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Unlimited traffic to your website with permission marketing

By karin, on July 8th, 2010

Does email marketing still qualify as permission marketing

Permission marketing is any marketing that is done with the permission of your lead. Seth Godin (Yahoo) is the one who has actively promoted permission marketing for internet users. He has explained that while radio and TV push the ads to you and intrude your life to show you an ad, permission marketing asks you for your permission to get marketed to.

Obviously, most people will only agree to this type of marketing if there is something in it for them as well. This is exactly what makes it so powerful. You provide your lead with something of value, and in return your lead gives you permission to send them emails.


So far this concept is sound. It works much better, much more efficient than the olds ways of marketing. After all, only those who are interested in what you have to sell will give you approval to send you emails. In other words your list will be much more targeted.

This concept has worked extremely well for the last several years. It is no wonder that internet marketers are all telling you that the money is in the list. If your list is targeted and you send them new relevant information on a regular basis this is a true statement.

Some internet marketers are spoiling it for the rest

In my previous post I was talking about the misleading tactics that marketers have started using to get your attention. And from the comments that post received I have to conclude that many of you feel the same way. That made me rethink email as a permission marketing tactics.

If your prospects are not opening their emails, but in stead delete them as soon as they come in, this type of marketing is loosing its effectiveness. I know this is true for me. I only open the emails from a few people and if they resort to the same misleading tactics as others have done in the past, I will immediately start deleting their messages as well. When I have some time, they will be a part of the group of marketers that I unsubscribe from.

What I am saying is that some internet marketers are spoiling it for the rest. Your only chance to not have your prospects delete all your messages without even looking at them, is to provide high quality content, that adds value for them. This is the long term strategy that works. Make sure to never cross this line. As soon as you send out one message that is misleading you will start loosing prospects and your name in the industry with it.

I am a strong believer in permission marketing. I believe that it works better than any other marketing that has been used to date. But the above made me wonder if there are stronger permission marketing platforms these days, that help your business more than emails do. I is obvious to me that a lot of people delete the majority of their emails without opening them.

Thanks to social media we have so many ways to communicate that I would not be surprised if Facebook (for example) would take over the role that email marketing has played for the last several years. What do you think? Is Facebook going to be the way marketers send their message to their prospects? Is their another social media platform that will do a better job when it comes to permission marketing? Or do you believe that email will continue to play the role it has played in the past.

I would love to hear your opinion. Share it with us in the comments.

social bookmarking, Traffic   , ,  
  • Deb Augur

    Hi Karin,

    Personally, I don’t think anything will outperform email… at least not in the foreseeable future. When used properly, it is very effective. As you pointed out, always giving relevant and useful information will hold the trust and respect of your readers. Of course, using other means of marketing, particularly social networking, is powerful, but permission marketing is still superior, IMO. Seth’s book on this is “old” but still excellent. I read it years ago and believe it’s still highly viable.

    You have a great case in point about how many marketers are not holding true to the strategy and might be ruining it for the rest of us, but I still think that we can overcome it by providing real value consistently. People will delete emails and unsubscribe (or let the “junk” folders fill up) but what they find as informative, they will keep a watch for.

    Build trust and you won’t lose.

    • social bookmarking

      Deb, thank you so much for your input. I could not agree more. Build trust and provide great content and your business will do well. The other thing that I have come to realize is that if we are using something other than email, this other platform will have to deal with the same abuse also. Only if that new platform is “spam proof”, it will not have similar issues as emails do. I have no clue how to make any platform “spam proof”. Hopefully someone will figure it out some day.
      Thanks for your contribution. You are right on!

  • http://socialnetworkvoter.com Deb Augur

    Hi Karin,Personally, I don't think anything will outperform email… at least not in the foreseeable future. When used properly, it is very effective. As you pointed out, always giving relevant and useful information will hold the trust and respect of your readers. Of course, using other means of marketing, particularly social networking, is powerful, but permission marketing is still superior, IMO. Seth's book on this is “old” but still excellent. I read it years ago and believe it's still highly viable. You have a great case in point about how many marketers are not holding true to the strategy and might be ruining it for the rest of us, but I still think that we can overcome it by providing real value consistently. People will delete emails and unsubscribe (or let the “junk” folders fill up) but what they find as informative, they will keep a watch for.Build trust and you won't lose.

  • Nicole Rushin

    My problem is I have so many things I have signed up for that I don’t even have time to read all the e-mail that come in. After my initial training course is sent out the e-mails that are sent out after that are short and to the point. I try to imagine everybody’s e-mail looking like mine. Overloaded! If that is the case long, lengthy e-mails will go nowhere!

    • http://socialtrafficmastermind.com Fred

      Welcome to my world. I feel your pain. LOL

      • social bookmarking

        I guess we all feel your pain Nicole and Fred. Nicole, your suggestion of making sure emails are short and to the point is a great one. Forget all the hype. Just give us the message and don’t waste our time!

  • Nicole Rushin

    My problem is I have so many things I have signed up for that I don't even have time to read all the e-mail that come in. After my initial training course is sent out the e-mails that are sent out after that are short and to the point. I try to imagine everybody's e-mail looking like mine. Overloaded! If that is the case long, lengthy e-mails will go nowhere!

