When Airbnb sharply reduced its marketing spend during the early months of the pandemic, an unexpected outcome followed. Despite cutting performance advertising significantly, the platform retained the vast majority of its online traffic. Most visits continued to come through direct or unpaid channels. The episode highlighted a broader shift taking place across marketing teams globally. Brands are moving away from aggressive push tactics and leaning into pull marketing, a customer first approach focused on attraction rather than interruption.
For decades, push marketing dominated brand playbooks. Television commercials, print ads, cold emails, display banners, and promotional blasts worked on the assumption that visibility alone would drive demand. But digital behaviour has changed. Consumers today actively avoid interruption. Ad blockers, skipped videos, muted notifications, and ignored emails are now common responses to unsolicited messaging.
Pull marketing flips this model. Instead of forcing messages into consumer spaces, brands invest in experiences, content, and platforms that consumers choose to engage with. It is built on relevance, trust, and value. The brand waits to be discovered because it has created something worth discovering.
This shift is rooted in consumer behaviour. Research over the past few years shows that a majority of consumers prefer learning about brands through content rather than traditional advertising. Educational articles, how-to videos, reviews, community discussions, and organic social content now play a larger role in shaping purchase decisions. For many consumers, discovery begins with search, social feeds, or peer recommendations, not with ads.
The economics of pull marketing further strengthen its appeal. Content driven and inbound strategies consistently deliver stronger efficiency compared to outbound advertising. Studies show that content marketing costs substantially less than traditional outbound methods while generating significantly more qualified leads. Brands that prioritise inbound channels also report much higher conversion rates, as prospects are already engaged and informed by the time they enter the funnel.
Pull marketing also benefits from compounding returns. A paid ad stops delivering results the moment the budget is paused. A well performing article, video, or community continues to attract traffic long after it is published. Brands with mature content strategies often see sustained organic traffic growth that far outpaces competitors reliant on paid media alone.
Marketing leaders increasingly acknowledge this shift. Ramprasad Sridharan, CEO and Managing Director of Benetton India, has noted that relevance matters more than reach. He explains that the focus has moved toward engaging specific audiences meaningfully instead of chasing mass visibility. Engagement quality, he says, has become a more valuable metric than impressions.
This thinking is echoed across digital first brands. Madhur Acharya, Vice President of E-commerce at Lenskart, has spoken about how the company prioritises relevance and timing over frequency. According to him, every piece of communication is evaluated through the lens of value. If the content does not help or resonate with the customer, it does not go out. This approach has allowed brands like Lenskart to optimise spending while building stronger organic engagement.
Pull marketing success is also evident in customer retention. Content, communities, and education based engagement consistently rank among the most effective tools for keeping customers loyal. Brands that invest in post purchase content such as tutorials, guides, and community support often see higher lifetime value and repeat usage.
The shift is visible across industries. In the technology sector, Zoho offers one of the clearest examples. The Indian SaaS company scaled globally with minimal reliance on traditional advertising. Instead, it invested heavily in product quality, customer support, user education, and organic community building. Word of mouth, search discovery, and cross selling through satisfied users became its primary growth engines. Zoho crossed the billion dollar revenue mark while remaining profitable, proving that pull led growth can scale at enterprise levels.
In the consumer space, Mamaearth followed a similar path. Competing against established FMCG players, the brand focused on educating consumers about ingredients, safety, and parenting concerns. Content, influencer reviews, and community engagement replaced heavy advertising in its early years. Founder Varun Alagh has repeatedly stated that customer obsession guided every major decision, from product development to marketing. This focus turned customers into advocates and helped the brand grow rapidly with relatively modest marketing spends.
Globally, Tesla is often cited as an extreme example of pull marketing. For years, the company spent little to nothing on advertising. Instead, it relied on product differentiation, earned media, community advocacy, and its founder’s public presence. Customers shared experiences, reviews, and tutorials organically. Demand was driven by conversation rather than campaigns.
Airbnb’s experience reinforced similar lessons. After discovering that its brand had become deeply embedded in culture, the company deliberately reduced its dependence on performance advertising. Leadership acknowledged that brand strength, trust, and word of mouth were driving demand more effectively than constant paid acquisition.
Indian brands are applying these lessons in practical ways. Snigdha Suman, Marketing General Manager at Avon India, has spoken about prioritising community driven storytelling over trend chasing. By aligning communication with moments that matter to their consumer base, Avon focuses on relevance and long term connection rather than short term virality.
Agencies observing this shift also note changes in how success is measured. Shradha Agarwal, CEO of Grapes Digital, points out that brands are increasingly looking beyond likes and impressions. Meaningful engagement, repeat interaction, organic brand mentions, and community growth are emerging as stronger indicators of impact.
Pull marketing does not eliminate the need for push entirely. Most brands still use advertising for launches, scale, and awareness. The difference lies in balance. Push tactics now support pull strategies rather than replacing them. Paid media is often used to amplify valuable content rather than push hard selling messages.
There are challenges. As more brands invest in content, saturation increases. Audiences quickly tune out generic or low quality material. Pull marketing demands originality, authenticity, and patience. Results accumulate over time, making attribution more complex. Marketers must educate internal stakeholders that pull strategies are long term investments, not quick fixes.
Technology is helping ease this transition. AI driven personalisation, better analytics, and advanced attribution models are allowing brands to understand what content resonates and how it influences conversion. However, technology alone is not enough. The foundation remains a genuine understanding of customer needs.
The broader implication is clear. Power in marketing has shifted toward the consumer. Brands that respect this shift and design experiences around customer intent are seeing stronger loyalty and more sustainable growth.
Pull marketing represents more than a tactical change. It reflects a philosophical shift from selling to serving. Brands that succeed in this environment do so not by being louder, but by being more useful.
In a crowded digital ecosystem where attention is earned, not bought, pull marketing is emerging as one of the most durable strategies for modern brand building.
Disclaimer: All data points and statistics are attributed to published research studies and verified market research. All quotes are either sourced directly or attributed to public statements.