The Tug of War Between Push and Pull Marketing
Let’s not sugarcoat it—marketing’s gotten messy.
We’re drowning in options. Ads pop up before we can blink, algorithms change more often than socks, and customers? They’re sharper than ever. They’ve learned to scroll past the noise, dodge the pop-ups, and sniff out insincerity like a bloodhound on espresso. So the big question lingers: How the heck do you reach them without becoming more noise yourself?
That’s where push and pull marketing come into play.
Picture a street vendor shouting, “Fresh fruit! Two for one!” That’s push marketing. Direct. Unapologetic. It’s about getting in front of people—whether they asked for it or not—and making your offer hard to ignore. Think billboards, cold emails, influencer shout-outs, or the YouTube ad that cuts you off mid-sentence while you’re trying to vibe with a cooking tutorial. It’s not subtle. But hey, sometimes it works.
Now, flip the script.
Imagine walking into a tiny local shop because you saw their Instagram post, then remembered your friend raving about their handmade candles. That’s pull marketing. It’s not yelling. It’s not even nudging. It’s drawing people in—like gravity. Through content, search optimization, reviews, communities, and trust. Pull is the slow burn. The magnet. The long game. It whispers, “Come check this out,” and waits for curiosity to do the rest.
Neither approach is inherently good or bad. Push can feel aggressive but effective. Pull can seem gentle but glacial. And yet, both are everywhere—in every campaign, funnel, launch, and brand moment.
If you’re running a business (or marketing one), odds are you’ve dabbled in both, whether you realize it or not. Maybe you boosted a post on Facebook and crossed your fingers (that’s a push). Maybe you’ve spent weeks writing blog posts nobody read yet (that’s pull). Each method comes with its own rhythm, return, and risk.
So the real question isn’t just “What is push vs. pull marketing?” but:
Which one fits your business—your voice, your goals, your audience—right now?
Because marketing isn’t a binary. It’s a spectrum. You can’t build lifelong loyalty with just a coupon code. And you probably can’t go viral by writing one more blog post about “10 ways to stay productive.”
But when you understand how push and pull really work—not in theory, but in the messy, real world—you start to see the chessboard differently. You realize that some moves are bold and loud, others are subtle and strategic. Some are for today, others are for the next three quarters.
In the pages ahead, we’re gonna break this thing down. No corporate mumbo jumbo. No five-dollar words. Just real insight into what push and pull marketing actually look like in action—how they behave, what they cost, how they perform, and most importantly, when to use one over the other.
Whether you’re hustling to launch something new, trying to build a brand that actually matters, or just tired of running ads into the void, you’re in the right place.
Ready to stop guessing and start strategizing?
Table of Contents
What is Push Marketing? (And Why It Still Works)
Push marketing gets a bad rap.
It’s loud. It’s direct. It interrupts your morning scroll with flashing headlines, “limited-time offers,” and ads you never asked for. It’s that guy in the mall food court handing you a teriyaki chicken sample before you even realize you’re hungry. That unsolicited DM offering you a free website audit. The pop-up banner that you desperately try to close before your boss sees it over your shoulder.
But you know what?
Push marketing still works. Sometimes better than you’d like to admit.
It works because it demands attention in a world where attention is the most scarce currency. You don’t have to wait for someone to find you through a blog or stumble across your SEO-optimized landing page. You’re right there, in their face, with an offer, a headline, a CTA that says: “Act now, or miss out.”
Let’s break it down.
Classic Tactics That Still Pack a Punch
Push marketing’s been around forever. It’s not new, and it’s definitely not subtle. Think of it as the outbound approach: you go to the customer, not the other way around.
Some of the most common examples?
- TV, radio, and print ads – Yeah, people still use them. Especially in certain niches and local markets.
- Paid ads (PPC) – Google Display, Meta ads, TikTok promotions, YouTube pre-rolls—these are all push by nature. You’re pushing your message in front of a (hopefully) targeted audience.
- Cold outreach – Emails, DMs, calls. Whether it’s B2B or B2C, push strategies often involve initiating the first touchpoint.
- In-store promotions – Point-of-sale displays, “buy one get one free” signs, coupon flyers… All textbook push.
- Trade shows and event marketing – These environments are built on pushing product awareness hard and fast.
What ties all these tactics together? They’re proactive.
