Why Do Marketers Push?

People with pushy personalities tend to be anti-social.  The same is now true for brands who try and push their message onto an audience.  Nobody likes to be pushed into anything especially a conversation.

Teenagers tend to try and push themselves onto someone they are attracted to only to be rejected by the pushy behavior.  Workers who try and “push” their way up the ladder tend to be pushed aside.  Pushing ourselves onto people has always been and will always be considered bad behavior.

The opposite of push is pull. However pull means creating positive attention from one’s actions, activities and conversations.  In the market of conversations both pushing and pulling are transparent to the masses.  However most marketers and advertisers “push” rather than pull because they think it is the only way to produce the results they desire.

What Is The Result of Pushing?

People don’t like people or brands that are pushy.  We see the majority of people and brands pushing their offerings into conversations. Spam, scam, banners, ads, pop ups appear everywhere.  Offers for discounts, incentives to buy, technology to get you followers, software to distribute your message to mass audience and the list of methods and message for pushing goes on and on.

The advertising and marketing industry grew up in an era of mass media whose primary objective was to “push” messages out to the masses hoping they might “catch” a few sales.  The word “catch” reminds me of fishing. Some fish stay deep and can’t be seen while others can be seen near the surface.  A lure is used to attract a fish so you can hook them and reel them in for the “catch”.  While hungry for food some fish take the bait while others ignore the lure.

People Are Not Fish Rather Fishers of Value!

People don’t appreciate being lured into a conversation only to be tricked into a transaction. Transactions represent commerce and the currency of a conversation is not responsive to pushy lures or tricks.  The emergence of social media is and will continue to force advertisers and marketers to change their ways, their methods and their message otherwise they are not likely to create any currency in the long haul.

The reality is that instead of brands fishing for a transaction the market is now the fisherman. People seek value, knowledge and wisdom from others offering such things freely. People are seeking ways to save time and be more productive.  If an offering helps them accomplish their goals then they are likely to find it from “friends” that refer them to what they are looking for.

If brands want the new market to “catch” their value then they must stop fishing and learn how to be caught. Remember the opposite of push is pull. Again pull means creating positive attention from one’s actions, activities and conversations.  Einstien once said “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results”. Pushing messages and media is insane because it doesn’t improve your results.

If you want me to “catch” your brand then make sure you are creating a positive experience that pulls my friends and they will be sure that I find you. It’s called creating conversational currency. Get it?

What say you?

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Tagged as: blog marketing, brand marketing, business change, business disruption, business relations, business social, business solutions, business transformation, Conversational Currency, conversational marketing, innovation economy, Relationship Economy, social capital, social commerce, Social Media, social media roi