Search marketing is especially powerful for connecting your business to people who seek your products and services. Ads shown in response to searches on Google reach the vast majority of internet users. This marketing is especially effective when you have a unique product that is in demand. Ads are shown in response to search queries initiated by the consumer or prospect. When they click your ad, they are delivered to your website. Since the search is initiated by the prospect, they are pulling the information or product to themselves.

Unknown Unique Products
What if you have a product or service that is relatively unknown and no one is looking for it? How can you reach prospective clients who would benefit from your product, but are unaware of it? One solution is to place ads on the Google AdWords Display Network. These  ads are not shown in response to searches, but shown on content pages of a wide selection of websites. We can choose to place ads on websites that have a theme closely related to our product or service. Here, prospects interested in the topic can learn the benefits of your product through your ad.

Garden Widget Example
Suppose you have a new unique garden tool that saves time in planting. Because the product is relatively unknown, there are very few searches for it or anything like it. Pull advertising would be a “tough row to hoe”. Instead, your ads could be placed on gardening websites in the display network. People reading about gardening could see your ad. Because the content on the page is of interest to gardeners, they may click the ad and visit your website. You are pushing your message and product to the consumer. The action of showing the ad is initiated by the business (push) as opposed to search advertising where the consumer or prospect initiates the showing of ads by making a relevant search query (pull).

Using Both Techniques
For many businesses, both push (ads shown in response to search queries) and pull (ads shown on content pages) should be utilized. When I manage campaigns and the budget allows, I will separate the two efforts for better control and performance.