You’ve had a long day. You’ve battled traffic, taken in a ton of information at work, and consumed a years’ worth of social media content, cat pictures, political nonsense, and whining friends. You’ve endured countless MLM pitches from your Facebook friends, wished a few happy birthdays, and now your brain is fried, while you somehow managed to hit every single red light on your way home. You finally get there, stop to pick up the mail, and sort it at the recycling bin before even getting inside. Out go the political postcards, the realtors excitedly bragging about more homes that they’ve sold in your neighborhood, letters from your cable company — who you already use — trying to sell you more cable services, and all kinds of other junk. It all goes right into the recycling bin. That junk that some marketing guru spent hours developing, getting sized, proofed, and printed, and you’ve just ignored it.
You’re not alone. The world of push marketing is still alive. Ads are being thrown at you on the radio, on the TV, on billboards, and in your inbox. The “spray and pray” marketing approach is still utilized by many, but I argue that its effectiveness is on the steep decline. People don’t have time to digest it; their brains don’t allow for any more input. They’re full, they’re stimulated, and they can’t take much more.
Enter pull marketing. Pull marketing feeds the consumer. It’s passive, not aggressive. It’s consumed on the consumer’s terms, whether that’s at 3am, during soccer practice, or during a boring homily at church. Consumers do it their way.
At On Target, we subscribe to a push vs. pull marketing philosophy. We aren’t out to push information in people’s faces; we’re here to pull them to whatever brand we’re working with. Consumers want what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. We’re simply here to help make that connection. We’re here to know what they want, where they’re hanging out, and in what method they wish to consume content. We create content that attracts people to brands. If it’s a private school, we create content that speaks to parents about raising respectable little humans. If it’s a mortgage company, we offer up sound advice and wisdom on how to get prequalified. If it’s a Ford dealership, we craft social and visual content that inspires a 20-something to test drive a Mustang. We don’t sell. We don’t nag. We simply create the stuff that we know consumers are hungry for.
Laws Of Marketing Attraction
There’s a movement that states that the more positive or negative energy we discharge, the more positive or negative influences that we bring into our lives. I feel that marketing is the same way. The more that we elevate a brand as a positive giver, the more positive people that they’ll attract. Positive people buy from positive brands. Positive brands create content that gives, feeds, educates, humors, and builds confidence. Positive brands realize that their consumers are hungry to be led, fed, and shared with.
Micro Moments
Meet Lauren. She’s 28. She loves coffee. She loves her doggie, Mr. Ruffkins, and her kitty cat, Sallie Mae. She’s renting an apartment, she’s engaged, and she just dropped her favorite coffee pot on that shiny tile floor in her kitchen. She has an immediate need — she needs a new coffee pot, like quick. Lauren doesn’t have time to run to the store after work; she’s got obedience training with Mr. Ruffkins, a yoga class, a date with Mike, and then Survivor comes on. What does she do? She hops online and zooms over to Amazon. She reads reviews, considers other brands, makes her decision, and boom, she’ll have another coffee pot before tomorrow morning. Crisis averted. In this example, Lauren was in charge. She consulted, she educated herself, and she made an informed buying decision on her own, with minimal outside influence. In a micro-moment, she made a purchase.
It’s A Home, Not A House
This, my friends, is happening every day in a million different capacities. Looking for a house? Take the Mackees. The Mackees have lived in the same area for 15 years. With home prices appreciating and rebounding, Mrs. Mackee sure would love to cut that daily commute down, so she hops online and sets up a few custom searches that alert her when a new home fitting her criteria hits the market. She reads up on specific neighborhoods, checks the crime maps, and chooses the perfect neighborhood for her growing family. She’s got it mapped out. Close to the fitness trail? Check. Close to the kids’ school? Check. Close to work? Check. Close to Publix and that Italian joint with the best chicken parm? Check. All of this is done on her time, with her criteria, and with her best interests in mind. Mrs. Mackee is in charge of her and her family’s destiny, all powered by her smartphone.
Getting Schooled
The Nillio family currently lives in Washington state, where Mr. Nillio is an engineer. His company is building a new facility near the Space Coast here in Florida, and he’s been offered a very cool new position and relocation package — he can’t refuse this one. It’s time to get to work. Mr. Nillio’s two kiddos need a new Catholic school since they’ll be starting in the fall. Mrs. Nillio jumps into action, pulls up Google, and starts to search for Catholic private schools on the Space Coast. She knows she wants a school with a strong tech background and focus, so she reviews each school’s website, reads reviews, reads a few blog posts on some school sites, and schedules a few tours. She finds the perfect school with the perfect balance of curriculum, tech, family life, and faith. The kiddos start school in Florida in two days, all because of a Google search.
The Soft Sell
We don’t believe in creating salesy stuff. We firmly believe that people don’t want to be sold to — they want to be in charge. They want to educate themselves. They want to work with experts, thought leaders, people who make some noise online, brands who separate themselves and give. Give. We align brands as givers. Contributors. Thought leaders. Humans. We create the stuff that the Nillios find, that Lauren hunts for, that Mrs. Mackee wants. We create amazing content that begs to be shared, talked about, acted upon, and interacted with. Content is the fuel that drives all of our marketing campaigns.
Multiple Species
Mike loved the infographic that helped him choose a Mustang over a Camaro to curb that midlife crisis. That video showing Shelby how to choose a better healthcare plan really changed her perspective. The hilarious, thought-provoking podcast about tech helped Simon choose a new IT company for his small business.
Content needs to be created in multiple varieties to resonate with your intended audience. Whether it’s graphics, audio, visual, video, written, or performed in interpretive dance on your new website, we create it to pull people to your brand. We create to make a change; to inspire; to alter a course; to win the long game. Consider how you shop: when’s the last time you went to a new restaurant that you didn’t Google or Yelp first? When’s the last time you purchased a new DSLR camera without reading every review on the photography message boards? When’s the last time you bought anything without looking for a piece of content, review, social media affirmation, or a 4 or 5 star rating on Amazon? It’s time to be a giver. It’s time to attract positive people to your social media channels, website, blog, or e-commerce store.
To learn more about how On Target crafts amazing content to pull people to your brand, drop me a line — I’d love to spend a few minutes chatting about your needs. Give us a call at 407-830-4550.
About the Author
Tom is the Chief coffee brewer, CEO, digital marketing strategist, and kickass content creator for brands across the globe at On Target. He loves nothing more than helping small to medium-sized businesses find their online voice and growing their leads, prospects, and sales.
On Target Digital Marketing is a full-service digital marketing agency located in Orlando, Florida. Through branding, web design, content creation, and social media, we get brands found and talked about online. To learn how we can help your brand grow and thrive, call 407-830-4550 or fill out our contact form. Thanks for reading and sharing!
