Using “The Pull” Strategy To Generate Leads for Your Business

When we discuss traditional marketing strategies, we usually refer to any marketing that pushes services or products to consumers. This push is accomplished by interrupting what a person is doing to get their attention. For example, a commercial interrupts the show you’re watching, or an article has an ad in the middle of the content, forcing you to read the ad. The goal of these interruptions is to continually push a product in front of you (also known as the rule of seven).

While there are decades of data showing outbound marketing to be effective (there’s a reason why businesses still pay millions to have their ad run on the Super Bowl), there has been considerable resistance against push marketing. Many of the targets find them to be intrusive and often unrelated to their immediate needs. Moreover, modern technology such as ad blockers, VPNs, and the ability to pay to opt-out of receiving advertising, reduces the opportunity for advertisers to have the type of captive audience needed for push marketing to be effective.

Ironically, due to the coronavirus forcing many people into their homes, advertising management technology prevents advertisers from taking ‘advantage’ of what is, for the most part, a captive audience. The solution to the firewall surrounding potential leads is embracing new marketing strategies. Unfortunately, businesses that have rejected modern marketing tactics such as understanding SEO, custom content creation, and have found excuses not to use social media, may find themselves unable to compete with any business that did invest in new marketing strategies when it comes to generating leads.

What is Pull Marketing?

When we talk about 'new' or pull marketing, we're discussing the type of marketing which came to age during the digital era. You’ve also probably heard it called ‘Inbound Marketing.’ In particular, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) has come to the forefront to generate leads by increasing your website's ranking. Pull marketing differs from push marketing tactics as it is designed to earn a potential lead's interest in your services instead of trying to "buy" it as paid advertising strives to do with commercials or print ads. Simply put, the goal of pull marketing is to use content to literally ‘pull’ leads to your website.

Pull marketing/inbound marketing is useful because your content (blogs, social media, white papers, etc.) provides answers to your customers' questions. Your content must be consistently high-quality and informative. Potential customers will prefer your brand over that of your competitors because you're better at providing them with the information needed to solve their problems.

How Using Pull Marketing Benefits Your Business

To provide the information your customers are looking for, you need to know what they are interested in. The best way to do this is by analyzing your data, which gives you insights into their interests. One method to acquire this information is by reviewing your Google Search Console data to check which URLs, queries, and impressions generate the most interest.

Queries. Queries are keywords or phrases searchers are looking for that trigger a result. While they may not always generate a click, they provide insight into what potential customers are concerned about (also known as pain points). As a business, most of your queries will be in search of information and solutions to problems, so it is vital to provide content (blogs, videos, guides) that give searchers an answer. While it is tempting to hold onto the ‘secret sauce', an important goal of SEO is to establish yourself as an expert in your industry and you can’t do that unless you share your knowledge.

Impressions. These are the number of times any URL from your site appeared in search results viewed by a searcher. While they may not result in a click, they provide you marketing opportunities because you're better able to estimate the level of interest particular topics generate. Moreover, with this information, you will be able to provide content on the subjects potential leads are interested in.

URLs/Pages.  By examining the URLs shown as the result of a query and visiting the pages, you're able to see exactly which pages potential leads are interested in. These pages provide opportunities for internal linking, the addition of forms and deliverables for conversions, and to review the content for improvement.

You Can Also Just Ask! Data is helpful, but sometimes just asking your prospects and clients what led them to find you will give you a perspective you hadn’t considered before. Remember, you can’t control what prospects use to find you (or your competitors) and it will be pretty rare that two prospects will follow the exact same path to get there.

You Need to Market Your Business

Now is not the time to stop marketing your services. You may need to make adjustments to how often you market your business, but you need to promote your services regardless. If you’re concerned you don’t have enough resources to advertise your services as a business; there are plenty of ways to promote your business on a budget. As an added benefit, most of these methods utilize new marketing tactics and help pull potential leads to your website.

The new normal is quickly becoming just normal, and you can’t wait for the situation to change before you invest in getting your business recognized. Now is the time to promote your business, because even if you don’t promote your business, your competitors will undoubtedly be promoting theirs.