Permission versus Interruption Marketing - What's the difference?

  • You're watching your favourite TV show, the ads come on, you rush off to make a sandwich.
  • You're driving down the motorway, a 3m x 6m billboard plastered with commercial messaging catches your eye and distracts you.
  • You're settling down to the evening meal and the phone rings. The caller tries to sell you insurance (or a myriad of other unwanted products).
  • You open up your email in the morning and are inundated with promises of genitalia enlargement, Viagra, Eastern European women looking for husbands etc.
  • The list goes on and on...

All of these frequently occurring unsolicited events interrupt us. We never asked for them and don't really want to hear their 'pitch'. This is the old form of marketing and is commonly known as Interruption Marketing. Remember the famous quote from adman David Ogilvie, "50% of advertising doesn't work. I just don't know which 50%."

To be honest, I think he was overly generous in rating the effectiveness of traditional advertising. Today it's more likely that 90% doesn't work (an untested statistic, but based on anecdotal evidence).

Today, more and more consumers switch off from traditional interruption advertising on television by flicking to alternate channels during ad breaks or by recording shows for later viewing (that's the beauty of digital DVD recorders and TIVO).

Results of research undertaken a few years ago in Britain showed that:

  • Only 16% of people admitted to paying attention to commercial breaks i.e. 84% of consumers ignore ads
  • 65% no longer trusted TV ads
  • 33% said that all advertising irritates or annoys

The result is that advertisers (and their advertising agencies that exist on generous media commissions) may believe that they are reaching a certain number of consumers based on station and viewer statistics, however, effective reach can be substantially lower.

In addition, those consumers who tolerate ads and keep watching are so saturated with messages that they don't pay much attention to the actual advertising message. Survey research also suggests that consumers are generally sceptical about traditional advertising.

So how do we capture the attention (and wallets) of these saturated consumers?

Permission Marketing is a term coined by Seth Godin, one of today's most respected 'thought leaders'. Permission Marketing is the opposite of traditional interruption marketing. Permission Marketing allows the marketer to build an ongoing relationship of trust and acceptance with their customers. In Seth Godin's words "...turning strangers into friends, and friends into customers."

In a world increasingly cluttered with unsolicited marketing messages, Permission Marketing is a way for marketers to successfully 'connect' with their customers (and prospects) and to build a relationship where the customer welcomes information from the marketer (and probably looks forward to receiving it).

An example of Permission Marketing is opt-in e-mail, where Internet users sign up in advance for information about certain product categories. Other effective Permission Marketing channels are blogs, where followers of bloggers choose to receive information of interest and relevance to them.

Search Engine Optimisation is another, not so obvious, form of Permission Marketing. Rather than bombarding a target group of prospects with direct mail or traditional media advertising, Search Engine Optimisation enables prospects to find you at their leisure and convenience. If they like what they see they may engage in some form of dialogue with you, by email or telephone or they may even visit you.

Permission Marketing is not a 'quick fix' silver bullet, but rather a fundamental approach to the new age of marketing. It is effective because the prospect is more receptive to your message and is prepared to listen to what you have to say. It's centred on the fact that the prospect has given tacit permission to receive information from you.

Permission Marketing is a very powerful marketing concept: however it's not all that simple to implement effectively. As with any sophisticated marketing tool it would be wise to consult a professional who can advise on what's best for your organisation.

Would you like to know how to use Permission Marketing in your company? Send us an email. Or call us free on 0800 25 45 25.