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on October 25, 2016
Although originally published in 1999, Permission Marketing continues to be highly relevant. It's a particularly important read for marketers who "grew up" in the pre-Internet world where marketing was about interrupting a consumer during her TV show, her drive (billboards), her reading (print ads). Whether you were classically-trained or grew up in the Internet marketing era, you'll find this an excellent foundation for all modern-day messaging
on September 29, 2016
I loved this book. As a business owner without formal business schooling, this was helpful to get me thinking rightly about marketing. During every chapter, I found myself stopping to make notes, stopping to write down ways to implement the information into my own strategy, and also recognizing some mistakes I was making. Some of the material about internet marketing is dated, so it requires a bit of translating into the modern era, which is crazy to say, since this book isn't that old. I'd love to read more from him that explores these same concepts, but with contemporary internet examples.
If you have a decent understanding of how internet marketing works currently, and what current tools are available, it won't be too difficult to translate this material into today's world.
If you have a decent understanding of how internet marketing works currently, and what current tools are available, it won't be too difficult to translate this material into today's world.
on November 23, 2013
Below are key excerpts from the book that I found particularly insightful:
1- "As clutter has increased, advertisers have responded by increasing clutter. And as with pollution, because no one owns the problem, no one is working very hard to solve it."
2- "In addition to clutter, there's another problem facing marketers. Consumers don't need to care as much as they used to. The quality of products has increased dramatically It's increased so much, in fact, that it doesn't really matter which car you buy, which coffee maker you buy, or which shirt you buy They're all a great value, and they're all going to last a good long while."
3- "To summarize the problem that faces the Interruption Marketers: 1. Human beings have a finite amount of attention. 2. Human beings have a finite amount of money. The more products offered, the less money there is to go around. 4. In order to capture more attention and more money. Interruption Marketers must increase spending. 5. But this increase in marketing exposure costs b\ money. 6. But, as you've seen, spending more and more money in order to get bigger returns leads to ever more clutter. 7. Catch-22: The more they spend, the less it works. The less it works, the more they spend."
4- "Five Steps to Dating Your Customer: 1. Offer the prospect an incentive to volunteer 2. Using the attention offered by the prospect, offer a curriculum over time, teaching the consumer about your product or service. 3. Reinforce the incentive to guarantee that the prospect maintains the permission. 4. Offer additional incentives to get even more permission from the consumer. 5. Over time, leverage the permission to change consumer behavior toward profits."
5- "Permission Marketing Is Anticipated, Personal, Relevant: Anticipated—people look forward to hearing from you. Personal—the messages are directly related to the individual. Relevant—the marketing is about something the prospect is interested in."
6- "Permission Marketing is the tool that unlocks the power of the Internet. The leverage it bring to this new medium, combined with the pervasive clutter that infects the Internet and virtually every other medium, makes Permission Marketing the most powerful trend in marketing for the next decade."
7- "By focusing media on getting permission instead of making the ultimate sale, marketers are able to get far more out of their expenditures. The response rate to a free sample or c affinity program or a birthday club might be five or ten times the response rate of an ad asking for a sale."
8- "There are five levels of permission. The highest level of permission is called the "intravenous" level. The fifth and lowest is called the "situation" level. Here are the five levels in order of importance. 1. Intravenous (and "purchase-on-approval" model) 2. Points (liability model and chance model) 3. Personal relationships 4. Brand trust 5. Situation. There's a sixth level, but it's so low I won't even refer to it as a level at all. It's called spam (unsolicited advertising), and it's covered last."
9- "Once you have earned permission, you must keep it land attempt to expand it. These four rules go a long way to help marketers understand permission: 1. Permission is nontransferable. 2. Permission is selfish. 3. Permission is a process, not a moment. 4. Permission can be canceled at any time."
10- "Miss the opportunity to build a permission relationship directly with the consumer, and your company is likely to become a commodity supplier. If you acknowledge the coming power of the permission holder yet choose to avoid the battle to become one, you can still win. If you start now, you can optimize your company for the role of supplying the permission holder, making yourself more attractive to these gatekeepers and locking in the long-term relationships that can give you insulation moving forward. On the other hand, if you go for the opportunity to deal direct, you'll face the wrath of your existing intermediaries. It'll be expensive to build and maintain a permission base, and risky too. But if you succeed, you will have built an asset that can offset the demands of the gatekeepers. You'll be able to maintain fair pricing and generate better profits."
