Push strategy or pull strategy ? This is the latest discussion in marketing strategy, and it is a fundamental one.
These terms are often mixed up with terms such as Outbound Marketing ( Push) and Inbound Marketing (Pull), and to further confuse the issue the terms originally were used in logistics according to the Wikipedea definition of Push-Pull strategy.
So let us take a look at what they mean.
Push Strategy
Also known as Outbound Marketing. The easiest way to see this strategy is from the perspective of Broadcast.
Broadcast refers to the direction of the flow of information, in this sense the seller broadcasts the message at the market. The seller does this with the intention of creating interest from the buyers.
In a practical sense this means conventional advertising, email marketing, newsletters, public relations.
Pull Strategy
Now known as Inbound Marketing thanks to companies such as HubSpot. The perspective to take on this marketing strategy is Engagement.
Engagement also means conversation, in other words the two-way flow of information between the seller and the buyer. You can see the difference between broadcast, or the push strategy.
Pull strategy starts with Listening to the conversation going on in your market, then finding out where the discussions are taking place, then positioning yourself within those conversations and sharing in a valued way.
The practical application of pull marketing is all the things that happen in what is known as social media, social networking, web 2.0 etc..
HubSpot who have great Inbound Marketing software wrote a great item on the difference between Outbound and Inbound Marketing.
Push, Pull Or Both ?
It may sometimes seem that a decision needs to be made between exclusively using a Push or Pull strategy, some vendors in the pull marketing business may also believe that, and some in the push marketing business may say pull marketing is “just a fad”; most business owners will need to be balanced and objective and in a balanced marketing strategy a mix of pull and push strategy, inbound and outbound marketing if you like, will be appropriate.
It is therefore more likely that any marketing strategy you adpot for your business will balance both push and pull marketing strategies.
Getting the balance right for your business
The first step to getting the balance right is to make sure you understand what both Push and Pull marketing strategies involve, for your business and your market.
Once you have established that, you may want to consider the effectiveness of each of these strategies within the same market. One way to do this, is ask yourself the following questions for each of the strategies.
- What are your competitors doing ?
- Can you find a way of standing out ?
- Consider whether you want to be different, or in fact if it is better for your business to be the same as others ?
You may also want to consider that you could have different audiences for your business. One audience may be more comfortable with one strategy, if that is an audience you want to focus on then maybe that is your driver for change; or indeed staying the same.
Taking Action
Once you know the emphasis you wish to put on each strategy, then you can implement the tactics that you wish to use. Some tactics will be push tactics and some pull; the point is that once you have separated the two strategies and then taken a step back and seen how they work together for your business in your market, then you are empowered and informed wisely on the actions to take.
So next time a business colleague says: Are you on twitter yet ? Will you have the right answer for your business ?
Start at the beginning
You will find that starting from the beginning and developing a Sales Strategy as part of an overall Business Strategy will give you the rest of the answers efficiently.
Starting in the middle and trying to work out if Social Media is for good for your business may be more time consuming and confusing.
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Image Credit to Kaeru
