Seth Godin is one of my favorite authors. His blog and books have been a great source of inspiration over a period of years. Permission Marketing is one of his books I continuously refer to whenever I think about marketing campaigns and developing deeper relationships with clients. Like most of his books, it is relatively short but an extremely informative read. Many of his theories about permission marketing are now being taken a lot more seriously, and businesses have begun to question the mediums they use to speak to their customers. Mass media advertising is steadily decreasing as advertisers switch to mediums which help them relay messages to their target audiences. Instead of blasting the public with superfluous advertisements, businesses are beginning to look for ways to direct their message directly to their target audience.

In this book the author outlines several strategies that business owners can use to integrate permission marketing into their marketing strategies. Instead of measuring how many eyeballs actually see your advertisement, business owners need to start thinking about how to gain their target customers permission and share their products/services with them. This requires a fundamental shift in the total way that one looks at marketing. The concept of developing deeper relationships with clients is often overlooked because it requires more time, effort and constant attention. Marketers  are unfortunately in the habit of just putting their message out there hoping for something to happen. This method may have worked in the past when communication mediums were limited and the public unable to filter messages as effectively. Today the tables have changed and we need to adapt, otherwise our messages will continue to fall on deaf ears.

I recommend this book to all business owners and entrepreneurs and anyone  serious about marketing activities and how to gain a level of permission from their clients so as to actually start making choices for them. Developing such relationships will enable us to increase cross selling opportunities, increase revenue per customer and most importantly increase levels of trust and build  stronger relationships. This book is filled with strategies detailing how to do that.

Have you read this book? What are some ways and some permission marketing strategies that you use? What are some of their benefits and drawbacks?