1- "As clutter has increased, advertisers have responded by increasing clutter. And as with pollution, because no one owns the problem, no one is working very hard to solve it."
2- "In addition to clutter, there's another problem facing marketers. Consumers don't need to care as much as they used to. The quality of products has increased dramatically It's increased so much, in fact, that it doesn't really matter which car you buy, which coffee maker you buy, or which shirt you buy They're all a great value, and they're all going to last a good long while."
3- "To summarize the problem that faces the Interruption Marketers: 1. Human beings have a finite amount of attention. 2. Human beings have a finite amount of money. The more products offered, the less money there is to go around. 4. In order to capture more attention and more money. Interruption Marketers must increase spending. 5. But this increase in marketing exposure costs b\ money. 6. But, as you've seen, spending more and more money in order to get bigger returns leads to ever more clutter. 7. Catch-22: The more they spend, the less it works. The less it works, the more they spend."
4- "Five Steps to Dating Your Customer: 1. Offer the prospect an incentive to volunteer 2. Using the attention offered by the prospect, offer a curriculum over time, teaching the consumer about your product or service. 3. Reinforce the incentive to guarantee that the prospect maintains the permission. 4. Offer additional incentives to get even more permission from the consumer. 5. Over time, leverage the permission to change consumer behavior toward profits."
5- "Permission Marketing Is Anticipated, Personal, Relevant: Anticipated—people look forward to hearing from you. Personal—the messages are directly related to the individual. Relevant—the marketing is about something the prospect is interested in."
6- "Permission Marketing is the tool that unlocks the power of the Internet. The leverage it bring to this new medium, combined with the pervasive clutter that infects the Internet and virtually every other medium, makes Permission Marketing the most powerful trend in marketing for the next decade."
7- "By focusing media on getting permission instead of making the ultimate sale, marketers are able to get far more out of their expenditures. The response rate to a free sample or c affinity program or a birthday club might be five or ten times the response rate of an ad asking for a sale."
8- "There are five levels of permission. The highest level of permission is called the "intravenous" level. The fifth and lowest is called the "situation" level. Here are the five levels in order of importance. 1. Intravenous (and "purchase-on-approval" model) 2. Points (liability model and chance model) 3. Personal relationships 4. Brand trust 5. Situation. There's a sixth level, but it's so low I won't even refer to it as a level at all. It's called spam (unsolicited advertising), and it's covered last."
9- "Once you have earned permission, you must keep it land attempt to expand it. These four rules go a long way to help marketers understand permission: 1. Permission is nontransferable. 2. Permission is selfish. 3. Permission is a process, not a moment. 4. Permission can be canceled at any time."
10- "Miss the opportunity to build a permission relationship directly with the consumer, and your company is likely to become a commodity supplier. If you acknowledge the coming power of the permission holder yet choose to avoid the battle to become one, you can still win. If you start now, you can optimize your company for the role of supplying the permission holder, making yourself more attractive to these gatekeepers and locking in the long-term relationships that can give you insulation moving forward. On the other hand, if you go for the opportunity to deal direct, you'll face the wrath of your existing intermediaries. It'll be expensive to build and maintain a permission base, and risky too. But if you succeed, you will have built an asset that can offset the demands of the gatekeepers. You'll be able to maintain fair pricing and generate better profits."
on December 11, 2016
Good concepts. He's definitely got a great idea. I wish I had looked at the year it was published before I read it. Being written in 99 means that the internet and all of the different marketing techniques hadn't really come to maturity quite yet.
Seth spends a good amount of time evangelizing 'the Net' and how important it will be.
Good book. Happy I read it. Wish it was written more recently so that the advice offered was more actionable.
Seth spends a good amount of time evangelizing 'the Net' and how important it will be.
