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opt‑in

’. This is preferable to 

 opt‑  out

, the 

situation where a customer has to consciously agree not to receive further information. You 

may recall (from Chapter 4) that in many countries data protection laws requiring opt-in 

before customers receive communications and mandatory inclusion of  opt-  out have now 

been introduced in an attempt to stop spamming. Effectively, the law is mandating permis-

sion marketing as best practice!

The importance of incentivisation in permission marketing has been emphasised by Seth 

Godin who likens the process of acquisition and retention to dating someone. Godin (1999) 

suggests that dating the customer involves:

1 

Offering the prospect an incentive to volunteer.

2 

Using the attention offered by the prospect, offer a curriculum over time, teaching the 

consumer about your product or service.