How to Ensure the Death of Push Marketing in 2013

We all like predictable routines and fail-proof formulas. But sometimes, what worked in the past simply becomes ineffective. Sometimes, we encounter a shift so great that everything we knew to be important in the past simply ceases to matter. Such a shift has been taking place in B2B marketing for the last several years.

Last week, Search Engine Journal posted a nice roundup of various B2B marketing trends that experts have identified for 2013. Included in the list are things like more customer centricity, the rise of responsive websites and advances in marketing automation. We’ve been moving toward these changes for the last few years, and the way we reach and interact with our customers is shifting as a result. But the most fundamental shift of all is the prediction that 2013 will bring the death of push marketing.

In reality, push marketing has been on the way out for some time. It has been dying a slow death for years. But if we really hope to see push marketing disappear entirely in 2013, there are a few key areas we need to focus on this year. They include:

• Content. If we really want to make a clean transition from push marketing to pull marketing, high quality, useful content can’t be an exception any longer. It needs to become the rule. Nothing pulls the customer close to the business better than effective content.
• Social interaction. Most B2B companies have been “doing social media” for years, but simply putting up a Facebook page or occasionally tweeting a blog post isn’t enough to facilitate a full transition away from push marketing. To make this transition possible, B2B marketers need to focus on social interaction. We need to make it a priority to find our stakeholders on social media and have meaningful, authentic conversations with the individuals who matter most.
• Marketing automation. Pull marketing simply won’t work without a smart marketing automation strategy. After you’ve pulled your prospect in with useful content and meaningful social interaction, it’s imperative to keep them engaged and involved until they are ready to make a purchase. And nothing does that better than marketing automation.

Are you ready to see push marketing die in 2013?

Featured image via: Media Solve