Push-Pull Marketing Techniques: How To Attract Customers And Keep Them

A successful company must employ a balance of push and pull marketing strategies in order to make sales.

Each strategy has a different purpose and should be used astutely as part of a coherent campaign. An effective push-pull marketing strategy will allow you to gain new customers and maintain loyalty.

Create Demand

Push marketing requires you to create demand by taking a product directly to the customer. This is the best way to get your brand or product known in the marketplace. It is the preferred technique to use if your brand is not well established or you have a new product that needs to be introduced to consumers. It is generally aimed at achieving short-term sales. Possible ways to undertake push marketing are:

• a stall at a trade show

• point of sale displays

• direct selling to customers e.g. insurance

• negotiating with retailers to sell your product

• developing a quality website to highlight products

Create Brand Loyalty

Pull marketing is about getting customers to come to you. Your aim is to make your product so desirable that customers will be motivated to seek it out. This technique is designed to firmly establish your brand in the marketplace and engender customer loyalty. Possible ways to undertake pull marketing are:

• optimising your website SEO to attract the right fit customer

• inbound marketing programs through your website and social media

• word of mouth referral programs and online reviews

• using social media to create “buzz” around your brand

• user tailored email newsletters

• public relations

Developing a consistent brand story is the most important factor for achieving success in the marketplace. Use a balance of push and pull marketing techniques that have been carefully planned to complement each other in order to connect with customers and keep them.