Permission based email marketing
Permission marketing is a sales style which requires you to obtain prior explicit agreement from prospects to send them marketing information. The phrase was coined and defined by the online marketing guru Seth Godin to embrace the concept that people must give you permission to sell to them, to communicate with them and send them marketing information.
How do people give you permission to sell to them? Probably the most popular way is by means of an opt in emails. Here the internet user signs up in advance for information of interest to them. How often have you been to a site where a free report or newsletter or such like is offered in return for your email address and name? This is a good example of permission based email marketing.
According to Godin "Consumers will grant a company permission to communicate only if they know what's in it for them. A company has to reward consumers, explicitly or implicitly, for paying attention to its messages." Site visitors are unlikely to hand over their contact details unless they perceive some value in the exchange. Offer them something of value if you want permission to continue contact with them.
People interested enough to leave their details in the first place should be more receptive to messages they have actually requested and therefore make better quality prospects so it follows that permission marketing provides a more targeted and therefore cost efficient email marketing strategy.
Whilst permission based email marketing can be expected to yield better conversion rates it still depends very much on the quality of the contact you have with the prospect. Permission marketing opens the door but it’s the quality of the communication content that converts a prospect into a customer. To a large extent this also depends on the match between what you offered to get their permission and the subsequent marketing messages. Signing up does not provide a blanket agreement for receipt of any marketing material. If they signed up in one specific market and you flood their email inbox with email campaigns on some totally unrelated product the likelihood is a lost opportunity rather than a contented customer.
Whilst permission marketing facilitates maintaining contact with customers on a regular basis, it is extremely important not to abuse this privilege. Ensure that every email sent includes an opt-out option with clear instructions, giving contacts the ability to refuse permission at any time, thus terminating the relationship.