Stop Being Pushy With Web 2.0 Marketing
Everyone hates pushy salespeople.
Way back when I was in direct sales, I had a strong dislike for cold calling. The main reason for this was that you had to interrupt someone to try to get their attention. In other words, you had to be aggressive, or pushy.
The problem is that in sales, and if you are involved in internet marketing or network marketing, you are indeed a salesperson, you are often stuck between a rock and a hard place.
You do not earn any money unless you make a sale and you feel that you must push your message out there to succeed.
Until recently, internet marketing has been dominated by push marketing strategies.
Push marketing generally involves an effort to get an advertising message in front of as many people as possible using such tactics as banners, popup ads, email marketing, and so on.
Conversely, pull marketing strategies engage the customer by offering quality content that arouses the customers curiosity and interest, making them want to learn more about the topic, product, or service.
Pull marketing can be compared to attraction marketing, a strategy that we have been discussing quite a bit on this blog.
Maki at Dosh Dosh has written an excellent post on "Push Versus Pull Marketing", describing how to incorporate these strategies for internet marketing.
Push/Pull Marketing on Web 2.0
I was reading an interesting post on techne-eikon.com that looked at how marketers are misusing web 2.0 properties with push marketing strategies and as such are contributing to "social pollution on the internet".
This is especially relevant in light of recent changes made by some social media sites such as Digg to combat the apparent onslaught of internet marketers attempting to take advantage of these properties for their marketing purposes.
The important points to consider for web 2.0 marketing are:
- focus on making a contribution with quality content
- try to offer solutions that people can immediately benefit from
- actively participate in the community and develop relationships
Web 2.0 is a user-driven media and if you are trying to push your advertising message, you will soon be pushed aside.
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February 11th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Hi Mark,
I agree. It is quite difficult for a newbie, though, to move from push to pull marketing. All the hype you see about making megabucks tomorrow by following this secret system, along with the 'get a million visitors to your website tonight' promotions, tend to push newbies towards thinking they have to get out there and shout as loudly as possible.
It's a tough call for someone who's new to realise they have to sit back, take the time and do the work.
Seth Godin was the person who made me realise that shouting, or 'Interruption Marketing' was not the way to go.
Cheers,
Martin.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:55 am
@Martin - yeah, it is really tough to make the transition. You really have to take the time to know and serve your target market. And you're right, that takes work.
But it's well worth it if you want to establish yourself in your niche for the long-term.