Permission Marketing

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

I'm on my e-mail account 9 hours a day, I follow people on Twitter and feel that permission marketing is a necessity now-a-days...here's an example why:

I was at my local American Eagle store in the mall and it took forever to check out. While I was purchasing two items, the store clerk asked for my zip code, phone number and e-mail address (none of which they actually got). I can see for marketing research why they need the zip code and phone #, but I was perplexed about my e-mail address. Apparently they send out notices of when items are on sale, upcoming events and stuff along that nature. I declined to give out my info only to receive a nasty "okaaaay."

I didn't know that checkout person and I certainly don't want to be bothered with an e-mail every few days announcing it's the sale of all sales. When I do see your e-mail I'm going to block you. And I'll enjoy it.

So many companies don't understand that they need to have permission to market to their current or future customers and that it's not acceptable to gather their e-mail address from informal locations without a real explanation of what will be sent. A massive amount of spam from you is only going to turn recipients off and you'll find yourself blocked.

Permission marketing is a delicate area to master, but when done properly it serves as an invaluable resource. If you take care of your customers and treat them right, they'll take care of you.