Marketing Strategy – What is Marketing Mix?

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Are you struggling to put together a marketing strategy for your business? A great place to start is outlining the components of your marketing mix. This will help you develop a plan that fits your business and give you the tools you need to make effective decisions related to your marketing.

What is Marketing Mix?

A marketing mix refers to the key areas of your marketing framework. By homing in on these elements, you can identify your strengths and ensure that your marketing plan is focused on the things that matter to your business. The marketing mix was originally thought to consist of 4 main components, but the concept has since been expanded to include 7 areas of focus known as the 7 Ps.

What are the 7 Ps of Marketing Mix?

  1. Product

Consider what differentiates your products or services from other products on the market. In what ways is what you offer unique? How do you satisfy your customers’ needs? It’s important that your marketing highlight these features so you can stand out from the crowd and convince customers to go with your product instead of a competitor’s.

  • Price

How you price your product will have a big impact on how it’s marketed. You’ll need to balance your costs with the perceived market value of the product or service to determine what price consumers will be willing to pay. From there, consider what the implications of your pricing are for your marketing. Should ads highlight how economical your products are or should they position your company as a luxury brand?

  • Placement

Where is the best place to sell your product? If you’re targeting a niche market, a specialized store that caters to specific types of products or interests might be a good fit for you. Conversely, if your product has wide appeal, you may want to get it into as many different types of stores as possible. You’ll also want to consider if there are online markets you can tap to drive even more sales.  

  • Promotion

Now it’s time to consider what marketing channels you can use to best reach your target audience. If you’re trying to appeal to a younger audience, you may want to focus on online advertisements, social media marketing, and sponsorship deals with influencers in your market. That doesn’t mean you’ll want to completely count out traditional forms of marketing, however, billboards, tv commercials, radio ads, and print advertisements are still a great way to reach a wide audience and it’s always a good idea to include a mix of advertising channels in your strategy.

  • People

No matter what kind of business you have, how you interact with your customers should be considered a vital part of your marketing strategy. Whether you have a physical store or are strictly an online business, you’ll need to consider how your employees can best communicate with your customers and incorporate that into your overall strategy. This can include customer service policies, training, and standards for how your social media accounts should be run. You’ll also want to consider how your internal company culture reflects your brand. If you’re considered a great place to work, that’s going to reflect well on your company and this public perception can have a positive impact on brand loyalty.

  • Process

Process refers to the systems you have in place for delivering your product or service to the consumer. How easy is it for someone to buy from you? Are there convenient ways for them to get in touch with you if they have a question or a problem? Do you have ways to monitor how well your system is working and measure customer satisfaction? These are all things you’ll want to carefully consider so that you can keep customers coming back and ensure that they have only good things to say about your business.

  • Physical Evidence

This component relates to any physical places where you interact with customers and how those spaces reflect your brand. This could be your office, your storefront, or your pop-up kiosk. Consider if the layout is convenient, if the signage is effective, and if the overall aesthetic is appealing. If your signage is confusing, it’s difficult to navigate your store or the space looks unclean or just plain ugly, that reflects badly on your brand. Worst of all, customers aren’t likely to stick around and even less likely to return.

By considering the 7 Ps and outlining the components of your marketing mix, you should be able to develop a marketing plan that takes all key areas of your business into account. This holistic view of your marketing strategy will help you more effectively get the word out about your business, establish your brand identity and drive sales.