Push marketing is one of two types of marketing. The other type is pull marketing. There are a lot of opinions about which is best, but this article focuses on what it is.
Push Marketing
Push marketing is the act of directly trying to push your product onto a customer. You can do this by cold calling, attending a trade show, sending out mailers, internet advertising, and more.
Push versus pull is a spectrum. Therefore, some items fall on the line or close to it. For example, attending a trade show can be push or pull depending on how you use it. If you attend as a shopper or a speaker, you’re likely in the pull category. However, if you’re there attempting to make direct sales, that is push.
Advantages
The primary advantage of push marketing is the shorter time between contact and the sale. Nearly every business needs some for of push marketing or they won’t succeed. This is also easier to track and see a direct financial benefit.
Disadvantages
On the other hand, there are disadvantages to push marketing. Depending on your audience and how you conduct yourself, this can dissuade potential customers. Additionally, it is hard to scale in a cost-effective manner without pull marketing.
Examples of Push Marketing
The following are examples, but it largely depends on how you use them. For example, a pay-per-click campaign is almost always push However, if you’re doing the PPC as a method to educate the public, not make sales, it is pull.
- Direct solicitation
- Door-to-door sales
- Mailers
- Cold calling
- Pay-per-click advertising online
- Print advertisements
- TV or radio advertisements
- Store displays
- Referral groups
- Lead generation tools
- Sales booths
- Email lists (but be sure to have permission)
The Balance
Every company should strike up their own balance between the two types of marketing. It is difficult to exist as a company without push and it is difficult to scale without pull. It is up to you to determine where that balance should lie. However, you’re not stuck if you choose one and find out it doesn’t work well for you.
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