Nobody wants anything jammed down their throats. Everyone wants to be asked for their ideas, insights and business.
That's called permission marketing, and without it you risk contaminating your digital communications and platforms by alienating customers and losing their trust.
In DigiMarketing, the Essential Guide to New Media and DigiMarketing by Kent Vertime and Ian Fenwick, the authors explain that without trust, you can learn very little about your customers and can't customize marketing to them.
Without permission, alienated customers will build barriers so you can't reach them. Like any relationship, once you lose trust, it's very hard to re-establish it.
So follow these DigiMarketing permission marketing best practices to ensure trust and success:
1. Confirmed opt-in: whenever a consumer asks to be added to your communication, confirm this via email and ask them to take a positive action to be added to a list. This assures they are legitimately opted in, and a confirmation can serve a marketing purpose, don't miss a chance to talk to your customer.
2. Easy unsubscribe or opt-out: in some countries, this is a legal requirement. And don't miss the marketing chance to gently learn why someone chooses to unsubscribe.
3. Clear recipient benefits: be clear in every communication because you are invading their space and time. Be short, to the point and relevant. Use headlines that link to additional content later in email or to blogs, websites of social networks.
4. Consistent, memorable presence: be recognized as actually having permission, so avoid being identified as a "spammer." Make your content compelling, educational and newsworthy to assure its value.
5. Don't get too frequent: one of the most important parts of direct marketing is the balance of "reach and frequency." Too high frequency can be intrusive and annoying. Too little risks being forgotten. Balance this and customers will appreciate you and your offering being there when they need and want it.
6. Maintain a relationship: successful digital communication helps customers to know you and build trust via a consistent, personable voice that reflects your brand. A recent survey showed that the most important reason recipients open emails is they "know and trust the sender."
Remember, digital marketing offers many platforms, but if your customer doesn't permit your communication, it's like the tree falling in the forest. Nobody will be listening.
