The Basics of Push and Pull Marketing Strategies

Push and pull marketing strategies have been around for a while now. To most marketers, it is as basic as you can get, but for those who don’t know about push vs. pull marketing, it is important to learn about these strategies before you set up your own marketing plan.

Push Marketing

Push marketing can be seen when a product or service offer is “pushed” onto a customer when they did not request the information. Television commercials and spam emails are very common forms of push marketing. The goal is to make your product or service available in a store or online for a quick purchase. Most consumers understand the necessity of push marketing, but you don’t want to turn them off by getting too pushy. Choose your advertisements and online posts wisely so that you are sure you will not bombard consumers with annoying and repetitive information.

Some push marketing is directed toward distributors rather than the final consumer. Examples include bonuses, wholesale discounts, and other types of perks for the distributors who sell your product. In order to succeed with this type of strategy, you will have to come up with advertising and promotional tactics that will make sure your retailers want to promote your product over your competitor’s products.

Another type of push marketing that has become popular in recent years is a word of mouth marketing strategy. Companies choose customers who will have the ability and resources to promote their products or services by word of mouth and give them positive things to talk about. This creates a buzz around the company, and allows potential customers to hear about the business in a new way.

Pull Marketing

With pull marketing, a company develops strategies that are supposed to entice a customer to buy their product or service. In a way, the product, service, or sale “pulls” the customer into the store. You provide a solution to the customer’s problem, and they come searching for you to fix it. One way to allow this process to happen is through public relations (PR). When, for example, a news story comes on about your business, a potential customer may see it and think that you are the solution to their need, even if they did not realize that they had this need before.

Another example of this type of marketing is a coupon that will let the customer save a certain percentage on their next purchase. You want to create a sense of urgency in the customer with this strategy, and give them a sense of value if they should come into the store. When they feel like they will get more for their money, they will be more likely to come in and see what you have to offer.

While word of mouth marketing encouraged by the company is considered push marketing, it can also be seen as pull marketing when the promotion happens without the company’s help. With the popularity of online networks, some products are promoted between friends much easier than ever before. One person may post a statement online that says how much they love their new cell phone, for example, and this person’s friend then decides to do some research on the product. The friend likes it so much that they decide to buy the cell phone as well.

Which is best for your business?

Using just one of these strategies is never a good plan. You need to make sure your customers are well aware of your business and that they are encouraged to visit your store or website for great deals and a great product or service. Finding the right balance will be necessary if you want to achieve the best marketing strategy for your company. Some customers will react more to a push strategy, while others may appreciate the deals and coupons from a pull strategy. Regardless, you will want to make sure every customer’s needs are met in order to get the most business.

Jane Atkins is an author who writes guest posts on the topics of business, marketing, credit cards, and personal finance. Additionally, she works for a website that focuses on educating readers about credit cards for no credit.