|
by: Bill Balou
If you are serious about making your small business successful, you better get this correct. The
Marketing Mix or The "4 P's" of Marketing is just as important today as it was twenty years ago.
Take a second and see how the following marketing tools relate to your overall business plan.
The Marketing Mix includes the basic tools used by marketers to sell goods and services to target
customers. They are as follows: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.
Product (Good or Service) - it is a bundle of benefits that is being delivered to
meet the needs of your customers. Product positioning strategies have become more finely tuned to
customers needs and perceived benefits. The old approach was similar to the movie "Field of Dreams"
- build it and they will come. Not any longer. You must determine what your customer's needs are
and design a product that will fulfill those needs.
Price (Value) - is basically the amount a customer is willing to give up to obtain
a desired product or service. In today's marketplace, your pricing strategy will fall into one of
the following categories: everyday low prices, price-quality-value, and value-added. Wal-Mart is
perfect example of everyday low prices - they tell you that. Mercedes Benz is a good example of the
price-quality-value pricing strategy. There approach is that you will pay a little more, but you
are getting a better product. Now days, basically everyone uses some form of value-added to help
distinguish there product. It is no longer an option, but a must. Examples would include: 24 hour
support hot lines, 60 day after the sell service agreements, trade-in clauses, elongated payment
options, no interest, etc, etc…
Place (Venue) - the channels and/or locations that sellers use to reach their
buyers. Do you remember the "old" marketing phrase - location, location, location? It somewhat
still holds true. You just need to replace location with traffic - traffic, traffic, traffic. You
have to get your product or service in front of your customers. More than likely your customer base
is made up of a global audience; therefore, this task is made more complex. You absolutely must
develop a placement strategy that is focused on 21st Century technologies in order to successfully
compete in today's marketplace.
Promotion (Marketing Communications) - all the tools that you utilize to
communicate with your customers: advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, direct marketing,
and public relations. With the advent of sophisticated multimedia opportunities, marketers have
expanded their ability to communicate with their target audience. Fortunately, technologies have
leveled the playing field. Anyone with an Internet connection can cost effectively reach a global
audience. The key is to allocate promotional dollars to your potential customers - only. What does
it cost you to acquire a targeted customer?
Regardless of your chosen business model, your success or failure will depend on how well you
integrate the "4 P's" into your daily tactics and long-term strategies.
Bill Balou, MBA
http://www.happyplaceprofits.com
About The Author
Bill Balou, MBA, Author of the Happy Place Profits Program. A beginners Guide to Building a
Resdiual Income. http://www.happyplaceprofits.com
|
