Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends and Friends Into Customers

by Seth Godin

Book Overview

The man Business Week calls "the ultimate entrepreneur for the Information Age" explains "Permission Marketing"--the groundbreaking concept that enables marketers to shape their message so that consumers will willingly accept it.

Whether it is the TV commercial that breaks into our favorite program, or the telemarketing phone call that disrupts a family dinner, traditional advertising is based on the hope of snatching our attention...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684856360
• ISBN13: 9780684856360
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Change agent Seth Godin reveals the future

In addition to working in the profession of advertising and marketing, I'm an adjunct professor at a nearby university. I taught Seth's principles in my course on Direct Marketing last semester, and I intend to teach his principles in my course on Fundamentals of Advertising this semester. In fact, I intend to teach his material in every class I have that's even remotely related. Frankly, I think Seth's material should be taught in every university throughout the land -- and shouted from the rooftops amongst those in my profession.Simply put, the material in this book -- deceptively clever, succinct and, at times, humorous -- is explosive. I say deceptive because if you don't "get" what Seth's trying to tell you, I imagine it would be possible for you to dismiss the entire concept as shallow or gimmicky. However, I believe this information represents nothing less than the future of advertising and marketing. You will ignore it at your own peril.One of the biggest thrills for me was hearing my students put into use Seth's Permission Marketing phrase "Turning strangers into friends and friends into customers" -- even months after the class ended!Not only is that a testament to the clarity and brevity of Seth's ideas, it's also the distillation of his book's premise.For in today's world, we're bombarded by no less than 3,000 paid advertising messages per day. There's no way we can assimilate, remember and act on that many messages. No matter how creative they may be. It's no longer a matter of breaking through the clutter with killer creative; it's now a battle for one of the most precious commodities we're left with: our attention. And advertisers lose that battle every single minute of every day.Therefore, agencies who seek ever more creative (and expensive!) creative approaches to help boost their clients' sales would do well to read Permission Marketing. Clients who whip their agencies mercilessly, sometimes changing them as often as they change their underwear (because they just aren't seeing the results they expected), would do well to read Seth's Permission Marketing book. BEFORE they blow millions of dollars looking for the next 15-minutes of fame for their advertisement.Odds are, it ain't gonna happen.Permission Marketing clearly describes the problem and equally as clearly provides the answer: ask permission first. Then only send your advertisement to those who ask to see it. Reduced to a catchphrase, what you need to do is turn strangers into friends and friends into customers through the power of direct marketing. Since my field of expertise IS direct marketing, I grasped immediately what Seth was saying. I "got" it. And I know as sure as I know my own name that what he writes is rock-solid, essential information.The only critical point I'd make is that right now Seth's ideas have a chance to work. And maybe work for a decade or two into the future. But what happens when even those who have given "permission" to receive advertising messa

Permission based marketing systems.

Seth Godin is the Vice President of Direct Marketing atYahoo,and before that founded the successful web startup Yoyodyne. Inthis book he tells us what he has learned about 20th century marketing and how it is evolving as a result of media saturation. Media saturation is making traditional forms of marketing less effective. Seth refers to traditional marketing practices as Interruption Marketing and contrasts this with Permission Marketing. There is room for both forms of marketing in Godin's universe, but Seth exhorts most marketers to begin creating a permission-based marketing system for immediate and long term survival. The alternative to a permission based marketing system is the current interruption based marketing system that consists of big budgets for wow advertising that is meant to capture your interest long enough to deliver simple branded messages. Interruption marketing is about being clever at getting attention. You get attention with a great ad campaign where consistent attention grabbing messages are repeated in various media. Marketing research has demonstrated that over time familiarity can build trust in a brand as the solution to a particular class of problems. Trust equals profitability. Relying on interruption marketing techniques to attain "brand trust" is very expensive but can and has been done. TV, radio, and newspapers are required to create initial interest in your product and services. Godin argues that there is no getting around this cost of marketing. To build brand trust, however, you should try to use your interruption marketing to develop a permission based marketing system. In a permission based marketing system, the customer is asked for their permission to receive messages from the marketer. Often the marketer will offer an incentive that makes it worth the customers while to give their permission. The marketer will need to continue to offer incentives for the ongoing permission of the customer. In return, the marketer has permission to educate the client about their product or service and to build trust in their brand. This is most often done through email. In fact, Godin's book could be read as the authoritative guide to managing opt-in email lists for profitability. Saying that the book is about email is not to denigrate the scope of this book. Email is the internet for alot of people. Email is the killer app! Email marketing needs to be understood and mastered by anyone calling themselves a marketer. Godin's book has alot of good advice for marketers who would like to expand their marketing savvy into the domain of permission based marketing systems. On the surface, Permission Marketing is mostly about opt-in email and how to manage it over time. I think that you will find, however, that it has alot to say about how any technology involving personalization should be managed over time. All such technologies are likely to require substantial amounts of permission before they can become e

The book that defines Internet Marketing

If you're going to spend any time or money marketing your business on the Net, you really need to read this book. Every major site has adopted the principles you'll read here, and my company is spending more than half its budget executing them.On the other hand, maybe you shouldn't buy it... more market opportunity for the rest of us!

A watershed book--I recommend all my clients read it

Internet marketing and relationship marketing are the subject of numerous books, but Seth Godin's Permission Marketing does a better job of explaining the concepts better than any other single volume. Permission Marketing explains the differences between Interruption Marketing (old-style newspaper, TV and radio ads) and Permission Marketing--where visitors ask to be kept informed and willingly share information about themselves and their purchasing needs. It reinforces the successes I've enjoyed in over twenty years of marketing and shows how customer relationship-building techniques that were previously inefficient and, thus, unaffordable are now within the reach of all. Permission Marketing cuts through the clutter of marketing theory and web technology and provides a highly readable, jargon-free conceptual framework for viewing web marketing in an new light. Throughout, Permission Marketing emphasizes integrity and customer respect--in contrast to books which are often subconsciously predicated on an adversarial relationship with prospects and customers. Permission Marketing will change the way you think about advertising and marketing and suggest a whole new approach to your web site. It will inspire you to break out of the mold of price advertising.