What is Your Marketing Mix Supposed to Be?

Successful marketing is all about putting the right product or service in the right place at the right time and price. To achieve this, some effort is required to determine what people desire and where they purchase.

Then you must figure out how to produce the item at a price that offers value to them. And for everything to come together at the right time.

This is where your marketing mix comes into play. Simply put, a marketing mix is the set of actions or tactics that a company uses to market its products or services.

In its very basic form, a marketing mix is comprised of the four Ps:

• Price
• Product
• Place
• Promotion

However, in today’s complex marketplace and heightened competition the marketing mix may include additional Ps:

• Packaging
• Positioning
• People
• And even politics

A Closer Look at the Basic 4 Ps

Developing your own company’s marketing mix can help you resolve some of the issues that you may face on a daily basis while running your business.

The four Ps are the collection of controllable actions that a business employs to address the needs of its target markets. But what do these marketing mix actions involve?

Product or Service

This refers to your product or service being offered to customers. The product or service should satisfy the customer’s needs or desires for it to be purchased and sought after in the market.

Equally important, you should make sure that your customers are left with the impression of your product or service as unique and distinctive from that of the competition. This will help separate/differentiate you from the competition.

Price

The price is a term used to describe the value assigned to a product. It depends on a variety of direct and indirect factors that include:

• Manufacturing costs
• The customers’ ability to pay
• Supply and demand
• And a host of other variables

There are various pricing methods or selling price points that you can use based on your particular business model.

You can set your pricing to undercut the competition. Or it can be used to differentiate your product or service. Higher prices can improve your product’s image.

Place or Selling Location

Place is the selling location where the product or service can be purchased. Knowing where your target customers regularly visit and make purchases will assist you in determining the best location to use your marketing mix.

In addition, the place where you sell your product and service can impact your distribution strategy and overhead expenditures.

It affects how many people you need to hire and how you will deliver the product or service to the consumer.

Promotion

This includes all your company’s efforts used to make your product or service known to the customer. Promotion could take the form of:

• Advertising
• Word of mouth
• Press coverage
• Incentives (sales, discounts)
• Commissions
• Social media
• Trade fairs

When trying to reach out to your target customers, make sure to build your message that frequently links to the other three Ps: product, price, and placement.

These four factors come together to define your core customer and how to market to them, influencing the development of a marketing mix.

Each of the 4 Ps is very dependent on the others and can influence your marketing and business strategies.

Benefits of a Marketing Mix

Having your own business’ marketing mix can assist you in determining the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. It impacts your return on investment (ROI).

Use it to:

• Garner insights into future trends
• Manage your budget
• Better obtain and analyze quality data
• Determine channels to focus on
• Develop systems

In fact, your marketing mix is an essential part of your marketing strategy. A company’s marketing strategy includes both its target market(s) and its marketing mix.

It establishes the foundations upon which it intends to build a sustained competitive advantage over its competition.

How to Integrate the Four Ps into Your Marketing Strategy

The four Ps of your marketing mix offer a foundation around which to construct your marketing strategy. In most cases, these variables overlap and are closely linked.

You will first start with your product or service offering. Try to understand what qualities it possesses that are appealing. Also think about existing goods and services that are comparable.

Your product might be more durable, user-friendly, appealing, or long-lasting. Its components may come from naturally occurring sources or be environmentally friendly.

Pricing Strategies

Determine the features that will appeal to your intended audience. Then consider what a suitable price is for the good or service. When it comes to setting prices, you should consider the four pricing strategies:

Profit oriented pricing

Here, the focus is to generate profit for the business. The formula is based on production cost plus a profit. For example, a company may decide that its product or service must provide for at least a 20% profit margin to reach a particular profit goal for the company.

Sales oriented pricing

Businesses use a sales focused pricing model when they base price decisions to capture market share. In this scenario the business thinks that growing sales will benefit their business more than growing profits.

Here the business may opt to set a low price to discourage competitors from entering the market. Or their goal may be to push out existing competitors from the market.

When you set your low prices to ensure competitors cannot compete, you use sales oriented pricing.

Competition oriented pricing

This refers to a business adopting a competitor’s price points. By setting its prices comparable to those of its main rivals, it can keep up with the competition.

Customer oriented pricing

Customer-driven pricing is the practice of determining prices based on how much customers think a company’s products or services are worth.

This model’s underlying presumption is that a consumer will pay a particular amount when the value they receive outweighs the cost.

Place

Above all, each business must make sure that its target market can access its goods or services. First, determine where your buyers spend their time. You want to be there.

Position your products and services where your customers are most likely to see them. Remember that search converts better than other places because they are actively seeking to buy when searching.

Simply put it is all about finding the type of offline or online retailer who stocks your products for customers.

Promotion

Finally, promotion is any sort of marketing communication that aims to persuade your target customers of the relative merits of your product or service.

Promotions and advertising are intended to:

• Raise brand awareness
• Spark interest
• Boost sales
• Foster brand loyalty

It is one of the fundamental components of your marketing mix as it lets your customer know your product or service exists, where they can access it, and at what price they can buy it.

Methods of promotion also include event marketing, ecommerce, trade shows as well as personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, publicity, and word of mouth.

Obtain maximum results by understanding the habits of your target audience. Ensure you meet their specific requirements. Target audiences with behaviors and purchasing power that fit what you offer. And engage them in the medium of their preference.

Not sure where to get started? Check out our One Page Marketing Plan Challenge.

 

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