Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Permission Marketing

A couple of years back when I started BLOGGING and working on small sites doing SEO for R300 / month :) I read a book called  "Permission Marketing" by Seth Godin. Firstly, for those of you that don't know who Seth Godin is, have a quick read through his BLOG ( http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ ) and through his Website ( http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/ ).

I have to be honest, when I first read this book I never really understood half of what he was talking about. Billboards and banners and website marketing but he kept referring to Permission Marketing...

What Seth Godin was talking about

Well, when the business grew and Trafficfundi starting taking on bigger clients, the pitches and sales started becoming a little more intense. Our strategies had to change and soon I started realising without even trying how the effectiveness of online marketing was taking the world (South Africa especially) by storm. Then, I clicked!!!!!!

The world is so full of clutter, and SPAM that we no longer want out lives to be filled with ADS and advertising. When was the last time you drove on the highway and actually remembered the billboard that you saw or the 1500 posters hanging on Corelett drive advertising over 300 companies?
When was the last time that actually made you stop and think!!!!!

What is permission marketing

Permission marketing is what the WWW (Internet, Web) is all about. It's about "I give you permission to marketing to me". Think about it, when you logon to your pc, and you go to Google.com and type in something you're expecting to find the results that you've searched for i.e. you're giving Google permission to give you the results you want!

If I type in "Search engine marketing company in Pretoria". I'm expecting to find a "search engine marketing company in Pretoria". I asked for it, I expect to find it & I will most likely contact that company!! There are obviously other factors at play here such as: Is the AD effective enough on Google to catch my attention, does the website capture my attention etc etc...

BUT this is the essence of Permission based marketing. It's you giving me permission to marketing my business to you because you're actively looking for it, HENCE my conversions will be higher. Of course the other massive advantage online marketing has is that if setup correctly EVERY last link, every last ad you place online is track able right down to a SALE. Show me any other form of marketing that allows you to do this?

For those of you interested in buying Seth Godin's book on permission marketing check out the Wantitall.co.za site.