Good book. Happy I read it. Wish it was written more recently so that the advice offered was more actionable.
on December 29, 2011
I have been a big fan of Seth Godin's for years. I came across his name when he was a contributor for Fast Company magazine, about the same time that this book came out in the late 1990's. To my utter embarrassment, I recently realized that I did not have one of his books on my bookshelf. I decided to fix that with Permission Marketing.
Twelve years ago, I haughtily started a business that I was trying to get online and make a million dollars with, just like everyone else was. I built a web site with the old marketing wisdom in mind and sat back...and nothing happened. I have always acknowledged that something was missing from my marketing efforts, but I could not put my finger on it.
I began questions of myself when I had tried to engage some marketing execs in conversation and they spoke of "connecting" and "reaching out." It was then that I had realized that the "fire and brimstone" marketing of old, the "call `em until they buy or die" methods were done. I was suddenly realizing that the one who screamed the loudest did not always get the most attention and that I had truly missed something along the way, but was now being dismissed as just another noisy distraction. Permission Marketing has the answers I was looking for.
Although, some of the references have gone bankrupt and some of the companies faded from the business headlines, this book is a must-read, not only for marketers, but also for web developers involved in eCommerce in any way. This book has helped me get to the "what's the point?" of web development and design...and realize that I am just getting started with my marketing activities.
Ignore this book and this recommendation if you think that this "technology thing" is just a fad. The reality is that this "technology thing" has redefined our world and the ways that we communicate with others....that is it has changed everything!
Twelve years ago, I haughtily started a business that I was trying to get online and make a million dollars with, just like everyone else was. I built a web site with the old marketing wisdom in mind and sat back...and nothing happened. I have always acknowledged that something was missing from my marketing efforts, but I could not put my finger on it.
I began questions of myself when I had tried to engage some marketing execs in conversation and they spoke of "connecting" and "reaching out." It was then that I had realized that the "fire and brimstone" marketing of old, the "call `em until they buy or die" methods were done. I was suddenly realizing that the one who screamed the loudest did not always get the most attention and that I had truly missed something along the way, but was now being dismissed as just another noisy distraction. Permission Marketing has the answers I was looking for.
Although, some of the references have gone bankrupt and some of the companies faded from the business headlines, this book is a must-read, not only for marketers, but also for web developers involved in eCommerce in any way. This book has helped me get to the "what's the point?" of web development and design...and realize that I am just getting started with my marketing activities.
Ignore this book and this recommendation if you think that this "technology thing" is just a fad. The reality is that this "technology thing" has redefined our world and the ways that we communicate with others....that is it has changed everything!
on January 26, 2014
I think the book does a good job educating the reader on how not to mess-up an interaction with other people, but it doesn't do much more. I hoped to pick-up some methods that would more often then not bring myself into a stranger's comfort zone. Naïve? Probably. But if it doesn't do that then the book probably doesn't teach a reasonably likeable adult more than he already knows, albeit at an unconscious level. Ultimately, it's about time and volume of interactions. Use the author's tips to grow a large network of people and don't piss them off. Eventually (hopefully), you'll get a good return on investment. But there's no magic revealed.
on December 31, 2011
Godin calls traditional marketing advertising `clutter', an attempt to grab attention. He rightly says this expensive method seldom works.
Instead, his plan has marketers receiving permission from potential buyers to contact them with information about products. To gain that permission, benefits must be offered that interest consumers.
Godin explains the strategies of this type of marketing, as well as the advantages and difficulties. He mentions successful permission marketing by magazines and companies such as Starbucks, various restaurants and some grocery stores with their `members cards'. He discusses what will feel like benefits to buyers.
This type of marketing requires personal attention to individual buyers, but the internet and multiple-response soft-ware makes the process possible.
Some of Seth Godin's book seem like rewrites of common information, but this one does give an interesting view of better marketing methods.
Instead, his plan has marketers receiving permission from potential buyers to contact them with information about products. To gain that permission, benefits must be offered that interest consumers.
Godin explains the strategies of this type of marketing, as well as the advantages and difficulties. He mentions successful permission marketing by magazines and companies such as Starbucks, various restaurants and some grocery stores with their `members cards'. He discusses what will feel like benefits to buyers.
This type of marketing requires personal attention to individual buyers, but the internet and multiple-response soft-ware makes the process possible.
