What are the key considerations made in developing the right promotional mix for a product?

What Is a Marketing Mix?

A marketing mix includes multiple areas of focus as part of a comprehensive marketing plan. The term often refers to a common classification that began as the four Ps: product, price, placement, and promotion.

Effective marketing touches on a broad range of areas as opposed to fixating on one message. Doing so helps reach a wider audience, and by keeping the four Ps in mind, marketing professionals are better able to maintain focus on the things that really matter. Focusing on a marketing mix helps organizations make strategic decisions when launching new products or revising existing products.

Key Takeaways

• A marketing mix often refers to E. Jerome McCarthy's four Ps: product, price, placement, and promotion.
• The different elements of a marketing mix work in conjunction with one another.
• Consumer-centric marketing mixes incorporate a focus on customers into their approaches.

Understanding Marketing Mix

The four Ps classification for developing an effective marketing strategy was first introduced in 1960 by marketing professor and author E. Jerome McCarthy. Depending on the industry and the target of the marketing plan, marketing managers may take various approaches to each of the four Ps. Each element can be examined independently, but in practice, they often are dependent on one another. 

Product

This represents an item or service designed to satisfy customer needs and wants. To effectively market a product or service, it's important to identify what differentiates it from competing products or services. It's also important to determine if other products or services can be marketed in conjunction with it.

Price

The sale price of the product reflects what consumers are willing to pay for it. Marketing professionals need to consider costs related to research and development, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution—otherwise known as cost-based pricing. Pricing based primarily on consumers' perceived quality or value is known as value-based pricing.

Placement

The type of product sold is important to consider when determining areas of distribution. Basic consumer products, such as paper goods, often are readily available in many stores. Premium consumer products, however, typically are available only in select stores. Another consideration is whether to place a product in a physical store, online, or both.

Promotion

Joint marketing campaigns also are called a promotional mix. Activities might include advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and public relations. A key consideration should be for the budget assigned to the marketing mix. Marketing professionals carefully construct a message that often incorporates details from the other three Ps when trying to reach their target audience. Determination of the best mediums to communicate the message and decisions about the frequency of the communication also are important.

Value-based pricing plays a key role in products that are considered to be status symbols.

Special Considerations

Not all marketing is product-focused. Customer service businesses are fundamentally different than those based primarily on physical products, so they often will take a consumer-centric approach that incorporates additional elements to address their unique needs.

Three additional Ps tied to this type of marketing mix might include people, process, and physical evidence. People refer to employees who represent a company as they interact with clients or customers. Process represents the method or flow of providing service to the clients and often incorporates monitoring service performance for customer satisfaction. Physical evidence relates to an area or space where company representatives and customers interact. Considerations include furniture, signage, and layout.

Additionally, marketers often study consumers who frequently will influence strategies related to service or products. This also requires a strategy for communicating with consumers in terms of obtaining feedback and defining the type of feedback being sought.

Traditionally, marketing commences with identifying consumers' needs and ceases with the delivery and promotion of a final product or service. Consumer-centric marketing is more cyclical. Reassessing the customers' needs, communicating frequently, and developing strategies to build customer loyalty are the goals.

The marketing mix is an essential tool in building and implementing an effective marketing strategy. It should be used to show prospects why your product or service is different and better than your competitors.

In this article you’ll learn what a marketing mix is, why it matters, and the 10 steps to follow for building the perfect marketing mix for your business.

What is a Marketing Mix?

The marketing mix refers to the various elements of your company’s offering in the market.

It is a varied “mix of ingredients” used by your business to achieve its objectives by marketing its products or services effectively to a particular customer group.

The marketing mix, also referred to as the 4 Ps, is comprised of four main pieces – Products, Price, Promotion and Place. The 4Ps describe what marketers can control and are the most critical elements when building your marketing strategy.

Image Source: bbc.co.uk

Product

Product is concerned with developing the right product or service for your target market. Your product or service must satisfy a specific consumer need.

This first P is made up of two core components:

• Branding: The name, term, symbol and design used to identify your product. A good brand name can speed up shopping by helping customers identify the product they want.
• Packaging: This involves promoting and protecting the product. It can make a product more convenient to use or prevent it from spoiling or being damaged. Good packaging makes products easier to identify and promotes your brand.

Kaffeine, a London-based coffee shop, attracts customers by branding their business and products as hassle-free and friendly. They use their shop design of crumbling brick walls and comfy wooden crate benches to create an image visitors can easily align with their brand.

Image Source: www.cosycoffeeshops.co.uk

Price

When setting a price for your product, you must consider competition in your target market place, and the cost of the total marketing mix.

Also estimate customers’ reactions to possible product prices.

Thegymgroup.com offers a great pricing incentive. Unlike other gyms, they don’t bind you to an expensive contract and you receive 3 free training sessions.

Image Source: http://www.thegymgroup.com/

Place

This involves all the decisions in getting the right product to your target market’s environment.

Placement decisions, such as accessing the right distribution channels, should take into consideration where customers would expect to find a product or service like yours.

Part of the place decision is also the layout of your store or shop. It should pull customers into your shop, making it easy for them to locate merchandise.

Nakedwines.com have created their whole marketing strategy around the element of place.

Customers can fund independent winemakers and receive exclusive access to wines at wholesale prices, and it’s all available online.

Source Image: https://www.nakedwines.com/

Promotion

This is about telling your target market about your product or service. It involves direct communication between sellers and potential customers.

ITC Luxury Travel uses various means of communication with their customers and promotion for their services. They’realso active on social media sites, including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Google+. Their Newsletter sign-up offers yet another opportunity for product promotion.

