These #3 Experts Will Help You Understand the Differences between Push and Pull Marketing Marketers with high success records depend on the potential of both the approaches and are often found to employ them simultaneously

Worldwide marketing tactic is slotted into two categories - Push or Pull. Push marketing takes the product directly to the client via diverse channels, making sure the customer is conscious of your brand at the point of purchase. Also called direct response marketing or general advertising, push tactics target a particular group with messages and offers. Email, print and air are chief instances of this type of marketing.

A pull strategy involves making customers look out for your product by actively and "pulls' buyers towards your website or social media pages. Today's consumers have an enthusiastic online presence and read reviews, type keyword searches and inquire online others for suggestions. Your pull strategy enables you to draw the researcher by providing answers. For instance, when prospective clients locate an e-book, white paper or blog about a subject they are interested in, pull marketing is at work.

However, push and pull marketing are at variance in conception and function. Read on as marketing experts delineate the five main differences.

Concept

Pravin Shah, founder, Six Inches Communications, agency for brand consulting, design, communication and digital marketing, considers push tactic as outbound marketing since it pushes marketing out to prospects and customers. "Push Marketing is when you get your clients and they "raise their hands' as and when they develop interest," he adds.

Pull on the other hand is more inbound marketing, where the expression, "inbound', indicates to your strategic efforts which make your consumers locate you as and when they happen to have an interest. In their quest for answers, they come to you.

Strategy

When it comes to strategies push marketing is all about cultivating methods of placing your products or service offerings in front of your target market. According to Chintan Vora, co-founder, Digital Latte, a 360-degree Creative Digital Agency, this approach typically includes paid advertising in print, TV and radio ads or direct mails. Email also falls under the ambit of push marketing as well.

Pull enables researchers to find you easily. The spotlight is on developing awareness, growing brand visibility and lead generations, predominantly online with the apt use of content that your website puts forth.

Channels

Push Marketing essentially begins offline. However, there are few exceptions. A typical example of offline marketing is the direct mail postcard. The aim is to drive customers to a location/place, a landing page/website/ or to inbound phone numbers. Email offers are also examples of how this type of marketing drives responders to desired places, real or virtual.

"Pull,' believes Vora, is more or less wholly an on technique. "Your Online content is intended to take the audience to a distinct landing page in order to fill-up a form or make a call to an inbound number mentioned on that page," he informs.

Engagement

Push Marketing, if done accurately, can work wonders. "Using customer data in developing personal and relevant communiqué can make your buyers feel special. It also motivates them to act to your benefit sooner or later!" thinks Tirthankar Banerjee, Founder, Cygnus Advertising (India) Pvt Ltd, an 18-year-old agency offering a whole gamut of communication services including web and digital marketing solutions.

Marketing gets particularly rewarding when prospective clients and customers approach you on their own. However, it takes a lot of hard work and time. Pull marketing usually benefits from a higher level of engagement as customers show interest and take actions without any prompting from your end.

It has been seen that Pull Marketing often fails as the content is not planned around the characters and identity of targeted customers. Also attracting clients in the early buying stage demands a longer-term conversion scheme. Push marketing devices including email, direct mail, phone calls and personal meetings play a significant role here.

You need both

Marketers with high success records depend on the potential of both the approaches and are often found to employ them simultaneously. "You could do with Push in order to communicate with the ones yet to know about your service or product. Push approach also engenders communication with qualified leads, erstwhile clientele and active patrons to boost sales," explains Shah.

"You will have to implement the Pull technique to catch the fancy of those in the research or buying phase who are looking for products or services you make or offer and to endorse your business as a thought leader," concludes Banerjee.