Since electronic media is such a cost effective method to keep your brand message “pulling” customers in, do we still to need to “push” with traditional advertising?

These days, when consumers are looking for specific information, they often go online. That’s when pulling your audience in to your site through SEO, PPC, and Social Marketing shine. It’s a perfect opportunity to find a self-described interested audience that’s ready and willing to listen with an open mind to a message tailored just for them.

While customers are mentally prepared to absorb the details of your offerings, they may also be prepared to compare them mercilessly to your competition or be distracted by checking email, downloading other some other multi-tasking effort. Basically, many online consumers go on “information-gathering expeditions”. For that reason online information must always be easily accessible, quick and to the point.

So is there still a need for traditional advertising? Much of the public still has a love for magazines. First, there’s the portability and leisurely aspect traditionally associated with periodicals. Readers expect longer, more detailed articles then they usually find online so they can delve deeply into a subject. Folks read magazines because they’re interested in the subject and they have time to relax a bit. It gives them a chance to discover things they weren’t specifically looking for. Television, Radio and Out-of-Home marketing have a similar logic. Consumers exposed to traditional push advertising have a very different mindset than consumers online where research is usually the goal. Reading a magazine or watching TV is less about searching for specific information, brands or products and more about discovery.

Since the mental state of a viewer is different from online to print, it’s necessary to maintain a presence in both mediums. Whether you call it “Convergence Marketing” or “Integrated Marketing”, building a joint online and offline marketing campaign is not just a matter of adapting the message to the medium. It also requires adapting the message to the mindset. And while the specifics of the content change, the basic strategy, positioning and overall image should remain consistent to compliment and support one another. A well executed integrated push-pull marketing campaign is ultimately more effective than the sum of it’s parts.

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