Pull Content Marketing: Do Push Marketing Strategies Really Work?
When it comes to marketing, social media has given marketers a plethora of new strategies they can use to target their audience and increase their click-through rates. However, some marketing strategies work better than others. Push marketing strategies like email blasts, text ads and retargeting ads are proven to drive greater sales, but are push strategies effective for content marketing? The answer is maybe. But the important thing is to experiment with different tactics until you find what works best for your brand and your target audience. In this blog post, we’ll explore why push marketing and content marketing don’t always go hand in hand, as well as examples of successful and unsuccessful pull content marketing strategies.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is creating and distributing relevant, useful and interesting content that is designed to drive sales and increase brand visibility. Content marketing is a strategy designed to attract leads and build relationships with your current and future customers through content that is relevant to them. The key to content marketing success is creating content that is valuable, useful and interesting to your target audience.
What is Push Marketing?
Push marketing is sending targeted ads to an audience via push notifications or as a banner on their phones. Push marketing is a relatively new content marketing strategy. It’s been around for less than a decade and was first popularized by Apple’s iTunes push strategy. The idea behind push marketing is that if you send targeted ads to your customers while they’re in the store, they’ll be more likely to buy from you. Push marketing works especially well with ecommerce stores. If a customer is browsing your product pages in the store, and then decides to check out, you can send him or her a push notification with a “Buy Now” button.
Differences Between Pull and Push Marketing
The concept behind push marketing is simple. You create relevant content and then publish it to your audience’s devices when they’re most likely to consume it: when they’re in the store. With pull marketing, you start with the end result in mind. That is, you create content that your audience will find valuable and publish it to their devices when they’re most likely to consume it: when they’re in the living room or office. For example, a food blog might create a recipe video that combines ingredients that their target audience loves. Once the recipe video is published, the blog’s audience members can watch the video ad-free on their phones. After the video is finished watching, the audience members can leave the recipe video review on their phones and continue browsing the blog without having to wait for the video to buffer.
Top Strategies for Successful Content Marketing
– Grow a Community –
The best way to retain customers is to create content that engages your target audience and builds a loyal fan base.
– Use Storytelling –
Consumers are more likely to trust brands that create content that reflects their own interests.
– Use Visual Content –
55% of people say visual content is more useful than written content, while only 15% say written content is more useful than visual content.
– Use Broad Language –
A study found that when brands use vague language in their content, they actually receive more engagement than if they use specific language.
– Use Quantifiable Metrics –
Make sure you’re tracking the success of your content marketing strategies. This will help you improve your strategies and find better ways to engage your audience.
– Use Keywords –
Engaging your target audience on social media is crucial, but it’s even more effective when you follow up with conversations on their preferred channels.
– Keep Track of Conversations –
The best way to learn from your audience is to ask them.
– Grow Email Subscriptions –
Keep in mind that more than half of all internet users are now accessing the internet via mobile.
– Carefully Select Your Partners –
If you partner with the wrong seller, you may be risking bad reviews and low trust ratings.
– Create a Great Landing Page –
A great landing page is a key part of any successful content marketing strategy.
– Measure Impression Share –
This metric shows you how much of an audience member’s attention you’re stealing from your competition.
More Tips for Successful Content Marketing
– Don’t Create Unnecessary Content –
Keep your content and your strategies as simple and straightforward as possible.
– Be Careful With Keywords and Language –
Keep your content language simple, clear and free of keywords that don’t add value to the content.
– Be Realistic About the Time it Takes to Create Content –
Remember, you’re trying to win new fans and secure repeat purchases.
– Keep Interpersonal Interactions Simple –
Too many exchanges with your audience members can make them feel annoyed, frustrated or overwhelmed.
– Avoid Repetition –
Many content marketing strategies can work if used sparingly, but too much repetition makes them seem less valuable.
– Choose a Content Marketing Strategy That Works for Your Brand –
Once you’ve tried a few content marketing strategies and found that they don’t work for your brand, try another tactic until you find one that does.
– Keep Track of What Content Marketing Strategy Works Best for Your Audience –
Once you find a content marketing strategy that works for your brand, you can experiment with other strategies until you find one that truly resonates with your audience.
– Focus on Engaging Your Target Audience –
Remember, the most effective content marketing strategy is one where your target audience members feel engaged.
– Avoid Too Much Interaction With Non-Targeted Audience Members –
Interacting with your non-targeted audience members may seem appealing, but they may actually make your brand look bad in their reviews.
– Pick an Effective Content Marketing Strategy –
Once you’ve found one content marketing strategy that works best for your brand, you can try a few others until you find one that truly resonates with your target audience members.
Bottom Line
Push strategies like push emails, push ads and retargeting ads are proven to drive greater sales, but are push strategies effective for content marketing? The answer is maybe. There is no one-size-fits-all content marketing strategy. Some push strategies work better for certain content marketing strategies than others. For example, a blog post is a great way to attract new readers, but it’s a sub-par way to drive clicks to your product page. The best way to determine which push strategies work best for your content marketing strategy is to experiment with different push strategies until you find one that works best for your brand. If you are looking for a content strategist and creator for your business, your search stops here. Shoot me a message and book a date and time for a FREE consultation, I bet you won’t regret it.