You’re not waiting around hoping someone searches for your service. You’re kicking the door down (with charm, ideally) and saying, “Hey—this is what we offer. You in?”
When You Need Results—Fast
Let’s say you’ve just launched a product.
You’ve sunk money into development, branding, packaging, and logistics. The last thing you want is to wait six months for organic traffic to trickle in and maybe convert. You need eyeballs now.
That’s the sweet spot for push.
Need to boost awareness quickly? Want to move seasonal inventory? Have a short-term campaign or event to promote? Push lets you manufacture momentum. That’s a power you can’t always get with pull marketing.
Now, is it sustainable forever? No.
If all you do is push, your customers eventually tune out. Think about how you respond when you see the same annoying ad over and over. It loses effect—and worse, it can turn people off. But as a sprint tactic? A launch booster? A pressure valve for slow sales months?
Push marketing is your friend.
There’s also a misconception that push is somehow outdated, like a relic of Mad Men-style advertising. That’s lazy thinking. Push has evolved—it’s just become more sophisticated.
Now it’s retargeting instead of cold-blasting strangers. It’s AI-enhanced personalization in email campaigns. It’s using data-backed audience segmentation to put the right ad in front of the right person, at the right moment.
It’s not about shouting into the void. It’s about showing up—strategically—at the right intersection of curiosity and convenience.
Push Isn’t Just for Corporations
Let’s be real—push marketing often gets associated with big brands and bloated budgets. Coca-Cola on a billboard. Nike on a Super Bowl ad.
But even small businesses can (and should) lean into push when it makes sense.
Got a café? Flyers and Instagram Story ads targeting your neighborhood = push.
Running a webinar? Cold emails to your niche audience = push.
Launching a course? Retargeting website visitors with Facebook ads = push.
It’s not about scale—it’s about intent. You’re initiating the relationship. That’s the essence.
I know a small soap brand that doubled their local sales after running a $150 Instagram ad campaign pushing their product to local moms aged 28–45. It wasn’t fancy. It wasn’t viral. But it got seen. It drove clicks. And it got soaps into bathrooms. That’s push.
The Double-Edged Sword
Now, here’s where we get honest.
Push marketing can backfire if you’re reckless with it.
Ever signed up for something and then got five emails a day afterward? That’s push gone wrong.
Ever clicked on an ad and landed on a page that looked like it hadn’t been updated since 2012? Push without follow-through.
Push marketing is all about the first impression, but you only get so many of those. If you’re going to interrupt someone’s day, make it worth it. Your copy has to be sharp. Your offer has to be clear. Your landing page has to do its damn job. Because you won’t get a second chance to be relevant.
That’s the trade-off: speed versus depth.
Push gets you there faster. But whether you stay there? That’s where pull comes in.
Final Thought on Push
So—should you be using push marketing?
If you’re trying to build initial traction, test a new product, fill a funnel, or simply remind people you exist: yes. Absolutely. But do it smart. Respect your audience’s time and intelligence. Speak like a human. Keep your message relevant. And for the love of all that is clickable, test your damn links before you launch the ad.
Push marketing isn’t dead. It’s just evolved. And if you ignore it entirely, you might be leaving a whole lot of opportunity on the table.
Because in a world where everyone’s whispering for attention, sometimes it pays to speak up—clearly, boldly, and with purpose.
What is Pull Marketing? (The Slow Burn That Sticks)
Pull marketing is like planting seeds.
You don’t yank on the sprout and expect a tree the next day. You water it, you let the sun do its thing, and over time, something real grows. It’s slower, quieter, sometimes a little thankless at the start—but when it works? It really works.
Because pull marketing doesn’t demand attention.
It attracts it.
You don’t chase people down with ads or flash sales. You create something so useful, so interesting, or so relevant that they come to you. On their own terms. With curiosity, not resistance.
This is the marketing that builds loyalty. That shapes perception. That plants your brand not just in someone’s shopping cart—but in their mind.
Building Magnetic Brands
Pull marketing is everything you do to make your brand findable, shareable, and worth talking about without begging for it.
Let’s get concrete.
- A blog post that ranks on Google and answers a real question? Pull.
- An Instagram feed that tells a story, not just sells a product? Pull.
- A YouTube channel where you teach, inspire, or entertain without asking for anything in return? Pull.
