Marketing Mix – The Four Elements of Effective Marketing
Marketing Mix, The term “4 Ps in marketing” is actually a historical basis for today’s businesses, primarily based around location, product, cost, and promotion. The four P’s are actually the core of modern business management, as they represent the most fundamental principles and processes of the entire management process.
The marketing mix, in short, has now been defined as the “combination of the set of marketing instruments which the company uses in pursuit of its marketing objectives.”
For the most part, marketing is a combination of the Four P’s: positioning, pricing, promotion, and Place. However, there are specific techniques and systems that can be applied to the marketing mix depending on the industry. For example, for healthcare companies, positioning is the key component, while for the automotive industry, pricing is extremely important, and advertising is the cheapest option available.
Positioning is basically the ability to determine what type of people would be interested in buying a particular product or service. This requires an extensive knowledge of what a potential customer is looking for, and how he or she will respond to the particular offer that is being presented.
For instance, a business might have a new product or service, or an existing product that they are trying to sell at a more affordable price. If they were to simply market their product to the general public, they might end up with customers that do not even know about it!
Pricing is the amount that a customer should pay for a product or service. It might also be the profit margin that is earned, depending on how much you will be charging for your product or service, and whether or not you are selling your product on the retail side or on an auction website.
Promotion is how you market your product or service through print, radio, television, or any other medium. This can include an event like a trade show, or simply creating an ad campaign to make the public aware of your products or services. This is often done in conjunction with advertising. However, for some industries, this is the cheapest option available because the only cost of promotion is your time.
Place In its original form the product mix consisted of: a specific product line, an effective distribution channel, a marketing plan with a goal of advertising to a defined audience and a targeted cost per impression (CPM). Today we often refer to this product mix as the Marketing Message, the Marketing Plan, or the Sales Process. Although these terms are often used interchangeably, each of them is quite distinct.
In order to create a marketing message, you must first identify the desired consumer. The product or service you are selling is your product or service. You will have many competitors if you do not know which product to sell. By researching your market, you will soon know which product is popular. This product needs to be easily understood by all consumers.
By doing research in the area of the product you are selling you can better understand the desires and needs of your market. You should also consider how you want to promote the product.
Next you need to research the distribution channels that your product will be sold in. These channels include retail stores, online sites, direct mailers, etc. Once you have done your research, you should begin to develop your distribution plan. If your product has a large customer base, the easiest and most effective way to distribute your product is to sell directly to your customer base through your retail store or by mail.
Once you have developed your distribution strategy, you will want to identify your target audience. You can do this by taking the size, age and gender of your target audience into consideration. If you are targeting a younger crowd then you may want to focus your advertising and marketing strategy in that area.
You will also need to determine the size of the targeted audience. For example, if your product is a sports drink, then your product must fit into a relatively small market. However, if you are targeting a large audience such as a food service company, then your marketing and advertising strategy need to encompass a much larger market.
Once you have determined your marketing mix, it is time to develop your message. Your message is the foundation of your product. In order to reach the people you need to have a compelling message that will appeal to your customers and convince them to take action. This can take some work, but when you find your Audience and Message, you will be able to develop a highly productive campaign.
In conclusion, marketing can be broken down into the four basic elements of pricing, promotion, positioning, advertising, and branding. While each of these elements will have their own individual purposes and requirements, it is best to combine all of these to create the most effective marketing mix.