How do your customers find you? Do you have marketing activities in place to continually reach out and find people who may want or need your products or services? Or do you have marketing in place that allows people to find you when they are actively looking for products or services? On the surface, there may not seem to be a large distinction in the two approaches, but there is a fundamental strategic difference. This is known as push versus pull marketing.

In push marketing, the strategy is to "push" out your story, your message, to your defined target market. You find them. Conversely, the strategy behind pull marketing is to craft messaging that will draw people in who are looking for a company like yours. They find you.

Examples of push marketing are direct mail campaigns, trade show exhibits, displays in retail stores, newsletters, and email offers. You are putting your content in the path of a targeted group of people.

Examples of pull marketing include but are not limited to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), online directories, online advertising, and word of mouth referral marketing. Potential customers are looking for something specific and find you where they are looking, whether asking a friend or doing a Google search.

Usually the most effective marketing includes a mix of push and pull tactics. The ideal marketing mix uses one activity to tie to another, which ties to another, and on down the line. For example, all printed materials should include links to your website and social media accounts. And your online presence should look consistent across platforms and include a call to action that may include visiting your business in person or placing a telephone call.

The most important thing to remember is that not everyone is your client. Crafting your Ideal Client Profile helps you target the right people and create the most relevant content that relates to them. Creating content that appeals to "everyone" means your message is often too diluted to pack much punch. When you talk to a very narrow group of people (your ideal clients) it is much easier to get specific about their concerns and needs. Whether you reach out to them, or they find you, the message has to be meaningful in order to get people to take the next step of wanting more information or purchasing.

Tracking where your business comes from is critical in knowing which marketing activities create the highest payoff of time, effort, and money. If most or all of your business comes from word of mouth (pull), for example, you may consider adding some push marketing activities to complement your existing leads. If most of your business comes from response to push activities such as sales calls or sale flyers, you may consider doing some SEO (search engine optimization) work to attract new people outside of your current reach.

If you don't know where your business comes from, find out! Ask clients how they found out about you, do customer surveys, and track website and other online analytics. Getting feedback from customers provides you with the information you need to make better marketing decisions.

As always, if you need help developing your ideal client profile, planning the right marketing mix, doing a customer survey, or any other marketing strategy or implementation, let us know. Your success is our success!