1. Originally posted on the HotProspect.com blog April 24, 2012
Pull Marketing and Social Marketing: The New Paradigm in B2B
Marketing
One of the most important elements in B2B marketing and sales is timing. How a prospect receives
your proposal ranges from 0 percent (no matter what, I am not buying your product or service) to
100 percent (where have you people been, this is a perfect solution! Let me issue a PO now.) and
every point between. In B2B selling, the best tactic is selling to those ready to buy, cultivate clients
who are between zero and one hundred and keep your name in front of those who are not
interested at present but might be later.
Cultivating and keeping your name out front are situations that are ideal for pull marketing. Pull
marketing gives you the time to establish a relationship and build trust. It is not an overnight
solution, but when done correctly it is a an amazing way of gaining new business. Pull marketing is
an online strategy that makes use of social media such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other media
that you can use in your pull marketing campaign. When your prospect is ready to buy the goods or
services you sell, pull marketing gets you invited to the party. That makes for a successful marketing
strategy!
Using pull marketing makes sense. The prospect is in control of when the sale takes place; it is
inefficient to fight this as is normally done with push marketing, a technique that encourages
prospects to purchase in the vendor’s timeframe. Push marketing does not allow for factors such as
budget, other projects or other priorities. Pull marketing does.
Turning to pull marketing does not mean abandoning all push market efforts at once. You may have
lead sources that you cannot back burner at present. However, complementing your push
marketing with pull marketing, especially with your present client base is a good beginning.
Following are five methods of communicating with B2B prospects until the right time to begin the
selling process:
1. Use social media to stay in touch with prospects. Each LinkedIn, Twitter or blog
connection you make with leads provides you with opportunities to provide
relevant education to them and have them in your niche.
2. Keep content current and relevant. Your website and blog should attract those
(especially prospects) who want more information product or services. This content
should not be sales material. It should be highly relevant content about what your
company does and the benefits of its type of services or goods. This establishes you
as a credible expert and associates that credibility with your company. This is

2. branding at its best.
3. Be sure your site is Search Engine Optimized. This requires that you research key
words that are used by prospects when searching for material related to your
business. This specialized process should be given to a specialist. Once you know
the search terms incorporating them judiciously into fresh and relevant content is
easy. Having a high ranking (page 1) in search returns is where you want to be.
4. Public relations is an inexpensive and effective way of getting your message out.
Along with targeting press releases, submit articles to pertinent industry
magazines, journals and blogs and take part in media interviews.
5. The new paradigm in marketing is to provide less sales information and more
general information. When sending information to prospects and existing clients,
no matter what the media, strive for a ratio of 80 percent information and 20
percent sales pitch.
Using online relationship bridging tactics, you will establish a cadre of faithful contacts. As time
goes on many will turn into prospects and ultimately some will become buyers. The process is a
long-term strategy that will reward persistence and patience with an efficient and powerful B2B
marketing campaign.
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