The Push-Pull Theory: How Digital Marketing Elements All Work Together

by Catie Holoubek

push-pull-theoryLike any other classic combination (peanut butter and jelly, Lucy and Ricky…), something seemingly magical happens when you employ both push and pull marketing in a holistic marketing strategy. Read on to find out how implementing the “push-pull theory” will help you garner more leads, boost conversions, and improve your overall ROI, than just employing one facet of digital marketing.

What is Push Marketing?

Push marketing is basically the traditional form of marketing, where businesses use television, radio, direct mail, print, billboards, etc. to get their message in front of a target audience. Audience engagement originates entirely with the advertiser, so by nature it requires a very wide range of reach in order to be effective. This isn’t to say push marketing is ineffective; however, for businesses that don’t have access to a large advertising budget, push marketing should be approached with a diligent emphasis on efficiency of ad spend.

What is Pull Marketing?

Pull marketing bypasses the first major obstacle to sales and conversions – generating audience interest. With pull marketing, businesses simply put their product or service in the path of potential customers who are already looking for what they have to offer.

Consumers today conduct more research before buying than ever before, as they have access to online reviews, product information sites, and recommendations from friends on social media. As potential customers search for information about a desired product or service, pull marketers can capitalize on this by being in the “right place at the right time.”

The Push-Pull Theory: Putting It All Together

While both push and pull marketing appear to be opposites, these two marketing methods can work wonders together to increase conversions. Below are just a handful of examples of how you can combine elements from each approach to more effectively promote your business.

Email Marketing – Use content marketing, the quintessential pull marketing tactic, to attract visitors to your website, and then include an email capture form for them to opt-in to receive communications from your business. From there, push marketing takes over, as you’re now able to send marketing messages via email to further promote your brand.

Social Media – Leverage your social media accounts to generate discussion by sharing useful information, fun facts, how-to videos, etc. in order to attract the interest of your target audience and invite discussion (a pull strategy). As you’re employing this method, run social media promotions by way of contests, giveaways, sweepstakes, etc. (a push strategy) to further engage your fans and followers, as well as garner new ones.

Search Engine Marketing – Compile a list of target keywords to launch your search engine marketing efforts (pull strategy), and as you review your website analytics data, you’ll discover even more keywords your website ranks well for. Add these new keywords to the list, and incorporate them into your print ads, radio spots, or other push marketing activities. What you’ll find is that the same words that inspire customer action online often work for offline media as well.

Today’s ultra-competitive and digitally-driven marketplace requires an efficient combination of both push and pull marketing in order to maximize your results. 2060 Digital employs the push-pull theory in holistic marketing strategies for our clients to build robust campaigns that yield higher conversions for your business.

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