Pull and Push in Digital Marketing

In 1960 digital marketing referred to television and radio advertisements. Every product was 'space age' and guaranteed to satisfy every need of the consumer. Societal Marketing was the catch word in every advertising firm, all the products were given a slant as beneficial to the well-being of society. "Drink Coke! You'll Go Better Refreshed!" implied more energy for working, family, and community. Pepsi came out with their socially conscious slogan for the new era in 1961: "Be Sociable".

Today digital marketing has moved far beyond the limits of television and radio, moving on to the almighty internet. Via the internet we find digital marketing in the form of social media and mobile web use. Digital media, on the other hand, can include interactive screens in public places. All these swift technical advancements over the last few decades have pushed digital marketing to new depths; the result for marketers is a choice between Pull and Push. Let's take a look.

Pull digital marketing refers to the user having to find and select information through digital means, such as the internet. In other words, the user 'pulls' content from platforms such as websites, blogs, and video databases (YouTube). Obviously there are huge benefits to the Pull. Internet users carry out a search on any subject under the sun, and therein lies the freedom of marketers to make sure their particular set of information is available in the search results. Since the requests for information are voluntary, the amount of content is unlimited. For example a user begins a search for 'top cell phones of 2011' and is met with millions of hits. Each link leads to a website that can't contain an unlimited amount of information, relevant of not. Since the user made the choice to click on the link, the Pull has been completed.

For any savvy internet user the downfalls of the Pull are obvious. It takes an enormous amount of effort, technical savvy and creativity to get your set of information into a search engine result. In fact, an entire professional industry has been created to assist marketing departments with the task: Search Engine Optimization. It is the job of SEO's to improve the visibility of a website through the use of an internet marketing strategy, and whole host of (often top secret) methods. One of the other most obvious disadvantages to the Pull as it applies to television and radio has been felt since radio was first commercialized. The content is being broadcast, but someone has to actually hear it (or see it in the case of television) for the information to be pulled.

Push digital marketing is far more invasive than the Pull. It involves the marketer sending (or pushing) messages to the users. The Push can occur via an email newsletter, but crosses over to the Pull because the user initially requested to be a part of the mailing list. Digital screens in public places such as airports and shopping malls are examples of the Push. Real estate brokers often use this method of the Push to advertise properties. The flexibility inherent in a technical interface and the impact on the client is of great benefit to the profession. In a broader sense, the creator of the message pushes information towards the target market. Advantages to the Push include the speed at which the message is carried to the target. There is no waiting or finagling to be found by the market, the marketer simply pushes the information to the target. The delivery of the information is also much more accurate and less likely to be blocked by the user.

The biggest disadvantage to the Push is cost. Equipment costs more, data takes time to compile and format. Also, in an age where we are all inundated with images and information from every angle, the placement of a digital billboard in a real estate broker's office may not even be realised by a passerby. The average person whose day is so filled with a constant barrage of stimuli may see the billboard as just white noise. It may not register. Even the email newsletter that began as the Pull and evolved into the Push will gradually fall under 'ignore' in the mind of the user as well.

When Regis McKenna first published the phrase marketing is everything, everything is marketing, it's pretty likely a light bulb glowed above the head of every reader. Everything is marketing? Every word, every sound, every image is communication of an idea or product. Marketing is everything? Without marketing the product would not be known to the consumer. The concept was, and is, perfect. Now we have digital technology, allowing businesses to take 'everything is marketing' to an entirely new plane. The Push and Pull of digital marketing overlaps and intertwines, but only because marketing is everything and everything is marketing.

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