Seth Godin vs Dan Kennedy: Permission and Remarkable or Direct Response and No B.S.?
Comparing Seth Godin's permission marketing and remarkable products with Dan Kennedy's direct response marketing: two documented philosophies, what each asks of you, and how to combine them.
Seth Godin and Dan Kennedy are two of the best-known marketing writers, with opposite reputations. Godin is the gentle advocate of permission, remarkable products, and serving a small audience well. Kennedy is the blunt advocate of direct response, offers, and measurable results. People compare them to decide what kind of marketer to be.
What is the core difference?
Godin argues that people are tired of being interrupted. The way to build a business is to make something worth talking about, find the small group who cares, and earn their permission to keep talking to them.
Kennedy argues that marketing is a measurable business activity. Every piece of marketing should carry an offer, a clear call to action, and a way of tracking results, so you know what works and spend only on that.
One emphasizes who you are to the audience. The other emphasizes what each message makes them do.
What does Godin say?
Seth Godin is an author and entrepreneur who has written many books and a daily blog. Permission Marketing (1999) argues for marketing people agree to receive. Purple Cow (2003) argues for remarkable products. This Is Marketing (2018) argues for finding the smallest viable audience and serving them well, with the guiding idea that people like us do things like this.
His style is short, aphoristic, and anecdotal. He writes more about principles of attention and trust than about tactics, and his ideas have shaped content and email marketing.
What does Kennedy say?
Dan Kennedy is an American direct response copywriter, speaker, and consultant. The Ultimate Sales Letter (1990) and No B.S. Direct Marketing, among others, argue that marketing should produce measurable responses, with strong offers, deadlines, guarantees, and follow-up.
His tone is deliberately tough and anti-fluff. He sells newsletters, coaching, and events built on these methods, so his books serve as an entry to those offerings. His material has influenced direct response and online marketing, particularly among small-business owners.
How do they compare?
| Dimension | Godin | Kennedy |
|---|---|---|
| Core idea | Permission and remarkable products | Direct response with measured offers |
| Unit of attention | The audience and relationship | Each message and its result |
| View of advertising | Interruption is waning; earn attention | Ads should pay for themselves, with tracking |
| Tone | Reflective, brief, principle-led | Blunt, tactical, results-first |
| Role of the product | Must be worth talking about | Matters, but the offer and the copy do the selling |
| Business model | Books, blog, courses | Books, newsletters, coaching, events |
| Best known for | Permission Marketing (1999), Purple Cow (2003), This Is Marketing (2018) | The Ultimate Sales Letter (1990), the No B.S. books |
When does each one fit?
Godin's ideas fit when you can build something distinctive and serve a defined community, and when trust over time is central to the sale. They fit creators, specialist services, and products with a loyal audience.
Kennedy's fit when you need leads and sales on a predictable schedule and can measure response. They fit local businesses, professionals with a clear service, and any business that can test offers.
A business with no distinctive offer will struggle with either. A business that cannot measure response will find Kennedy hard to follow, and one that cannot build trust will find Godin hard to apply.
What does this look like in practice?
A bookkeeping firm for freelancers wants more clients. A Godin approach would define the narrow group, say freelance designers, and publish useful material they would want to receive, building a list with permission. The firm becomes the obvious choice because it speaks to a specific community.
A Kennedy approach would define an offer, such as a fixed-price year-end tax pack with a sign-up deadline, send it to the list and to prospects, and track which channel produces customers. Together, the first builds the audience and the second turns attention into measured sales.
"My business is [description] and my ideal customer is [description]. First, in Godin's spirit, define a smallest viable audience, what would make our product remarkable for them, and what useful thing we could send them regularly with their permission. Then, in Kennedy's spirit, draft one clear offer with a deadline, a call to action, and the single number I will track to judge it."
Why it works: one half builds a relationship, and the other gives it a measurable next step.
Can you use both together?
Yes, and many small businesses do. Godin's ideas shape the product and the audience, and Kennedy's shape how offers are made and judged. The tension is tone: heavy urgency can undermine the trust Godin recommends, and soft marketing without an offer can fail to convert.
The practical approach is to keep the relationship honest and the offers clear, and to measure results either way.
"Here is a sales email I plan to send: [paste]. Rate it for how well it respects the reader's permission and attention, and for how clear its offer and call to action are. Identify any urgency or claim that could damage trust, and suggest a version that keeps the offer clear and the tone honest."
Why it works: reading the same email through both lenses reveals where pressure outruns trust.
Where to go next
Seth Godin and Dan Kennedy both sit in the Marketing & Sales category. For the originals, read Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, and This Is Marketing by Godin, and The Ultimate Sales Letter by Kennedy. Both authors sell products built on their methods, so use the books to judge fit. To get a finished piece of writing in front of the right channels, Content Distribution is a $79 tool built for it.
Frequently asked questions
What is permission marketing?
In Permission Marketing (1999), Godin contrasts interruption marketing, such as broadcast ads and cold calls, with marketing that people have agreed to receive. The idea is that attention is scarce and earned by treating people respectfully over time. Email lists and subscriptions are common examples. It is an argument about relationship, supported by cases, not a controlled study. Godin has argued that this approach respects people's time and builds a base of readers who actually want to hear from you.
What does Kennedy mean by direct response?
Direct response marketing is advertising designed to produce a measurable action, such as a call, order, or inquiry, from each piece. Kennedy, in books including The Ultimate Sales Letter (1990) and the No B.S. series, argues that every ad should carry an offer, a reason to act now, and a way to track results, so spending can be judged by return.
Are they opposites?
They differ in style and emphasis, not entirely in aim. Both want a relationship with customers and both dislike generic mass advertising. Godin emphasizes being remarkable and earning trust. Kennedy emphasizes offers, tracking, and follow-up. A business can use Godin's ideas to shape what it makes and Kennedy's to structure how it sells. The method is also associated with testing different offers and headlines against each other, so that decisions rest on numbers.
What is a purple cow?
It is Godin's image, from Purple Cow (2003), for a product that is remarkable enough that people talk about it, in contrast to the unremarkable cows you drive past without noticing. His argument is that in crowded markets, being safe is risky, and that products themselves must be worth noticing. It is an argument, not a formula. He uses the image to argue that safe, average products are the real danger when buyers have so many choices.
Which suits a small business?
The documented work does not rank them. Godin's smallest viable audience, in This Is Marketing (2018), suits a business that can serve a specific group deeply. Kennedy's emphasis on offers and measurement suits one that needs predictable leads. Many small businesses borrow from both. Test before committing. A reasonable first step is to pick one idea from each and run a small experiment for a month.
Can AI help me apply either?
It can draft offers, outline an email sequence, brainstorm remarkable angles, and critique copy against each philosophy. It cannot know your customers or tell which approach fits your market. Use it for first drafts and structure, then test with real audiences. Ask it to critique your drafts in each author's voice, and then judge which criticism actually applies to your market.
Written by Gareth Hoyle. Last updated 8 October 2026. Part of the authority.md guides library.
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