  • http://socialtrafficmastermind.com Fred

    Welcome to my world. I feel your pain. LOL

  • http://socialnetworkvoter.com Anonymous

    I think email marketing will stay strong for some time to come. However…I have been noticing that Facebook is a very strong medium for building and growing relationships. When our marketing becomes simply a natural outflow of who we are in our relating to people it does not seem sneaky or mis-leading…it just comes across as a part of us. I think much of it has to do with our motivations and our general energy. People can sense when someone is “stalking” them versus someone who genuinely just wants to help improve the lives of those around them. This works well with email and with the social media platforms.

    Of course this doesn’t mean you don’t need to know about writing ad copy and being able to communicate effectively…but it does mean that your are not trying to catch someone off guard to “get something out of them.”

    Thanks for another super post!

    • social bookmarking

      Hey Bruce, you bring up a good point. Everything evolves around trust and relationships. I am just hoping that the stalkers are not ruining it for everyone.

  • http://bookmarksandvotes.com brucebackman

    I think email marketing will stay strong for some time to come. However…I have been noticing that Facebook is a very strong medium for building and growing relationships. When our marketing becomes simply a natural outflow of who we are in our relating to people it does not seem sneaky or mis-leading…it just comes across as a part of us. I think much of it has to do with our motivations and our general energy. People can sense when someone is “stalking” them versus someone who genuinely just wants to help improve the lives of those around them. This works well with email and with the social media platforms.Of course this doesn't mean you don't need to know about writing ad copy and being able to communicate effectively…but it does mean that your are not trying to catch someone off guard to “get something out of them.”Thanks for another super post!

  • Bill Cowan

    Thanks Karin, Always spot on and targeted with your posts. Three are a few that I write down to always come back to so I can learn new Internet Marketing techniques and yours is one. Thanks

    • social bookmarking

      Wow Bill, thanks for your kind words. I will try to live up to your standards.

  • Bill Cowan

    Thanks Karin, Always spot on and targeted with your posts. Three are a few that I write down to always come back to so I can learn new Internet Marketing techniques and yours is one. Thanks

  • Pingback: Cobbinaloic's Blog

  • Loic

    Interesting point your are raising. I asked myself that question before. I was thinking: if there could be an auto responder system that would allow marketers to send emails directly to the inbox of facebook users, that would be cool. I have been searching for it. Didn't find any yet.I guess facebook could also create that system and charge a small fee to marketers that would want to use it. What do you think? The debate is still on.

  • http://timedtweeter.com social bookmarking

    I think that Facebook is going to be extremely hesitant to get involved in this. After all, if the system gets abused (just like the emails), FB may fall out of favor. The challenge is to build a system that cannot be spammed. Not sure if that will ever be possible, to tell you the truth. But then, we used to think of a lot of things as impossible and we are using them today. So, we will see.

  • social bookmarking

    I think that Facebook is going to be extremely hesitant to get involved in this. After all, if the system gets abused (just like the emails), FB may fall out of favor. The challenge is to build a system that cannot be spammed. Not sure if that will ever be possible, to tell you the truth. But then, we used to think of a lot of things as impossible and we are using them today. So, we will see.

  • social bookmarking

    Wow Bill, thanks for your kind words. I will try to live up to your standards.

  • social bookmarking

    Hey Bruce, you bring up a good point. Everything evolves around trust and relationships. I am just hoping that the stalkers are not ruining it for everyone.

  • social bookmarking

    I guess we all feel your pain Nicole and Fred. Nicole, your suggestion of making sure emails are short and to the point is a great one. Forget all the hype. Just give us the message and don't waste our time!

  • http://bookmarksandvotes.com social bookmarking

    Deb, thank you so much for your input. I could not agree more. Build trust and provide great content and your business will do well. The other thing that I have come to realize is that if we are using something other than email, this other platform will have to deal with the same abuse also. Only if that new platform is “spam proof”, it will not have similar issues as emails do. I have no clue how to make any platform “spam proof”. Hopefully someone will figure it out some day.Thanks for your contribution. You are right on!

  • Anonymous

    Hi Karin
    Great article. Good points. I am so puzzled by the whole thing, I just wonder where it’s going. I am in a deep “educating myself blitz” right now, though I’ve been marketing online for a few years. I am struck by the increase it seems in email, or maybe I was just numb to it before. Take the Launch Gurus, they are sending out as many as 17 emails in one day!! And raking in millions in one launch. People opted in to those launches, where are most definitely permission based, so you know email is alive and well! As far as Facebook, I just think people are very comfortable communicating there, and it’s become the place to search and advertise.

    I love your blog and am going to soak up the education value here!!
    Laura Morris

  • larryandlaura

    Hi KarinGreat article. Good points. I am so puzzled by the whole thing, I just wonder where it's going. I am in a deep “educating myself blitz” right now, though I've been marketing online for a few years. I am struck by the increase it seems in email, or maybe I was just numb to it before. Take the Launch Gurus, they are sending out as many as 17 emails in one day!! And raking in millions in one launch. People opted in to those launches, where are most definitely permission based, so you know email is alive and well! As far as Facebook, I just think people are very comfortable communicating there, and it's become the place to search and advertise.I love your blog and am going to soak up the education value here!!Laura Morris

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