Source Image: https://www.itcluxurytravel.co.uk/

If the 4Ps seem outdated to you, try R.F. Lauterborn’s 4Cs and decide if his take on the marketing mix is a better fit for your business.

The 4 Cs replace the 4Ps with:

• Cost: Price is not the only cost being incurred when purchasing a product. Lauterborn refers to the cost you incur to satisfy a customer, the cost of time to acquire the product, cost of conscience when it comes to consuming the product and the cost of selecting or not selecting an alternative.
• Consumer: The value you provide a customer determines your position in the market place. Like with your Unique Selling Proposition (USP), your value should be clearly communicated.
• Communication: Marketers should aim to create an open dialogue with potential customers based on their wants and needs. Customers want to be engaged with meaningful interactions.
• Convenience: You need to be aware of how your target audience likes to make their purchases in order to make it convenient for them to buy. Remove all barriers to entry. For example, don’t make customers sign-up for a loyalty card before they can make their first purchase.

Image Source: marketingmix.co.uk

Why is the Marketing Mix Important?

In your day-to-day business activities it’s difficult to turn your attention to the big picture, especially when you’re putting out fires left and right.

Your marketing mix provides a roadmap for your business objectives. It keeps you on track, while keeping your target market in the forefront of your mind.

Your marketing mix will help you make sure your business is marketing the right product, to the right people, at the right price and time.

10 Steps to an Effective Marketing Mix

Use these 10 steps to assist you in building your perfect marketing mix for a successful product offering.

Step 1. Goals and Objectives

To create the right marketing mix you must first clearly define what you want the end result to be – more customers, brand awareness, higher sales, etc.

Every marketing plan has its own marketing goals. Also ensure you have set a specific time frame in which to achieve your goals.

Step 2. Establish Your Budget

How much money are you willing to spend on product innovation, consumer research and product promotion?

Step 3. Determine Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Describe the benefits users will experience from using your product or service.  What unique problem are you solving better than anyone else?

For example, Tom Shoes gives a new pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair you purchase.

Image Source: Toms Shoes

Step 4. Who is Your Target Market?

In order to communicate effectively with your audience, you need to know who they are and how they prefer to be communicated with.

Create an in depth profile of your ideal customer. Make sure you’ve gathered enough consumer data to develop a complete picture of your ideal buyer.

Step 5. Ask Your Customers Advice

• What do they think of your product?
• How satisfied are they with the quality?
• Are the benefits apparent?
• How is your product effectively or not effectively meeting their needs?

Use their answers and the language they used in your marketing material. You’ll appear more relatable and approachable to your audience.

Step 6. Define Your Product in Detail

Take your time describing the specific qualities and value of your product. Look for the unique features that show your product’s worth.

Step 7. Know Your Distribution Channels

Identify the places your product will be marketed – which distribution channels you’ll make use of.

Your choice of distribution channel will influence your pricing and your promotion decisions.

Depending on your audience and product your main options will be:

• Selling to wholesalers who will sell to retail outlets, who will then sell to the consumer.
• Selling directly to the retail outlet.
• Selling directly to your customers.

Image Source: web-books.com

Step 8. Create a Pricing Strategy

You need to discover clever ways of differentiating your product on price. Research your competitors and make sure you’re not overcharging your customers.

You will also need to consider what your target audience might be willing to pay and what it costs to actually produce your product.

Step 9. Choose Your Promotional Techniques

Your target audience needs to be made aware of your product offering.

Successful promotion of your product includes various elements, like:

• Direct Marketing: Directly connecting with carefully targeted individuals to cultivate lasting relationships. For example, catalogues, telephone marketing, and mobile marketing. Used for direct outreach to prospects in a database or sales list.

• Public relations: Press releases, exhibitions, sponsorship deals and conferences.  Used for getting newsworthy attention.

• Advertising: Television, radio and print media will be your offline focus. Used for introducing your audience to new products and services.

• Personal selling: Personal presentation by your sales force. Demonstrating how your product works is key. Used for selling expensive, specialised and technologically advanced products.

• Sales promotion: Short-term incentives to encourage a purchase. This includes discounts, promotions, and payment terms. Used for getting people to use your product more often and to gain new customers.

• Word of mouth: Creating positive word of mouth via your sale staff, recommendations from buyers and social media. Used for boosting brand awareness.

Step 10. Use Inbound Marketing

The 4Ps of marketing creates the basis of your marketing strategy, but inbound marketing also plays a vital role in developing your marketing mix.

An effective inbound marketing mix should include:

• Your Website: Customers today want to interact with your brand and newly developed products. Use your website to fulfil this need for interaction. Make sure your website is quick loading, impactful and easy to navigate.
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): In order for customers to interact with your website, they must be able to find it first. Use descriptive keywords to help search engines, like Google, direct users to your website.
• Email Marketing: One of the quickest, most direct ways to communicate with leads and customers. You need to continually collect prospects and customer contact information to grow your database and follow-up on a regular basis.
• Social Media: Besides having a website, you should use popular social networking sites to distribute your message and create brand awareness. Twitter and Facebook are invaluable for describing existing products, introducing new products, offering promotions and announcing sales.
• Blogging: Blogging will help your business stay top of mind by putting out regular content. Host the blog on your website and write good content, making sure to respond to each blog comment.

Image source: marketectinc.com

Conclusion

A well-developed marketing mix will help you develop products and services that better serve the wants and needs of your target market.

Done right, your market mix will help your customers understand why your product or service is better than those of you competitors.

Although the 4Ps should remain core to your marketing mix, inbound marketing should also form part of your overall marketing strategy. Use these 10 steps to help you develop your perfect marketing mix.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Please leave a comment below regarding any future business topic you’re interested in learning more about.

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