Some of Seth Godin's book seem like rewrites of common information, but this one does give an interesting view of better marketing methods.
on February 16, 2015
To get this off my chest I want to begin by saying that illustrating the statement "Frequency works" with Muhammad Ali's fight record is simply wrong, or, at best a not well chosen example. Godin writes "Muhammad Ali did not become heavyweight champion by punching twenty people one time each. No, he became the champ by punching one guy twenty times. By applying frequency to the poor opponent's head, Ali was able to bring his message home..."
I might have ignored this if it did not come up a second time.
"... Back to Muhammad Ali again. After he's hit someone ten times and the guy's still standing, the opportunity for a quick knockout is long gone. Only through persistence..."
If this is about illustrating `persistence' there are better examples. If this is about "boxing/Muhammad Ali AND persistence" it's a really bad example. Muhammad Ali averaged 9th round KOs. That was Ali's style. Mike Tyson averaged 3rd round KOs. That was Tyson's style. Indeed, Tyson knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds in one of the fastest KOs in the heavyweight division.
Whereas Ali took the time to dance with the "Ali Shuffle, to showboat, and even talk to his opponent, Tyson did what he came to do -without show (he sold the outcome). But there is a lesson to be learned. After some time Tyson's fights could not be sold in the United States anymore; most famously Tyson vs. Buster Douglas took place in Tokyo, because Americans weren't going to pay hundreds of dollars for what they thought would be a 90 seconds fight (Boxing is about entertainment too). Ali knew this. That is why boxing is such a bad example for the contents of this book. Any boxer, who pursues "selling the fight and going for a later round knock-out" risks injury and loss, but fighters, who go for the quick sale, cannot sell anymore after they have done this for a while. So, if the "message" is about winning, the strategy depends on the opponent, and that is why boxing is not a great example.
Aside from this flaw Seth Godin's book is a great book. His elaborations about permission marketing vs. traditional Interruption marketing are brilliant and I can only guess what a huge impact this book made in 1999. Even today students of marketing must be riveted to read about the historic developments in marketing, never mind that some of the quoted companies don't exist anymore. E.g. my children (in their early 20's), who know much more about phones than I will ever know, have never heard of MCI. Then again, maybe reading about MCI might prompt them to read up on who this former telecommunications company was and find out why it went down.
Of course telecommunication companies are notorious for their ridiculous approaches. For a short while I was Charter's customer. This company thought they can handle `permission marketing' their own way. Even though I told them that I wanted to buy Internet services only, and that I haven't had TV since 2009, and, that I did not intend to get TV because I find nothing worthy to watch, they called me every 10 days to offer me TV. So I cancelled them. At that occasion the customer service representative asked me why I cancelled their services and I told him that I felt harassed. To which he replied that I should have gotten on their no-call list. To which I replied, that no, the fact that they knew my phone number did not entitle them to call me anytime between 8-5 whenever they felt like it. Not even my mother calls me during working hours. Additionally, the fact that I told them more than 20 times in no uncertain terms that I was not interested in getting TV, clearly demonstrated that they were NOT listening to their customer. My new provider sends me "invitations to get TV" every 2 weeks, via snail mail. I throw their mail into my recycle bin.
Naturally, Seth Godin elaborates about telecommunications companies too, only he writes about Bell Atlantic, which today is Verizon. I wonder how many of the younger readers of this book know that.
The above is a perfect example of permission marketing gone wrong and I would hope that somebody from Charter's marketing department reads Seth Godin's book sometime soon. I really appreciated Seth Godin's elaborations about the "five levels of permission". Looking into my Inbox I can tell that many corporations' marketing departments have taken Seth Godin's advice to heart. Of course the downside of this is that most people simply delete their flood of emails and that's that. In fact email providers are developing programs to assist this process because people don't have enough time to unsubscribe the unwanted content.
Absolutely brilliant are Godin's mentioning of Columbia Record Club and the Book of the Months Club. Indeed it was these concepts that lay the foundation for brilliant permission marketing but we don't get to read too much about these great innovators anymore.
