It’s true that marketing is always evolving and changing, but there are a few fundamentals of marketing that have adapted with today’s world to remain useful to marketers. For example, a marketing mix is a combination of controlled factors that influence consumers to buy products from businesses.
When creating a marketing strategy for small businesses, the marketing mix is a significant tool in determining what marketing strategies are right for you and your business. When learning about the marketing mix, you will discover the four Ps of marketing. These four individual elements can be used alone, but in most cases, they are dependent on each other. The identification of the four Ps of marketing was introduced by Marketing professor and author E. Jerome McCarthy in 1960 and is still used in marketing strategies to this day.
The Four Ps of Marketing
A marketing mix often refers to McCarthy’s four Ps of marketing: product, price, placement, and promotion. These four key elements that make up the marketing mix include different and effective ways to market a business. How you use these four tools plays an extremely vital part in your overall marketing approach as a business. Using the marketing mix correctly can attract your ideal customer to your business and lead to an increase in sales.
Product in the Marketing Mix
In your business, your product is the combination of any goods and/or services given by your business to your ideal customer. Your objective as a business owner is to decide if the product or service you sell is the right fit for both your business and your customer. In the marketing mix, once you identify your product, you can start to identify your audience and how to reach them.
For example: if your product is selling the service of assisted living, you should not advertise your product on Nickelodeon, since that’s a children’s network. Being able to identify your product will help you determine your target audience in your business’s marketing strategy.
Price in the Marketing Mix
When you discover the product or service you would like to sell in your business, you need to establish your price. Of course, the price of your product is the amount the customer will pay to enjoy it. But the price of the product or service will affect your marketing strategy significantly. While your goal is to make a profit on your product or service, your pricing strategy needs to fit the needs of your customer and how much they would be willing to spend.
In the marketing mix, your pricing needs to be adaptable and aware of new market factors and industry trends that could ultimately impact your customer’s needs.
Placement in the Marketing Mix
The physical location of your product or service is the place your customers will discover and/or buy it from you. Placement is very important in the marketing mix because a product can be very useful and well-priced but can suffer if your target customer has a hard time finding it. No matter if your product or service is found in a store or online, there are countless places your product can be sold.
As a business, your marketing strategy should include where you want to sell and market your product – otherwise, your customers may never find you.
Promotion in the Marketing Mix
One of the most important tactics in your marketing plan is how to inform consumers about your product or service. This is how promotion plays into your business’s marketing mix. There are endless ways to promote your business: television, radio, billboards, social media, Google, and the list goes on.
Publicizing your product or service allows you to expand your audience and increase your brand’s awareness. It is vital to your marketing mix because promoting your product helps grab the attention of your ideal customers and influences them to buy your product.
The 7 Ps of the Marketing Mix
To please your customer, the marketing mix needs to stay up to date with new technologies, new measurements of success, and new impacting factors the world. Therefore, in 1981, professors Bernard H. Booms and Mary J. Bitner identified three additional components of the marketing mix to create a total of 7 Ps of marketing. The additional factors are known as people, process, and physical evidence.
People in the Marketing Mix
People are the most significant factor of all for the products and services your business can provide. Human nature influences your product and the process of buying it. Anyone who touches your product, whether it be creating it, delivering it, or using it can affect the public’s opinion of your product. The understanding of your customers, and potential customers, is a crucial part of your business’s market research.
Process in the Marketing Mix
As a business, you should always make sure that your production process is organized and well structured. This will allow you to regulate the process of creating or delivering your product and avoid making mistakes. Any factor that can influence how your product is delivered is a direct part of your marketing process. It is important for your business’s marketing strategy to master your process and your production flow.
Physical Evidence in the Marketing Mix
Physical evidence is applicable to all businesses, no matter what your product or service entails. In your marketing mix, your physical evidence is the look and feel of your product and your business as a whole– whether that means your store front, website, Facebook page, etc. Your business’s branding, packaging, and customer service are also included in this component of your marketing strategy. You want consumers to recognize your brand and/or product and remember your business and how it made them feel.
The Rise of Digital Media and the Marketing Mix
Over the past two decades, digital media has influenced the way marketing professionals work. The discovery of new types of media, new revenue streams, and a new generation of consumers has affected the traditional marketing mix tremendously. As a business, you cannot ignore these new digital media trends, or you will miss out on potential customers you could be reaching in your marketing strategy. Keeping up to-date with new marketing platforms and strategies can help your business gain exposure online, which is so important in the digital age. You need to be where your customers are, and they are online.
At Smarketing, we can help you create your own strategic marketing mix that is personalized for your business. Our team will work with you to create a custom marketing strategy that can include both traditional marketing, such as print or radio, and digital marketing. Refreshing your business’s marketing basics and staying up to date with new marketing trends can allow you to boost your brand awareness and your revenue. Reach out today at 865-963-0642 or contact us through our website.