- A brand with an identity that sticks in someone’s mind long after they’ve scrolled past? Pull.
Content is a huge part of this. So is search engine optimization—not just keywords stuffed into paragraphs, but content that actually helps people. That solves problems. That makes them say, “Damn, this brand gets me.”
And yes, it takes time.
You don’t publish a blog on Tuesday and wake up on Wednesday with a thousand leads in your inbox. But that blog might still be working for you six months or six years later.
That’s the magic of pull. It scales over time.
Patience, Strategy, and Playing the Long Game
I once worked with a niche skincare brand. For their first six months, they barely ran a single ad. Instead, they poured energy into creating guides, reviews, how-to videos, and Instagram Reels that didn’t sell—just shared. Real info. Real tone. Real results.
By month seven, they didn’t need to run push ads anymore. People were searching for them. Influencers were tagging them organically. Dermatology blogs started linking to their content. That’s pull.
Here’s the thing though—it didn’t happen by accident.
Pull marketing requires strategy.
You need to know:
- Who you’re speaking to
- What they care about
- Where they’re already hanging out
- What kind of content, tone, or experience they’ll find irresistible
This isn’t just about creating content. It’s about creating trust. And trust isn’t something you buy. It’s something you earn.
You earn it by being consistent. By showing up before they’re ready to buy. By answering their unasked questions. By caring more about being helpful than being persuasive.
This approach doesn’t always thrill the quarterly earnings crowd. You can’t chart ROI in week one. But when it hits? It builds something even better than conversions—it builds fans.
Pull Isn’t Passive—It’s Precise
Let’s kill a myth real quick.
Pull marketing is not passive.
It’s not just “post and pray.” It’s not tossing out a blog every now and then and calling it inbound strategy. Done right, pull is laser-focused. It’s about creating content and brand touchpoints that are so well-aligned with what your audience needs that it feels like you’re reading their mind.
Search data. Social listening. CRM patterns. Surveys. Forum threads. Reddit rants. These are gold mines.
You don’t just attract people by being generic—you attract them by being specific.
The best pull marketers know their audience better than the audience knows themselves. They create content that feels like it was made for one person, even if 10,000 people end up reading it.
The Emotional Advantage of Pull
Push says: “Buy now.”
Pull says: “Stay awhile.”
That difference matters.
Pull marketing gives you a chance to build something deeper than a transaction. A worldview. A vibe. A relationship. That’s the difference between a one-time sale and a lifelong customer.
And if you’re building a brand with a mission, a story, a purpose that goes beyond just selling stuff? Pull gives you the space to tell that story.
Think about your favorite brands. The ones you follow without being asked. The ones whose content you actually look forward to. Odds are, they didn’t push their way into your heart. They pulled you in.
Maybe they made you laugh. Maybe they educated you. Maybe they told a story that felt eerily like your own. That’s not push. That’s pull at its best.
When Pull Isn’t Enough
Let’s not romanticize this too much.
If you need sales today, pull can be frustrating.
It takes a while to build authority. To climb the SEO mountain. To get people to care when nobody knows your name. Pull doesn’t always work on a short runway. Sometimes, you need to light a fire, not wait for the sun to rise.
This is why a lot of smart marketers use both push and pull. (We’ll get to that later.) But for now, just know that pull alone won’t save a sinking ship or launch a brand overnight.
It’s not magic. It’s gardening.
Final Thought on Pull
Pull marketing is slow. Sometimes maddeningly slow.
But it’s real. And when done right, it lasts.
It’s the tweet that gets saved. The email that gets forwarded. The tutorial that gets bookmarked. It’s trust in action.
So if you’re building something that matters—something that deserves more than just a quick glance—don’t be afraid to take the scenic route. Create content worth consuming. Show up when it’s inconvenient. Say something that matters. And let the right people find you when they’re ready.
Because when they do? They’re not just ready to buy. They’re ready to believe.
The Pros and Cons: Which Side Are You On?
So here we are, the eternal marketing fork in the road. Push or pull?
Do you put your message directly in front of someone and risk interrupting them—or do you wait for them to find you and risk being ignored?
There’s no perfect answer. Both approaches have their ups and downs, and where you stand on the spectrum often depends on your budget, your goals, and, let’s be honest, your patience level.
