Permission marketing also called invitation marketing is a term that is widely known throughout the Internet and with Internet marketing services especially with e-marketing. The term permission marketing was first used by Seith Godin in 1999. In Internet marketing services, permission marketing, by Seith Godin's definition, is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them. The concept of permission marketing has turned the Internet marketing services upside down.
Internet marketing services that use permission marketing recognize the power of consumers to ignore marketing. Internet marketing services that use this technique know that treating consumers with respect is the best way to get their attention. Permission marketers understand that when someone chooses to pay attention they are paying you with something very valuable. Attention is something to be valued, not taken for granted. A lot of Internet marketing services are adapting to permission marketing. They market on the pretense that real permission is different than presumed permission. In other words, just because some has your email doesn't mean that you gave them permission to email you.
Seith Godin is a trailblazer in Internet marketing services and says that he want to change the ways the almost everything is marketed to almost everyone. Godin argues that most marketing tries to get consumers attention by interrupting them. Permission marketing is developed around permission. The challenge is for Internet marketing services to get consumers to volunteer their permission. In permission marketing, consumers give Internet marketing services permission to send them promotional messages in certain interest categories. This is done by asking the consumer to fill out a survey indicating interests when registering for a service. Internet marketing services then match advertising messages with the interests of the consumer.
Permission marketing offers improving targeting by helping consumers interface with Internet marketing services. Internet marketing services use this interface to send consumers advertisements mostly by email. Permission marketing is now large scale on the Internet. Permission marketing has been incorporated in leading texts on marketing management. Direct mail is seen as a social contact between the consumer and the marketer. Permission marketing improves the consumer's trust of the marketer. Many marketing scholars have begun to voice their support for permission marketing. The term opt in is now more common around the Internet.
By bearing the cost of identifying the disinterests of consumers, marketers are now getting consumers that are interested in their messages. Permission marketing is also a way to reduce the concerns about individual privacy. Consumers care about messages that are important to them. They will continue to participate in a permission marketing program as long as they perceive it as being a meaningful exchange. If the consumer feels that the permission marketing program has the potential to add value to his or her life they may participate eagerly. However if the consumer is unhappy with the program it is likely that they would just stop responding to the program. A person's level off interest in the permission marketing program is positively affected by the benefits from the program.