Is push marketing more effective than pull marketing?
The answer might surprise you!

Are You Pushing or Pulling?
© Charlie Page

To succeed in business on the Internet it is important to be able to see the big picture. Yet seeing the big picture is hard when you are trying to find the right product or program, make sales happen, handle customer service, and trying to find time for a life.

But seeing the big picture tells us where we should advertise, which is *vital* to our success.

Let's take the next five minutes to look at that big picture, and see where your marketing efforts should go.

Marketing online comes down to two methods ... push or pull. First, some definitions.

Push marketing is that type of marketing where you push your message out to your audience.

Pull marketing is the type of marketing where you place ads you hope will pull people to your website.

=====> Push Marketing

PUSH MARKETING is proactive. You are going to your market, usually interrupting what they are doing (it is sometimes called interruption marketing) and hoping you get their attention long enough to create interest.

Most "guerrilla marketing" (a term coined by Jay Conrad Levinson http://www.gmarketing.com and used loosely by many marketers) is push marketing.

Some forms of Push Marketing include:

* Banners
* Ezine Ads
* Email Marketing
* Pop Up Or Pop Under Ads
* Slide In Ads
* Endorsed Mailings (Joint Ventures)

When using push advertising there are three things that you MUST do right, or you will waste much of your ad budget. Those three things are:

1. Know your target market
2. Create a great headline
3. Sell benefits

Push marketing usually creates results faster than pull marketing because you are proactively sending your message. You choose how, when, and how often prospective customers see your selling message.

=====> Pull Marketing

PULL MARKETING is that type of marketing where your ad lives in one spot and is seen by many people. One of the advantages of pull marketing is that you can set it and forget it. A great Pay Per Click campaign is a good example. Once your ads are converting your main concern becomes not getting outbid for your selected keywords.

Some forms of Pull Marketing include:

* Pay Per Click
* Ads on Directories
* Yellow Pages
* Classified Ad Sites
* Search Engine Paid Listings
* Testimonials on other peoples' sites

When using pull advertising there are four things that you MUST do right, or you will waste most of your ad budget. Those four things are:

1. Know the keywords to use (if using PPC)
2. Choose your sites carefully
3. Use a great headline
4. Create curiosity

Now it must be said that selling benefits is an important part of any ad, but with pull advertising the goal is to make them curious enough to visit your site.

=====> Push or Pull?

Is push or pull right for you? Ultimately, you must decide based on your budget, audience, offer, how much time you can invest, and more.

One very important factor is this: almost all great marketing campaigns consist of both push and pull marketing.

Generally, push marketing works best for products that meet a specific need of a specific market. Writing an eBook about how to train your dog is one example. Such books are very effectively marketed with push marketing methods because the target market is so easy to identify and find.

Pull marketing generally works best for products and services that are more broad in nature. How to make money online is a good example. People who want to make money online might want to sell vitamins, learn how to write eBooks or reports, do typing, or consult. But they are all searching on essentially the same terms ... making money online.

Almost any product can be marketed effectively with either technique, or a combination of both. Whether you choose pull, push, or a mix, the most important thing is to remain in control of the process and take action immediately.

Whether you push or pull, let the entrepreneur's motto be your guide ...

Late to bed, early to rise, work like heck and ADVERTISE!

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Charlie Page helps people succeed online. The author of over nine books and hundreds of articles, Charlie also owns the Directory of Ezines. His main website is http://www.RealWorldTactics.com