Permission Marketing – Marketing of Today

According to Seth Godin, “Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.

It recognizes the new power of the best consumers to ignore marketing. It realizes that treating people with respect is the best way to earn their attention.” (Read his full blog post here.)

Permission based marketing is marketing of today.

As consumers in modern day society, we have the wonderful  ability to tune out the messages we don’t want to receive.  Traditional media in the ways they have been used in the past, are becoming less and less effective in reaching a desired audience.

Unlike shouting your message from the mountaintops (as is true with traditional media), permission marketing gives you the magnificent chance to communicate your message to those who WANT it!! When a consumer gives you their permission to advertise to them, it is a valuable and priceless asset, not to be taken for granted.

Social media is a prime example of permission marketing. They are called “fans” and “followers” because they have opted into receiving what you have to say. Don’t take this responsibility lightly or take advantage. People are looking for the value you bring to the table.

Permission marketing takes time to build, but once it is going, the advantages are immense. The businesses that put in the effort and patience to build these important relationships with their customers will reap the benefits.

Once Your Advertising Has Done its Job, Positive Customer Experience Must Follow Through

The power of a good customer experience is hard to beat. You may have the greatest product in the world, but if your customer did not have a pleasant experience with you, they will look elsewhere.

It is easy to get caught up in the trap of focusing TOO heavily on the “glitz and glam” of advertising and not enough on what your customer actually experiences. Attention getting and effective ad campaigns only work when they are paired with a positive customer experience.  Follow through is critical! Your ads are designed to draw people into your doors, but once they are there it is no longer the responsibility of the advertising.  Now is the chance to really wow your customers and turn them into word of mouth promoters! (The ultimate goal!)

Here are a few quick tips to help you determine your customer experience strategy:

• Go above and beyond: People expect to be happy – word of mouth occurs when those expectations are blown away.
• Communicate with your customers: Invite your customers to give you feedback and take their responses seriously (even if it’s not what you want to hear!)
• Take an objective look: Being in the midst of the business, this is sometimes very difficult to do. If so, hire a team of professionals to assist you in determining what needs to change and tweaks that can be made.

I would love to hear your thoughts about customer experience. What companies are doing a superior job?