Push vs. pull marketing: A brand's guide to not making Julie angry

I hate push marketing. I hate aggressive salespeople and aggressive ads, and because I'm so darn stubborn, I will actually make the conscious decision to not buy a specific product based on my perceived bad experience. However, I do recognize the value for companies to utilize push alongside pull marketing; limiting your brand to only one of those methods won't allow you to reach your full potential. But to avoid making people like me angry, it has to be well balanced.


Push marketing can get your brand's product/message/content into the hands of people who wouldn't otherwise realize that you could fill a need they have. This method is especially helpful for newer businesses looking to build their brand. You can't entice people with pull methods if they have no way of knowing you exist. Push can also work for companies with an already established audience who opt in to receive information pushed to their email or cell phones. In that case, customers have actually asked for the extra information being put in front of them.

Pull marketing is way more cost effective than push because the ideally really awesome content does the selling for you and spreads your message organically. The pull method allows you to target -- through SEO and SMO -- your message to exactly the people who would want to see it. You can also open the door for a two-way conversation with your audience. That creates a memorable user experience, making your customers feeling valued and fulfilled -- and less "interrupted" by your marketing methods. However, if you balance these pull marketing techniques, plus using push to get the word out about your business and keep current customers well informed, the two can work nicely together, and you can avoid driving away the me's of the world.

Social media is important to any brand's marketing strategy. You have to be present where the people you're trying to reach already are, but you have to keep your eye on the prize -- pulling them to your website. You don't make money by just having a lot of followers; but you can make money if you can get those followers to your site, where they can buy your product or read your content. A strong social media presence is important, but it's not the end game. Brands that get too caught up in only their social media accounts (1) end up not really owning any of their content and (2) are missing out on sales and traffic to their own site.

Home decor retailer Wayfair maintains a blog that includes decorating inspirations, which they then promote alongside products on their Twitter and Pinterest accounts. You may have also seen Wayfair's advertisements on TV, such as this fun dancing furniture commercial that made even me want to go shopping.

Gatorade does a great job making their customers feel valued with its current promotion urging users to create their own bottle. The thirst quenching giant obviously has a larger than average budget to work with, but they use it well, balancing push and pull. Gatorade manages Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram accounts, which mainly promote the brand and reach out to other big sports brands but also point to their dynamic website.

Also, neither of these brands has turned me off -- yet.