What is Permission Marketing?
It focuses on receiving explicit consent from the target audience to promote products or services, acknowledging that solicited messages are better received from actively participating audiences. Marketing is treated as an invitation rather than an interruption, an approach pioneered by Seth Godin. Brands are able to enhance trust and relevance through opt-in mechanisms such as email subscriptions, SMS agreements, or personalized ad settings, which in turn result in enhanced open and click rates. Proper consent management ensures adherence to regulations such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM, providing safeguards for reputation as sender and nurturing customer relationships.
Examples of permission marketing are sending newsletters only to users who opt in through signup forms, showing personalized search ads after users accept ad tracking, and sending SMS offers only to contacts who explicitly consent.
Related terms: opt-in, consent marketing, inbound marketing, subscriber engagement