Push vs. Pull

Here is a little chunk of a conversation between Media guys Mark Ramsay and Guy Kawasaki. Ramsay runs a media consulting company and Kawasaki is author of a new book called "Enchantment - The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions". Both are industry leaders in the area of new media. Ramsay was questioning Kawasaki about "push" and "pull" technology.

After you read this, think of how we engage our audiences.

You advise on the best ways to use “push” and “pull” technology. Can you define what those are?

“Push” marketing is when you are controlling the mechanism, the timing, and the quantity of what you’re sending to people. You push out email; you push out your tweets.

“Pull” marketing is when you have to convince people to return to your website, return to your Facebook page, and so you have to attract them continuously.

Both have a place in enchantment. Twitter is a very useful tool for enchanting people as is a great Facebook fan page.

Let’s talk about each of them. In terms of “push,” you mentioned Twitter. What are a couple of great Twitter “push” tactics to promote enchantment?

With Twitter, I think the key is that you tweet out interesting links and that you are seen as the source of stories and pictures and video that other people would not have found in your particular area of expertise.

So, if you’re an expert in radio, you should be tweeting out the great interview about the future of radio and what it means in a world with Pandora, for example.

The second thing is something many people do not agree with. I think you need to repeat your tweets to make them effective. You’re in radio. You can’t assume that the person who listens to your station at 7 a.m. is also going to be listening at 7 p.m. So if you push out something interesting at 7 p.m. through Twitter it’s unlikely that the same the person who uses Twitter at 7 a.m. will see it.

You need to repeat it.

Very often the radio station with the most repeats is among those with the highest ratings.

Yeah, I rest my case.

What about great tactics for “pull”?

For “pull” marketing, it’s all about generating great content that you have a real reason for people to come back for – there’s new stuff available all the time.

There’s value, there’s information, and the common thread of “push” and “pull” is that “content is king.” it really is.

And new content is king. It could be photos, it could be video, or it could be the interaction of the community. It’s not necessarily true that you have to provide all the content; because you can have very, very interesting forums, but ultimately “content is king.”