Let’s break it down like you’re weighing two very different tools in your hand—because that’s what they are.
Push: The Hustler’s Approach
Push marketing is all about momentum.
When you need fast action, it delivers. You’re not sitting around waiting for someone to stumble on your blog post or discover your podcast in a sea of thumbnails. You’re putting your message right in their lap.
The Pros of Push:
- Immediate visibility: Ads, emails, pop-ups—they show up now, not next month. If you’ve got a launch, sale, or limited-time offer, push puts it on the radar today.
- Tighter control over timing: You can align your message with a calendar event, a product release, or a news cycle. You control when it drops and how often.
- Scalable reach (for the right price): Throw more money into a well-optimized ad campaign, and you can grow reach quickly—if you’ve done your homework.
- Easier A/B testing: Want to see what headline converts better? Push lets you test and tweak in real-time.
But…
The Cons of Push:
- Can be costly: Ads eat budget. Hard. And they stop working the second you stop paying.
- Easy to ignore or block: Ad blindness is real. Spam filters are merciless. Pop-up blockers exist for a reason.
- Perceived as invasive: No one loves being interrupted. If your message isn’t spot-on, push can feel like a digital cold slap.
- Short-term ROI, long-term burnout: It’s great for the sprint—but rarely sustains the marathon.
Push works best when you have something specific to say, a deadline to hit, or a campaign that needs traction right now. Think of it like a power tool. Fast, effective—but if you use it constantly, things can get noisy… and expensive.
Pull: The Trust Builder’s Path
Pull marketing, on the other hand, is the quiet powerhouse.
It’s not about urgency. It’s about magnetism. It’s about creating something so aligned with your audience’s interests that they seek you out—no hard sell needed.
The Pros of Pull:
- Organic, sustainable traffic: A good blog post, video, or SEO-optimized page can keep bringing in traffic for years without extra spend.
- Builds trust and authority: Pull is all about delivering value before asking for the sale. That earns you loyalty.
- Engaged audience: People who find you through pull tactics tend to stick. They’re invested. They’re not just drive-by clickers.
- Brand equity growth: You’re not just selling—you’re building a brand people want to connect with.
But let’s not pretend it’s all roses.
The Cons of Pull:
- Takes time. Sometimes a lot of it: Organic strategies are slow to mature. SEO is a long climb. Social content takes consistency.
- Harder to measure early on: ROI is fuzzier at first. Metrics like trust, community, and brand awareness aren’t always obvious in the analytics dashboard.
- No guarantee of virality: You might pour hours into a YouTube video that gets 14 views. That’s the game.
- Requires serious content chops: To really win with pull, your content has to be useful, original, and emotionally resonant. Mediocre doesn’t cut it.
Pull shines when you’re looking to build something lasting. A brand. A movement. A loyal community. It’s not about chasing attention—it’s about earning it.
Striking a Balance in Your Budget and Timeline
Let’s talk logistics—because, let’s be real, most businesses don’t have the luxury of going all in on either side. You’ve got constraints. Budgets, time, pressure from above (or from within) to show results.
So how do you choose?
- Short timeline + new product = Push-heavy strategy. You need traffic and eyeballs, yesterday.
- Longer timeline + brand growth = Pull-heavy strategy. You’re laying a foundation and building momentum slowly.
- Limited budget = Lean pull. You may not be able to drop thousands on ads, but you can build value with your time and skills.
- High competition = Smart push + pull hybrid. You need to get seen and be remembered. Push gets you in the room; pull keeps people coming back.
It’s less about choosing one over the other and more about knowing which one to lean into—right now. Your strategy isn’t set in stone. It evolves.
Maybe you launch with a push, then build a pull system behind the scenes to support long-term growth. Maybe you’re 90% pull, but twice a year you go full push for a product drop or promotion.
It’s chess, not checkers.
So, Which Side Are You On?
There’s no single right answer.
Some brands are built on the hustle. Others grow like a tree in a quiet forest. And many find their rhythm somewhere in between—a nudge here, a story there, a bold headline followed by a soft landing page.
Push gets you the clicks.
Pull earns you the trust.
Push makes noise.
Pull makes meaning.
The key is knowing when to turn the volume up—and when to sit back and let the music play.
