Permission Marketing by Seth Godin is a terrific book that can help you get your online marketing efforts on the right track.
In this article, I’ll give a brief overview and share some key lessons from it. But, first, here are lessons from Permission Marketing by Seth Godin:
1. Your biggest job is to establish trust
Your customers don’t know you. They take what they see on your website with a grain of salt, and it’s up to you to prove that you’re trustworthy. So how do you do that? By, first of all, asking permission to communicate with them. Having permission means your customers want the information you offer, and they want to hear from you. And when you have trust established, you won’t have to worry about being called a spammer.
2. Give away great stuff
Instead of wasting time figuring out how to market your product or service, start focusing on what your customers want. For example, if you sell online clothing, give your customers great tips on what to wear and how to wear it. If you sell eBooks, make sure they’re free and provide lots of advice to them. The more helpful your recommendations are, the more people will come back for more.
3. Make the ask
Don’t be afraid to ask people to take a specific action. Your customers want to know what you want them to do! So be specific, and tell them exactly what you’d like them to do. Don’t give vague requests – ask for what you want.
4. Ask more often
Ask as much as possible! If your customer gives permission once, they’re likely to give it again. In addition, the more you ask them, the higher their chances of saying “yes” are. So don’t be shy — constantly ask your customers for feedback and referrals. You can also get permission from them to keep in touch by email or phone, asking them to opt in when they visit your website.
5. Build permission into the product
Instead of trying to build permission after the fact — for example, by asking your customers to opt-in when they purchase something from you — start building it into your products and services. For example, eBooks or newsletters can come with an opt-in checkbox right on them so that anyone who wants to receive it has to opt-in.
6. Segment with permission in mind
One great way to build segments is to make the customers give you the information about themselves — like their name, email address, or zip code — when they purchase something from you. You can also ask them if they want to receive more information about your services or if they want to receive more information on the topic that you’re discussing.
7. Sell through stories, not ads
Your customers are tired of being marketed to — so don’t bother marketing to them. Instead, try selling through stories. For example, if you sell physical products like makeup or clothes, give tips and advice to people who wear those products. If you sell eBooks, make it a story about the reader and how she uses your eBook to solve her problems (for example, if you sell an eBook on fashion and style, talk about how the eBook helped one woman pick out the perfect outfit for her date).
8. Charge for value
When someone purchases something from you, they pay for the value of your product or service, not for the fact that it’s yours. So don’t add on any additional costs to what you would normally charge just because it has your name on it. After all, if they were buying your name, they would have just paid you for the privilege of being allowed to advertise to them!
9. Give up on “mass marketing.”
Embrace one-to-one relationships with individual customers. Don’t decide what products or services to offer based on what’s most profitable, but rather on what individual people want. For example, if you sell online clothing and you have a customer who wants to buy something specific, offer it to her instead of making something more profitable. By responding to each person individually, you’ll earn their trust — which often leads them to become loyal customers for life.
10. Be urgent
People are more likely to respond when you ask them for something if they feel that the request is urgent. You can create urgency by making a limited-time offer, using scarcity, or focusing on losing an opportunity rather than jumping at one. For example, if you’re selling clothing online and there’s only one thing left in the size your customer is looking for, point this out to her.
Or, if you’re selling an eBook on healthy eating, tell people that it will only be available for sale for a limited time or that there’s only a certain number of copies available. However, keep in mind that being too pushy can turn off customers — so make sure your requests are urgent without being demanding.