The marketing mix is a set of actions a business takes to build and market its product or service to its customers.
A marketing mix is the set of those factors which a company can leverage to make the consumer purchase its products. As the term suggests, it is indeed a mix of many tactical marketing tools.
The role of the marketing executive is to prepare the right combination to bring out excellent synergy between the product and the targeted audience.
“Marketing mix” is a general phrase used to describe the different kinds of choices organizations have to make during the process of bringing a product or service to market.
The 4Ps is one way – probably the best-known way – of defining the marketing mix, and was first expressed in 1960 by E. J. McCarthy in his book, “Basic Marketing – A Managerial Approach.”
The 4Ps are:
- Product (or Service).
- Place.
- Price.
- Promotion.
Over time many Ps have been crystallized like 5Ps, 8Ps, etc. But the 4Ps of marketing is like the purest crystal which cannot be refined further. Every other Ps-model is either an expansion or modification of the original 4Ps.
Often the three additional Ps– process, people, and physical evidence is also added and called the 7 Ps of Marketing.
4 Ps of Marketing Mix
Product:
The product is the good or service being marketed to the target audience.
Generally, successful products fill a need not currently being met in the marketplace or provide a novel customer experience that creates demand.
For example, the original iPhone filled a need in the market for a simplified device that paired a phone with an iPod.
As you are working on your product, it is essential to consider your target audience and their unique needs.
Price:
Price is the cost of a product or service.
When marketing a product or service, it is important to pick a price that is simultaneously accessible to the target market and meets a business’s goals.
Pricing can have a significant impact on the overall success of a product.
For example, if you price your product too high for your targeted audience, then very few of them will likely purchase it.
Similarly, if you price your product too low, then some might pass it up simply because they are concerned it might be of inferior quality and cut into your potential profit margins.
To identify a successful price, you will want to thoroughly understand your target audience and their willingness to pay for your product.
Place:
Place is where you sell your product and the distribution channels you use to get it to your customer.
Much like price, finding the right place to market and sell your product is a key factor in reaching your target audience.
If you put your product in a place that your target customer doesn’t visit—whether on or offline— then you will likely not meet your sales target.
The right place, meanwhile, can help you connect with your target audience and set you up for success.
For example, imagine you are selling an athletic shoe you designed. Your target market is athletes in their early twenties to late thirties, so you decide to market your product in sports publications and sell it at specialty athletics stores.
By focusing on sports stores over shoe stores in general, you are targeting your efforts to a specific place that best fits your marketing mix.
To decide the best place to market and sell your product, you should consider researching the physical or digital places where your target audience shops and consumes information.
Promotion:
Promotion is how you advertise your product or service. Through promotion, you will get the word out about your product with an effective marketing campaign that resonates with your target audience.
There are many different ways to promote your product. Some traditional methods include word of mouth, print advertisements, and television commercials.
In the digital age, though, there are even more marketing channels that you can use to promote your product, such as content marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing.
Importance of Marketing Mix
There are several benefits of the marketing mix that makes it important to businesses;
- Helps understand what your product or service can offer to your customers
- Helps plan a successful product offering
- It helps with planning, developing and executing effective marketing strategies
- Helps businesses make use of their strengths and avoid unnecessary costs
- Helps be proactive in the face of risks
- It helps to determine whether your product or service is suitable for your customers
- Helps identify and understand the requirements of customers
- Helps learn when and how to promote your product or service to your customers
Other Marketing Mix Tools
The five Ps of Marketing Mix
The five Ps are product, price, place, promotion, and people.
Today, many marketers use the five Ps over the four Ps because it centers the experiences of customers and staff in the marketing process.
Typical considerations include how a customer behaves, their experience with the product, and their overall satisfaction with the business.
The 7 Ps of Marketing Mix
7 Ps of marketing mix is an extended, modified version of the 4 Ps of marketing. This model is widely used in the service industry. It adds 3 more elements to the 4 Ps discussed above.
People:
This refers to the people – both your customers and employees – who are directly related to the product or service.
While you need to study your target market to understand whether they are in need of the type of product you are offering, you need to hire the right people who are capable of giving their best to build it.
Process:
Systems and processes play an important role in building and delivering a quality service to your customer.
Make sure that your process is free of bottlenecks and blockers in order to reduce the unnecessary expenses associated with executing the service.
Physical Evidence:
Physical evidence refers to what the customers see when consuming your product or service. This could include your branding, packaging, the physical environment where you are selling your product, etc.
Make sure that all physical aspects associated with your product or service adhere to its values.
