When it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), the question often arises: Is it push or pull marketing? Let’s dive into this topic and break it down, including how SEO has evolved and how using SEO as a pull marketing strategy can generate faster results and higher-quality leads.
What is SEO?
At its core, SEO is about optimizing your content—whether it’s a video, blog post, or webpage—to get it ranked at the top of search engine results. Essentially, SEO makes your content more visible, so it shows up when people search for something related to your topic.
Now, let’s define push and pull marketing:
- Push Marketing: This involves paying to put your content in front of people who didn’t ask for it. It’s like a billboard, a radio ad, or a commercial. It’s an interruption-based model where people aren’t actively seeking your content but are exposed to it nonetheless. Think of seeing an ad before a YouTube video; that’s push marketing.
- Pull Marketing: On the other hand, pull marketing is about creating content that people actively want and are looking for. You’re not pushing it onto them; instead, your content is so valuable and relevant that people are naturally drawn to it. They seek it out because it answers their questions or solves their problems. In the context of SEO, this means ranking your content in search engines so that when people search for topics related to your content, they can find you. Pull marketing is what SEO is all about.
How Has SEO Changed?
SEO has changed drastically over the years. Initially, SEO was mainly associated with ranking websites on Google. Google’s role as a search engine was to rank websites based on their content. However, SEO has evolved. Now, Google and YouTube aren’t just ranking websites; they’re ranking specific pieces of content, like blog posts, videos, and articles.
Google has become a content search engine, and YouTube is the best content search engine available today. Since Google owns YouTube, whether people are searching on Google or YouTube, your content can rank on both platforms. This presents a huge opportunity for content creators: If you create valuable content that answers people’s questions or solves their problems, you can show up in front of an audience that is actively searching for what you have to offer.
What Generates Low-Quality Leads?
Many people make the mistake of using push marketing through promotional videos, which often generates low-quality leads. This is because push marketing interrupts people’s experience and doesn’t allow for relationship-building or value-driven engagement.
The 3-Video YouTube Funnel for Lead Generation
This is where a more effective strategy comes into play: the 3-video YouTube funnel for lead generation. This strategy involves creating a sequence of three videos designed to build trust and engagement with your audience.
Here’s how it works:
- The First Video: This video is designed to attract people who have never heard of you before. It should offer valuable content that addresses their needs or questions. By creating videos that answer common questions or solve problems, you make it easy for people to find you.
- The Second Video: Once they’ve engaged with the first video, the second video continues to offer value while gently guiding them deeper into your funnel. You’re not selling to them, but you’re offering more insights and building the relationship.
- The Third Video: In the final video, you offer a free gift or valuable resource and direct them to a landing page where they can sign up or get more information. This is where you generate leads that are genuinely interested in your business.
The beauty of this strategy is that it’s built on pull marketing principles. People watch the videos because they are searching for answers, not because they’re being interrupted with an ad. This builds trust and generates high-quality leads over time.
If you want to learn more about how to set up this 3-video funnel and start generating leads through YouTube, check out the linked video below where I dive deeper into the strategy.
Conclusion
So, is SEO push or pull marketing? The answer is pull marketing. It’s about creating content that people are actively searching for, drawing them in with value, and building relationships. As SEO continues to evolve, leveraging platforms like Google and YouTube for content-driven marketing is the key to generating high-quality leads that will benefit your business in the long run.
