permission marketing

A sales approach in which the prospective consumer gives his or her consent to receive marketing information. Developed within the interactive environments of the Web and e-mail, it aims to tailor any and all messages to meet a prospect's needs. Seth Godin, author of Permission Marketing, pioneered the concept. He states that the wrong way to compete for consumers' attention is to interrupt whatever their attention is focused on (the way an ad banner works); instead, the optimum way is to convince your prospects that your pitch is worth their attention. It is "the art of turning a stranger into a friend and a friend into a customer."