Real-World Scenarios: When to Push, When to Pull
You’ve heard the theory. Push marketing is the loud handshake; pull marketing is the quiet magnet. But in real life, it’s never that neat. Strategy isn’t made in a vacuum—it’s shaped by budgets, deadlines, industries, and gut instincts. Let’s get real about when to push and when to pull.
Because this isn’t just an academic exercise—it’s your budget, your message, and your business on the line.
Let’s walk through a few real-world situations and break down how each approach plays out.
Launching a New Product or Service
Let’s say you’re launching a new herbal tea line. You’ve poured months into product development, perfected the blend, designed killer packaging—and now it’s time to sell.
You have no audience yet. No one’s Googling your tea. You don’t have a blog archive or SEO juice built up. The clock’s ticking.
Push is your opening move.
Run ads targeting wellness enthusiasts. Partner with micro-influencers. Hit up local cafés with samplers and branded postcards. Send cold emails to health stores or subscription boxes. Push puts you on the radar—fast.
Now—don’t only push. While you’re grabbing attention with a flash sale or promo code, start seeding the pull engine. Write blog posts on “the benefits of tulsi tea.” Share Reels showing behind-the-scenes sourcing. Post real stories. Get those search engines working for you.
Push breaks the ice.
Pull builds the relationship.
That combo? That’s how new products find legs.
Growing a Community or Authority
Now let’s switch gears. Say you’re a consultant helping early-stage startups figure out their brand story.
Your services aren’t cheap. You’re not selling tea—you’re selling clarity, trust, expertise. And no one hires a brand strategist from a Google ad at 2 a.m. after bingeing TikTok.
Here? Pull is king.
You need people to believe in your ideas before they believe in your offer.
Start with high-value content. LinkedIn posts that hit like therapy sessions. Podcast interviews where you drop real insight. A blog series that says, “I’ve been there, and here’s what I learned the hard way.” This is how you attract serious clients—not by yelling, but by resonating.
Push can still play a supporting role. Maybe you retarget visitors with a simple CTA: “Want help with this? Let’s talk.” But your main game is earning trust over time.
Pull works when you’re trying to build a reputation. It doesn’t just sell your service—it sells your story.
Seasonal Campaigns vs. Evergreen Funnels
Alright, here’s a classic push moment: holiday sales.
If you’re an eCommerce brand and Black Friday rolls around, don’t just sit there writing long-winded blogs about gift guides. You need eyeballs, carts, and conversions. Fast.
Push is the move. Facebook ads. Google Shopping. Urgency-laced emails. Flash sales. Influencer collabs. Push thrives in time-sensitive windows.
But here’s what separates the brands who spike once a year from those who grow all year: they don’t abandon pull.
All year long, they’re building SEO content. They’re building email lists. They’re creating assets that drive evergreen traffic to gift guides, “top 10” lists, reviews, and tutorials.
So when the holiday push begins? They already have the infrastructure to convert. And after the holiday dust settles? Those pull systems keep working. Quietly. Efficiently. While everyone else starts from scratch again.
Push spikes.
Pull sustains.
Smart brands use both.
High-Ticket Sales and Complex Buyer Journeys
Let’s say you’re selling enterprise software. Or you’re a coach charging $5,000 per client. Or you run a B2B SaaS with a six-month sales cycle.
You know what doesn’t work here? A Facebook ad screaming “BUY NOW!”
You can push all you want—but without pull, you’ll just look desperate.
With big-ticket or complex offers, buyers need time. Research. Reassurance. They need to see your face, hear your voice, and read your POV before they even think about signing a contract.
Pull takes the lead.
Educational content. Case studies. Podcast guest spots. Long-form videos. This is where depth matters more than reach. You’re not looking for thousands of clicks—you’re looking for the right 10 people to raise their hand.
Push comes in later. Once they’re familiar. Once they’ve visited your site. Now you retarget. Now you follow up. Now you offer the demo. But without pull, push is just noise.
Local Brick-and-Mortar Businesses
Here’s a fun one.
Say you’ve just opened a funky little sandwich shop in a mid-size city. You’ve got the best sourdough this side of Italy, but no one knows you exist.
You need a push.
Flyers. Google Local Service ads. Instagram geo-targeted promos. Maybe you sponsor a local event or give away free cookies on opening weekend. You push your way into the neighborhood’s awareness.