While I realize that the book is listed as "published in 1999" I had hoped that the book included some kind of an update, maybe a 3-5 page foreword would have been excellent. The way how it is presented "Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends, and Friends Into Customers" is more of a history book than a cutting edge book. That kind of surprised me.
Gisela Hausmann, author & blogger
I might have ignored this if it did not come up a second time.
"... Back to Muhammad Ali again. After he's hit someone ten times and the guy's still standing, the opportunity for a quick knockout is long gone. Only through persistence..."
If this is about illustrating `persistence' there are better examples. If this is about "boxing/Muhammad Ali AND persistence" it's a really bad example. Muhammad Ali averaged 9th round KOs. That was Ali's style. Mike Tyson averaged 3rd round KOs. That was Tyson's style. Indeed, Tyson knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds in one of the fastest KOs in the heavyweight division.
Whereas Ali took the time to dance with the "Ali Shuffle, to showboat, and even talk to his opponent, Tyson did what he came to do -without show (he sold the outcome). But there is a lesson to be learned. After some time Tyson's fights could not be sold in the United States anymore; most famously Tyson vs. Buster Douglas took place in Tokyo, because Americans weren't going to pay hundreds of dollars for what they thought would be a 90 seconds fight (Boxing is about entertainment too). Ali knew this. That is why boxing is such a bad example for the contents of this book. Any boxer, who pursues "selling the fight and going for a later round knock-out" risks injury and loss, but fighters, who go for the quick sale, cannot sell anymore after they have done this for a while. So, if the "message" is about winning, the strategy depends on the opponent, and that is why boxing is not a great example.
Aside from this flaw Seth Godin's book is a great book. His elaborations about permission marketing vs. traditional Interruption marketing are brilliant and I can only guess what a huge impact this book made in 1999. Even today students of marketing must be riveted to read about the historic developments in marketing, never mind that some of the quoted companies don't exist anymore. E.g. my children (in their early 20's), who know much more about phones than I will ever know, have never heard of MCI. Then again, maybe reading about MCI might prompt them to read up on who this former telecommunications company was and find out why it went down.
Of course telecommunication companies are notorious for their ridiculous approaches. For a short while I was Charter's customer. This company thought they can handle `permission marketing' their own way. Even though I told them that I wanted to buy Internet services only, and that I haven't had TV since 2009, and, that I did not intend to get TV because I find nothing worthy to watch, they called me every 10 days to offer me TV. So I cancelled them. At that occasion the customer service representative asked me why I cancelled their services and I told him that I felt harassed. To which he replied that I should have gotten on their no-call list. To which I replied, that no, the fact that they knew my phone number did not entitle them to call me anytime between 8-5 whenever they felt like it. Not even my mother calls me during working hours. Additionally, the fact that I told them more than 20 times in no uncertain terms that I was not interested in getting TV, clearly demonstrated that they were NOT listening to their customer. My new provider sends me "invitations to get TV" every 2 weeks, via snail mail. I throw their mail into my recycle bin.
Naturally, Seth Godin elaborates about telecommunications companies too, only he writes about Bell Atlantic, which today is Verizon. I wonder how many of the younger readers of this book know that.
The above is a perfect example of permission marketing gone wrong and I would hope that somebody from Charter's marketing department reads Seth Godin's book sometime soon. I really appreciated Seth Godin's elaborations about the "five levels of permission". Looking into my Inbox I can tell that many corporations' marketing departments have taken Seth Godin's advice to heart. Of course the downside of this is that most people simply delete their flood of emails and that's that. In fact email providers are developing programs to assist this process because people don't have enough time to unsubscribe the unwanted content.
Absolutely brilliant are Godin's mentioning of Columbia Record Club and the Book of the Months Club. Indeed it was these concepts that lay the foundation for brilliant permission marketing but we don't get to read too much about these great innovators anymore.
While I realize that the book is listed as "published in 1999" I had hoped that the book included some kind of an update, maybe a 3-5 page foreword would have been excellent. The way how it is presented "Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends, and Friends Into Customers" is more of a history book than a cutting edge book. That kind of surprised me.
Gisela Hausmann, author & blogger
on April 3, 2017
The advice in Godin's book continues to be pertinent and actual. Worth reading as a beginner's guide to modern day marketing.
