There are still many content marketers who use content marketing and permission marketing interchangeably. However, permission marketing is just a sub-category of content marketing and, unfortunately, most of the current content marketing campaigns do not fall into this sub-category.

Permission Marketing is a term coined by Seth Godin. This approach to marketing is based on a clear and strict premise:

In the permission marketing, we bound our scope to the audiences who have knowingly accepted to get into communication with us.

Thus sending an email message to someone who has not registered herself on our mailing list is a violation of the permission marketing premise. The same applies to the phone calls to potential clients without their prior permission.

Thus, all of the cold calling activities are outside the permission marketing boundaries.

Considering the above definition, SEO based campaigns looking for organic traffic are one of the best examples of content marketing in the digital world. However, paid advertising in search engines does not comply with the accepted definition of permission marketing.

As the term permission emphasises, many of the current content marketing campaigns are just implementations of the old mass media campaigns fueled with the digital content.

Although most of the content marketers confirm that growing a smaller community of the audiences using permission marketing approach would much more profitable and sustainable in the long run, still many of them are not patient enough to wait for the slow-yet-organic growth of their audience base.

P.S.: HubSpot has a insightful article comparing content marketing and inbound marketing that can be helpful if you are seeking more ideas in this regard, although the author’s personal opinion is in contrast to what I have suggested here.

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Years ago, he started to talk about the end of TV-Industrial Complex. An era in which TV governed every minute of our life and even aspect of our attention.

Being broadcasted on TV meant a powerful commercializing and leaving the TV channels, meant losing public attention.

As he mentions in his article published in FastCompany, TV-Industrial Complex is not limited to the flat-big-box mounted on the walls of our homes and offices. It’s about an idea he calls television thinking.

Television thinking has several characteristics. But here’s the core idea (in my words):

Trying to reach everyone by any means at any time with your message. Even if they don’t buy your product, the least result would be product or brand awareness. By the way, you show them how powerful you are as it’s not cheap to reach everyone.

Television thinking was based on a clear idea: Interruption. It has just one commandment: Try to interrupt audience and grab their attention whenever there’s a chance.

When they are watching TV, interrupt them with a TV ad. When they are listening to the radio, interrupt them with a commercial. When they are checking the emails, interrupt them with a spam message. Interrupt them. Some will care and some will curse and the business runs!

TV Industrial Complex or television thinking as Seth Godin calls is already dead. Although the death will not be announced for years. Just like an old emperor who is dead by the courtiers try to hide the fact just to govern the people for some more time and collect the last collectable taxes!

The old style advertising agencies and media resellers are courtiers of this dead emperor and there are still so many advertisers who are happily in the queue for buying the old interruption tools.

The end of the television mindset is where the permission marketing starts. Nothing clarifies the idea of permission marketing better than the definition he has stated in his personal blog:

Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.

Seth Godin’s idea of permission marketing can be a basis for devising content strategy. As one of the goals are content strategy is building and nurturing an audience group who are ready to grant you the privilege of delivering more contents and even promotional materials.

P.S: You may be interested to take a look at my review of his book titled Tribes: Part 1, Part2

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