A Beginner's Guide to Push vs. Pull Marketing

Marketing activity can fall into two categories - either push or pull marketing. 

Do you know the type of marketing you are doing? If you are pulling when you should be pushing, you won’t get access to the customers you want. This is why you need to understand the difference between the two types of marketing and when to use each one.

How does push and pull marketing compare: -

• Push marketing sends communication and marketing directly to the customer. It pushes content out to businesses, taking products and services to them.
• Pull marketing focuses on bringing customers to your business. It pulls in a customer base and directs them to your webpage or social media.

There are times to use both strategies, and they can be used alongside each other, but you need to know when to use each one in your business.

WHAT IS PUSH MARKETING?

Push marketing is when you push your content right to the customers you want to attract. It is also called direct response marketing, or outbound marketing. Push marketing can apply to email offers, printed mailings, radio advertising, point-of-sale displays, etc. anything that pushes specific advertising outward to businesses you want to target.

Push marketing is considered marketing that targets a specific message to the clients you want to attract. It’s used to target new leads and new customers, reaching people who may not have heard of your business yet. You should use it when you have something new to announce to businesses who may currently be unaware of your product or service but are looking to buy.

Examples of push marketing strategy

• Targeted emailing: You can use a CRM (customer relationship management) system to develop an email list when launching a new product or service. You can tell potential customers about the product or service that they are likely to be interested in purchasing via a direct email campaign if they meet your criteria.  
• Line of sight: When launching a new product or service — for example, a new type of energy bar — you can use your retailer connections to put POS at tills, which pushes the bar into a customer’s line of sight in an area where they are already likely to be receptive. The visibility of advertising in a frequented area pushes that messaging to the customer.
• Social Media: If you have a particular product you want to promote or have a sale on, social media can be a useful tool to get the news out there. If it’s a flash/time-limited event, you can heavily push the information to your customers and create a sense of urgency for them to buy within a short timeframe.
• Radio ads: Radio adverts can also be a form of push marketing. If you’re promoting a new coaching service, for example, securing airtime on a radio station at specific times to promote your service puts your business in front of a targeted customer base.

Tools used in push marketing:

• Local print services: For flyers and mailers targeted around a particular product and to a specific audience, you want to be able to send them out as soon as an opportunity comes about. With local suppliers, you can order mailers as soon as you put new prospects in the funnel or release a new product.
• CRM: Your CRM software is essential in building and maintaining a database of leads to whom you can send your direct marketing.

WHAT IS PULL MARKETING?

Pull marketing, also known as inbound marketing, is the opposite of push marketing. It works by actively “pulling” leads onto your site or attracting them to your product. Pull marketing uses brand awareness and visibility to pull leads to your website or social media page.

Currently, a pull strategy is increasingly becoming more digital-based. It has a wider reach if you’re hoping to cast a wide net to pull in consumers who may have a need for your products or services. You’re convincing customers to seek out your product on their own rather than directly targeting them.

Examples of a pull marketing strategy

With pull marketing, you can pull customers in to check out your product or service by using:

• SEO: If you want to launch a new app, you will want to generate awareness of it. You can pull people into your site via google searches by following SEO techniques related to your app’s content by blogging and running SEO campaigns.
• Social media: Social media marketing gives you access to a large pool of potential customers. If you have a new service to promote, strategically paying for ads on goggle or LinkedIn to appear in the news feeds of consumers who are in the industry your new service is targeted at. You’re not approaching them directly but rather pulling them in by ensuring they “stumble” upon your service.
• Cross-promotion: Partnering with a related website is a great way to draw customers to you. If you’re selling sporting equipment, for example, partnering with a respected sports site to cross-promote your product builds immediate brand awareness and trust.

Tools used for pull marketing:

• Social media ads: Social media marketing is the main part of pull marketing; telling your brand’s story is important when building brand awareness. Social media ads let you target the desired demographic whose awareness you want to pull, and then create ads to achieve that.
• SEO tools: Since SEO is integral to pull marketing when it comes to raising brand awareness, SEO tools such as the free Google Search Console are helpful. You can research competitive keywords and track your own ranking to adjust and grow visibility.

SHOULD YOU USE PUSH OR PULL?

There isn't a right answer for which strategy you should use.

Recently, marketers have been leaning toward the organic aspect of pull marketing as consumers grow jaded towards traditional advertising, but there will always be a need for both push and pull marketing.

When push marketing is traditionally used

If you have a niche product or service, push marketing may be your best bet. Directly targeting consumers who would be interested, increases the likelihood of them interacting with the advertising since it’s relevant and specific enough for them to take action.

Because it’s so specific, though, don't use push marketing if your goal is merely engagement or awareness because your returns will be lower. However, you will most likely see more customers who do interact converting to sales.

There are of course exemptions to the niche marketing aspect. One example is if you’re aiming at a luxury market. For this, a mixture of pull marketing where you want to develop your brand and attract this clientele is essential; however, once you’ve developed your brand, it’s then pushing awareness of who you are and where you can be found.

When to use pull marketing

If you have a new brand or your business is a start-up, pull marketing can be your best solution to increase brand awareness and build a reputation. You can achieve a higher level of engagement with pull marketing because of its broader approach, but there are generally fewer conversions to sales.

When to use both strategies

Most marketing companies tend to use a combination of both strategies, and there are some industries where a mix definitely works best. In business-to-business (B2B) marketing, for example, both push and pull strategies are necessary to grow your business.

You want to make yourself visible and available without limiting your market reach.

When engaging B2B prospects at various stages of the buying cycle, you may sometimes need to ensure they are generally aware of your business (using SEO-boosted pull marketing) and may also want to target a direct requirement they may have (using promotional emails) at just the right time.

PUSHING AND PULLING TO MARKETING SUCCESS

Push and pull marketing are two sides of the same coin. With push marketing, you send out targeted promotional material to consumers, and with pull marketing, you build a brand and let consumers come to you.

Both forms can be effective depending on your goal (conversions vs. awareness), and both play an important role in successful marketing campaigns.