Marketing Mix

Choose Your Ingredients Wisely.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) has described it as –

"A systemic function and as a sequence of processes for originating, conveying and transporting importance to the clients and for taking care of customer associations with means which help the company and its stockholders"

Say what?

Or to put it simply, it’s the basic components of a campaign to market & sell your products and services.

The mix, sometimes referred to as The 8 Ps of Marketing, consists of –

• Product
• Price
• Place
• Promotion
• Physical Evidence
• People
• Packaging
• Process

#1 Product.

The aim of your business should be to understand your customer’s requirements through your own marketing intelligence so you’re able to develop your products & services to suit your target market.

Or conversely... retain your current products & services and, through research, establish who & where your customers are.

#2 Pricing.

The amount of money that is demanded in exchange for a product is entirely dependent on the customer’s means, preference and needs.

All that really means is if you’re selling Rolls Royces, to large degree it doesn’t matter how much you’re selling them for.

The buyers expect to pay a lot.

On the other hand, if you’re selling entry level Toyotas, you’ll spend the rest of your life haggling over trade-in valuations & trying to get the sale without throwing in a set of mud flaps.

So, in some instances price is paramount and needs to be treated as such and in other instances, price is totally irrelevant.

#3 Place.

Using the Rolls Royce/Toyota analogy, clearly a Roller will never sell in the wrong end of town whereas an entry level Toyota most certainly will.

#4 Promotion.

It can include advertising, direct response marketing, face to face selling, publicity, public relations, sales promotions and Branding.

Aside from being a very costly ingredient in any marketing mix advertising, particularly TV, press & radio, are generally referred to as a “shotgun approach”, by that I mean you’re targetting every man, woman & child hoping that some of them may want to buy your product.

On the other hand, direct response marketing aims squarely at your target market.

Face to face selling requires a personal interaction between the salesman and the individual customer/group.

Sales promotions deal with diverse range of incentives for the buyer, the seller and the dealer that include freebies, discounts, coupons, contests and prizes.

These are schemes the company launches to attract buyers to their products. They accessorize the product to add value and try and make it more appealing.

Publicity and public relations assist in promoting the reputation of the organization in the eyes of prospective customers.

Lastly, branding is the process of assigning a name, sign, symbol or design to a product or company so that it can be distinguished easily from similar products and competitors.

Once again this option is an expensive one to include in your marketing mix.

#5 Physical Evidence.

You can hand your prospective customer a product and they can see with their own eyes whether it’s good or bad.

But how can you ‘show’ your prospective customers good service before it’s experienced?

This can be achieved through staff uniforms, your premises, exhibitions, case-studies and testimonials.

#6 People.

Some say the success of any business is dependent on the people employed.

A rather scary thought wouldn’t you say?

It’s essential that you endeavour to choose the right person for the job then throw in ongoing motivation, inspiration, salary reviews, excellent working conditions, great people skills, etc, etc.

#7 Packaging.

At a glance, well designed packaging tells your customers a lot about your company & the quality of your products.

Cheap & nasty looking packaging screams out that the product inside is also cheap & nasty.

Quality products are always packaged accordingly.

Never, ever skimp on your packaging, it carries a very powerful message.

#8 Process.

“It is the process involved in providing a service and the behaviour of people which can be critical to customer satisfaction”

So... marketing is the art of trying to interest prospective customers in your product and services.

Although marketing has evolved over the years, understanding the importance of the right marketing mix is paramount to the success of your business.

A permission based email marketing campaign consists of several individual components.

The best way to explain these to you is through an example.

For this exercise let’s assume you’ve recently purchased a business that sells office stationery & consumables such as copy paper, laser & inkjet cartridges, pens & pencils, envelopes, etc.

It’s been operating for a very long time, from the same premises.

Looking over the records you notice that over the years many new products have been steadily introduced but sales have remained relatively stagnant.

Why is it so?

Maybe it’s because customers simply don't know what you sell because you've never told them.

So they purchase their requirements elsewhere.

So how are you going to tell them?

Well... I’ll tell you.

You’re going to implement a permission based email marketing campaign... that's what you're going to do.

It may cost a bit to set up, but the ongoing cost is next to nothing.

Here's what to do...

Step #1.

Spend time examining the customer base and divide it into active customers & non-active customers.

Look over the non-active customers and highlight those that you’d like to win back.

Step #2.

Contact all current customers (by phone, letter, fax or email) advising them that you’re introducing a free newsletter to keep them up-to-date with discount offers, new products, practical tips & tricks & much more and all they need to do to receive it is provide their email address.

Some interesting lifestyle or humorous stuff also works well.

Next, contact your selected non-active customers to find out –

• Why they no longer purchase from your business.
• Would they give you another opportunity if you stocked what they wanted.
• Would they be willing to provide their email address so you can keep them informed of discount offers, new products, practical tips & tricks & much more.

Step #3.

The success of any permission based email marketing campaign is totally dependent on the quality of the copy.

The magic is always in the words.

If you or someone else in your business is a gifted writer and can produce interesting, compelling copy, then you can do your writing in-house.

But be careful... it absolutely must be top notch or the campaign will fail, guaranteed.

The better the copy, the more you’ll sell... simple as that!

If you’re not totally confident that you can do it, may well be advised to pay a copywriter.

Just make sure he or she is experienced in writing sales copy as direct response copywriting is truly an art.

Good copywriters don't come cheap however you’ll definitely get your money back over time.

Step #4.

Promote a free “How to....” report in your advertising, on your website, in your shop, on your invoices, on your quotes, as a footer on your email, and anywhere else you can think of.

The report could be something like –

“How to Make Your Laser Cartridges Last 20% Longer”

or

“7 Ways to Cut Your Stationery Costs”

Include a “sign up box” on your Web site and emails and provide simple, easy-to-follow sign up instructions on all printed material.

You can manage your permission based email marketing campaign in-house or you can have a service provider manage it for you, there a plenty around.

The Benefits.

The benefits of email marketing campaigns include -

• You can drive more customers to your business.
• You can move old or superseded stock.
• You can advise you customers of specials & discount deals.
• You can communicate any type of information to them at anytime.

A permission based email marketing campaign is a great strategy in any marketing mix.... definitely one you should consider for your business.

Modern Net-Wit:

"I have enough money to last me for the rest of my life, unless I buy something"

..........................................................Jackie Mason



Internet Marketing Mix