received email notification and special offers from different brands and services. I know the answer, “Yes, many times.” When I open my email, I can see tons of notifications and promotions from digital products like MyThemeShop.Com, etc.
Since I am a member of Hyper Mall, a local departmental store, they text me on my mobile device whenever there is a special offer. This is known as permission-based marketing.
Table of Contents
What is Permission Marketing?
Permission Marketing is when you give the recipient of the email/message an option, whether the audience should receive the promotional message or not, it would be their choice.
Permission marketing has become very popular in our recent time of digital marketing and social media marketing. Subscription emails and application updates emails/messages are very good examples of permission marketing, where the users have chosen to receive the emails and other promotional messages of the company. When they subscribed to your website or installed the applications on their device.
Subscribing and installing the application on your device to run fall under the category of permitting the senders.
In 1999, Seth Godin first floated the term ‘‘permission marketing’’ in his book, Permission Marketing: turning strangers into friends, and friends into customers. He discussed the concept of permission marketing as something personal, relevant, and expected. Permission Marketing is contrary to the traditional type of direct and promotional marketing where you send one email to all the customers in the database without their permission.
Permission-based Marketing Vs Traditional Marketing
Permission marketing is when you do a little research about your target customers. For instance, a real estate agent sends an email comprising of property details near to the customer’s residence, office, or favorite place. He would add some relevant links by answering some questions like; where would you be moving out? When did you buy your house?
Such personalized questions would break the ice and it would make the customers answer and reply. When you communicate back and forth, it would develop a relationship. It’s highly probable that the customer would buy property from you.
Direct traditional marketing falls under the category of blind marketing. Here, the real estate agent would send one email to all the customers without mentioning the previous history with them. Customers receive such promotional emails all the time, and they usually avoid it.
Benefits of Permission Marketing
Some of the benefits and advantages of the permission marketing strategy are as follows;
Cost-Effective Strategy
Sending emails and messages is much cheaper than any other kind of marketing technique. All you have to do is to research and send precise and relevant information to the customers. If the information and relevant, then they won’t ignore your message. Hopefully, you’ll convert them into actual customers at a very low cost.
Higher Conversion Rate
The conversion rate is also higher in permission marketing than the traditional type of marketing. It’s because you follow the personalized approach with your target audience and develop a relationship with. When you provide the relevant information, then it makes the bond much stronger and increases the conversion rate.
Personalized
One of the most interesting features of permission marketing is the personalized approach. It means that you invoke the previous history, and start things where you have left them. It would make customers feel that you haven’t forgotten about them. Mentioning the previous records would make you connect with them immediately.
Long Term Customer Relations
When you provide relevant information, follow the personal approach, and make them feel comfortable and a valued person, then such a relationship usually lasts longer because they have a shared common history with each other.
Maintain Reputation
When you follow the personal approach and ask their permission, then it would make them feel under control. Then they won’t ignore your messages. When people don’t avoid your messages, it means that you have maintained a good reputation in the community.
Levels of Permission in Permission Marketing
There are different levels of permission in the permission marketing strategy, and here it follows;
Intravenous Permission
Intravenous permission means that you permit the doctor to insert medicine into your veins, whereas Intravenous means within the veins. It’s the first and highest level of permission, the doctor is getting permission for the injection or the operation is a very good example. It carries a huge risk, but the reward is higher.
Buying the subscription of Netflix or Hulu is a very good example of intravenous permission. Where you buy the monthly package, whether you watch it or not, the channel would charge would money for the whole month because it has the right.
Points Level Permission
Point- level-permission is a type of game, where you reward customers with different points if they remain attentive. In the end, customers can cash out those points. If you remain more attentive, then you would earn more points, and more points mean more money.
American Eagle, Credit Card Company, offers a similar package to its customers. If you spend more money from the credit card, then you’d earn more cashback rewards.
Personal Relationships
Personal relationship level is usually used in business relations, where you leverage the personal relation and ask something in return. It’s like word of mouth marketing.
When an American company sold 11 million dollars worth of computers to the government, then it usually requires a lot of documentation and quotas. But the company uses a personal relationship as leverage to close the deal.
Brand Trust
Brand trust is a bit lower level of permission, where you pay a heavy price to certain brands because you expect the company would provide you the high-quality product. Starbuck coffee and Campbell’s soup are a very good example of brand trust.
Situational Permission
Situational permission is the lowest level of permission where you ask for a certain thing depending on the situation. KFC Burgers and McDonald’s made millions of dollars by asking questions like ‘would you like finger fries?’
Spam (No Permission)
Spam is the level where you don’t have permission. Newbie usually starts from here.
Permission Marketing Examples
Some of the examples of permission marketing are as follows;
Opt-in Emails
Opt-in-email is a very good example of permission marketing. It means that the customer has chosen to receive the promotion of certain products. The company only sends emails to those clients who have chosen the opt-in email.
RSS Feeds
An RSS feed is when a company sends a notification to all of its subscribers about the latest promotion.
Loyalty Cards
Loyalty cards are when companies encourage their customers to keep shopping for their products, and the brand provides gifts to their most loyal customers.
YouTube
YouTube is a product of Google and its where content creators share videos. When a channel uploads something new, then all the channel’s subscribers would receive the notification.
Facebook is a social media platform where people share and post written, pictorial, and visual content. However, marketers would like to connect with those people who are influential and many people follow them. When they endorse your product, hundreds of people would try your product.
Conclusion
After reading different types, levels, and benefits of permission marketing. We have concluded that permission marketing is a very good marketing strategy. Where you ask permission to your target audience, it makes them feel in-charge. When you empower them, then it’s possible that they would choose your product.
