Pull marketing is used for inbound marketing strategies. Based on pull strategy, your online marketing efforts have a solid foundation for getting your ideal (returning) customers. Read when you use pull marketing and when it is smart to use push marketing. We also give you some examples of pull strategies that you can use in your marketing campaigns.
Inbound marketing is based on pull marketing strategies
Inbound marketing uses pull marketing strategies. It uses SEO, content marketing, blogs, newsletters, podcasts, YouTube videos, social media and more. The purpose of pull marketing is to create brand awareness, to gain trust, to retain customers, and to attract the ideal customers for your products or services organically.
Aside from lead conversions and customer retention, inbound marketing can do wonders for your brand awareness and visibility in search engines. A robust inbound marketing plan enables customers to engage with your business at any time of the day. This allows you to generate qualified leads for much less money than with traditional marketing based on push strategies.
Pull marketing is focused on your customers and the buying process
To be successful with online marketing, visibility through inbound marketing is essential.
Inbound marketing is so powerful because you have the ability to give prospects exactly the information they need at the right time. With pull marketing you build trust, increase your reputation and authority in your niche.
Humans are inquisitive creatures who want reliable information
As website creation continues to increase – there are currently over 2 billion websites worldwide – the abundance of information will only increase. How do you ensure that your website or webshop stands out among the 2 billion others?
People look for credible, authoritative information in order to make a decision whether to buy from you or not. Human beings also have the psychological need to choose what we want to learn. If we think a topic is really interesting, we learn faster and the new information sticks better in our head.
This is why pull marketing, or inbound, is such an effective tactic: you give what people like. They are willing to put in a few minutes of their time to learn more about the topic.
That’s not to say push marketing shouldn’t be part of your strategy. Push and pull marketing work even better together.
Examples of pull marketing
Some examples of pull marketing are:
- Content Marketing: A company creates high-quality blog posts, videos, or podcasts on its website or other platforms. By optimizing the content for search engines and sharing it on social media, the company aims to attract organic traffic. For instance, a software company may create a series of informative blog posts about the benefits of using their product, which can attract potential customers searching for related information.
- Social Media Engagement: Brands actively engage with their audience on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. By sharing valuable content, responding to comments, and fostering discussions, companies aim to build relationships with their followers and attract more people to their brand. For example, a fashion retailer may post visually appealing images of their latest collection on Instagram and engage with followers through comments and direct messages.
- Influencer Marketing: Companies collaborate with influencers, who have a significant following on social media platforms or blogs, to promote their products or services. The influencers create content featuring the brand’s offerings and share it with their audience. This strategy leverages the influencers’ credibility and reach to pull potential customers towards the brand. For instance, a health food company might partner with a popular fitness influencer to endorse their products and reach a wider audience of health-conscious individuals.
Push marketing is aimed at quick sales of your product or service
While virtually every business wants to build and nurture relationships with its customers, push marketing focuses more on winning an immediate sale than on nurturing relationships that create brand loyalty. Push marketing, or direct marketing, is literally pushing your product or service to a specific audience. It uses PPC ads, landing pages, traditional ads and social media. Push marketing is especially suitable if you are bringing a new product to the market or if you want to compete with a product against many other providers.
Examples of push marketing
A few examples of push marketing:
- Display Advertising: Companies place online banner ads on websites, apps, or social media platforms to reach their target audience. These ads are often visually appealing and can include text, images, or interactive elements. For example, an online bookstore might display banner ads promoting a limited-time book sale on popular book review websites or within relevant mobile apps.
- Email Marketing Campaigns: Brands send promotional emails directly to individuals who have subscribed to their mailing lists. These emails may include special offers, product updates, or personalized recommendations. For instance, an e-commerce store may send a targeted email campaign to customers who have abandoned their shopping carts, offering a discount to encourage them to complete the purchase.
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising: Companies bid on keywords related to their products or services on search engines like Google. When users search for those keywords, the company’s ads appear at the top of the search results. Advertisers pay a fee each time a user clicks on their ad. For example, a travel agency may bid on keywords like “vacation packages” to appear at the top of search results when users are actively looking for travel options.
Combining pull and push marketing strategies
Inbound marketing is a long-term strategy built on a solid foundation. With every action you take, you are slowly but surely making progress. You can speed up this process with push marketing tactics, such as paid advertising. Not only do you rely on organic search results, but you also get more traffic on your website through paid ads.
Companies use the combination of push and pull marketing to create a more complete, overarching marketing strategy with maximum effectiveness. This is especially interesting if you want to increase the market share of your company and thus become more profitable.
When applying a combination of pull and push marketing strategies, balance is key for successful marketing campaigns in both the short and long term.
Pull Marketing: when to use it and know when to push
Here we give you some examples of common problems that entrepreneurs have with their website or webshop. These problems can be solved by applying the right marketing strategy and in the right proportion. Balance is key.
Problem: I need to increase my brand awareness
Up to 93% of buying cycles start with an online search. You can increase your brand awareness organically by ensuring that your web pages are found on the first page of Google. To achieve this, you apply pull marketing tactics based on a good SEO strategy, with which you can attract your visitors with relevant content.
By applying push marketing, you can advertise on social media (including influencer marketing) and using PPC advertising. Also promotions such as “50% discount”, the use of a time limit (valid for xx number of days) and striking photos with your company name on it, can ensure that your company becomes more known. Especially when it comes to a message that people like to share on social media.
Problem: I want people to like my brand
By educating, entertaining, and engaging with potential customers before they even think about making a purchase, you build trust and increase the likelihood that they will choose you when they’re ready to buy.
People get a preference for a certain brand, when they feel comfortable with it. This not only requires thorough information about the product, but also the social values of a company and the owner are of great importance.
Depending on your budget, you can use pull and push marketing here in a ratio of 75% / 25%: provide good inbound marketing that builds and maintains the foundation of your company and your product, with push actions that complement the warm marketing.
Problem: I need to generate more leads but have a small budget to invest
Inbound marketing is a long-term investment that becomes profitable over time. Results of good website content multiply many times over, the more time you invest in it.
If you only use push tactics, you can make a profit in the short term, but you need to keep investing in advertising and promotions to stay visible to your audience. “So won, so run” applies to advertising.
With a small budget, you can also create and place advertisements yourself on social media and on the websites of friends and acquaintances. Optionally, you can link such campaigns with actions that reward the sharing of your promotion (“share this post and get…% discount”).
Are you looking for a certified Inbound Marketer?
Do you want to start with inbound marketing or do you want to adapt your website to implement the pull marketing strategy? Margreet Nannenberg from MarsConnects is a certified inbound marketer and is specialized in combining this strategy with good SEO.
Contact us if you want to have an efficient marketing plan and a marketer who knows when to push and when to pull in order to get you a profitable business.
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