But if you’re smart, you start pulling too.
Encourage reviews. Build a quirky Instagram presence. Share behind-the-scenes footage of your staff dancing in the kitchen. Create a vibe that people want to come back to.
Push gets someone in the door.
Pull brings them back.
One-Off vs. Relationship-Based Businesses
Quick gut check:
Are you trying to win a sale?
Or build a relationship?
If it’s a one-off—say, selling novelty T-shirts or digital downloads—push might carry more weight.
But if you’re trying to nurture lifetime value—think coaching, community memberships, high-end services—pull is the lifeblood.
Push is a transaction.
Pull is a conversation.
Bottom Line: Know the Moment You’re In
You don’t have to pick a “team” and stick to it. This isn’t a high school rivalry—it’s marketing. It shifts. It breathes.
Sometimes you need to hustle.
Other times, you need to listen.
The real magic happens when you understand your audience’s headspace—not just your goals. Are they problem-aware? Solution-aware? Browsing? Panicking? Curious? Distracted?
Push works best when people are ready to act.
Pull works best when people are still figuring it out.
And if you can meet them where they are—whether that’s in their inbox, their search history, or their heart—you win.
Combining Both: The Smart Marketer’s Secret Weapon
Here’s the truth no one really wants to say out loud: It’s never just push vs. pull.
Not in practice. Not in real, working marketing campaigns.
The best marketers? The ones who aren’t just throwing tactics at the wall but are actually building momentum? They blur the line. They mix. They blend. They choreograph push and pull like a dance—fluid, adaptive, intentional.
This isn’t about picking sides. It’s about picking moments.
The Push-Pull Hybrid Strategy
Let’s say you’re building an email list. You write a killer lead magnet—something like “10 Mistakes First-Time Freelancers Make and How to Avoid Them.”
The pull part? You optimize a blog post for SEO, share it in online communities, maybe even get backlinks. People trickle in. They read. They sign up.
But what if you want more traffic, fast?
You run a push campaign—Facebook ads, Google search, even TikTok if your audience lives there. Now that same lead magnet gets in front of people who didn’t know to search for it.
The hybrid move? Use push to amplify what pull already built.
You’re not starting from zero—you’re accelerating something worth seeing.
And here’s the kicker: those new people who came in from the push? They now enter your pull system—your welcome sequence, your weekly content, your value loop. Push opens the door, pull invites them to stay.
That’s the power of hybrid.
Examples of Brands Doing It Right
Airbnb: Pull with a Dash of Push
Airbnb’s content strategy is basically travel porn. Gorgeous images, dreamy stories, location guides, Instagram reels that make you want to leave your job and live in a treehouse. That’s pull. It makes you want the lifestyle.
But they also run laser-targeted ads around holiday planning season, with CTAs like “Escape the Cold—Book a Warm Getaway.” That’s push.
The result? A seamless experience where push hooks you, and pull keeps you exploring.
HubSpot: Pull First, Push Later
HubSpot practically owns the pull game. If you’ve ever Googled anything about marketing, sales, or CRM, you’ve probably ended up on one of their in-depth guides.
But once you land? Get ready for a well-timed push. Exit popups. Chatbots. Drip emails. “Want a demo?” They’re not shy. But they’ve earned it—because you came for the pull, and stayed for the value.
A Boutique Skincare Brand I Know
Let me get small and scrappy for a sec. There’s this eco-skincare brand that started with just a blog, some DIY tips, and a founder sharing skin struggles on YouTube. Classic pull. Over time, they built a loyal little following.
Then one day they dropped a new clay mask. Instead of waiting for content to do its thing, they ran push ads to email subscribers and recent visitors. Result? They sold out in three days.
Push fueled the launch. Pull had already primed the audience.
Tools, Metrics, and Tracking What Works
Let’s get a little nerdy—but not too nerdy.
If you’re running both push and pull strategies, you need to know what’s working, and how the two are supporting each other.
Here’s how you track it without losing your mind:
For Push:
- CTR (Click-through rate) – Are people even noticing your ad or email?
- Conversion Rate – Are they taking action when they click?
- CPM/CPC/CPA – How much is each click, view, or action costing you?
- Attribution windows – Are those sales really from the ad, or did they see it, forget, and convert later from something else?
For Pull:
- Organic traffic – Is your content attracting visitors naturally?
- Engagement time – Are people actually reading or watching?
- Backlinks and shares – Are others finding your stuff valuable enough to spread?
- Email signups, follows, bookmarks – All signs people want more of what you offer.
The smartest marketers combine data points.
Did that blog post spike in traffic right after you ran that ad? Did your retargeting campaign convert people who visited your “Ultimate Guide”? That’s the ecosystem at work.
Push tells the story louder.
Pull makes the story worth telling.
The Energy Equation
Here’s a personal take.
I think of push and pull like fuel types.
Push is like gasoline. High energy, fast burn, big output.
Pull is like solar. Slower, but sustainable—and free once it’s rolling.
The trick is knowing your energy budget.
Got a launch and a tight deadline? Pour some gas on it.
Trying to build an audience over time? Harness that sunlight.
Sometimes, you use both. A hybrid car, if you will.
You run a paid campaign to boost visibility and build your email list, then nurture those leads with content. That’s how you get both reach and resonance. Impact and intimacy.
Don’t limit yourself to one mode. Smart marketers shift gears.
Final Word on the Combo Move
If you take one thing away, let it be this:
Push and pull aren’t enemies. They’re collaborators.
Used together, intentionally, they create a loop:
- Push gets people in the door.
- Pull makes them stay.
- Then you push again—now with context, trust, and relevance.
That’s how brands grow—not with just one killer tactic, but with a system that moves people from curiosity to connection to conversion.
And if you’re the one building that system? You’re not just marketing.
You’re building gravity.
Choosing the Strategy That Moves You
So—push marketing or pull marketing? Which one’s right?
Honestly? That’s not the question you should be asking anymore.
Here’s a better one: Where is your business right now, and what does it need next?
Because that’s what it comes down to. There’s no universally right answer—just the one that fits your brand, your audience, your pace. And that answer can shift. It should shift. Good marketing isn’t static—it’s alive. It adapts. It learns. It pivots.
Let’s say you’re a scrappy startup, just launched, no audience yet. You probably need push marketing just to get anyone in the door. Run the ads. Pitch hard. Show up uninvited if you have to. Be noisy. There’s no shame in that.
But if you’re a few years in, with a base of loyal customers and a growing organic presence? Maybe it’s time to invest in pull—build out your content library, nurture leads more slowly, turn one-time buyers into lifelong fans. Let your story simmer.
It’s like building a fire. Push is the spark. Pull is the slow-burning wood.
You don’t just want a flame—you want heat that lasts.
There’s No Right Answer—Only Right Timing
I’ve worked with brands that spent thousands on push campaigns but saw little ROI—because their message wasn’t ready. They had no content, no story, no emotional hook. People clicked and bounced.
And I’ve seen the reverse too. Businesses who poured their soul into blogs and videos and podcasts, waiting for Google or the algorithm to pick them up. Crickets. They needed that initial push—something to say: Hey, we exist!
That’s the dance. That’s the nuance. Push and pull don’t work in a vacuum. They work in conversation—with your market, your moment, your momentum.
One Last Analogy (Because I Can’t Help Myself)
Imagine you’re at a party.
Push marketing is when you walk up to someone and say,
“Hey, I’m amazing. Here’s why. You should totally work with me.”
Pull marketing is when someone hears about you from a friend, sees your stuff online, notices everyone’s talking to you—and eventually walks up and says,
“Hey… what do you do exactly? I keep seeing your name.”
The first one gets attention fast—but it can be awkward.
The second takes longer—but feels natural, magnetic.
You can do both. Sometimes, you need to introduce yourself. Other times, you need to be worth discovering.
Either way, you’re still in the room. Still in the game.
The Real Secret? Know Yourself
Know your brand. Know your voice. Know your bandwidth.
And most importantly—know your audience. Not just where they hang out, but how they like to be approached. Are they skeptical? Curious? Overwhelmed? Hungry?
Push works when people need a nudge.
Pull works when they need space to explore.
Neither is sleazy. Neither is lazy.
Used right, they’re both powerful, respectful, human.
So don’t lock yourself into one camp.
Try things. Test. Watch what resonates.
And build a strategy that doesn’t just “convert,”
but connects.
Because the best marketing? It doesn’t push or pull.
It moves.