According to Pride and Ferrel 2012, marketing can be defined as “The process of creating, distributing, promoting, and pricing, goods, services, and ideas, to facilitate satisfying exchange relationships with customers, and develop and maintain favorable relationships with stakeholders in a dynamic environment.”
As suggested in the definition marketing is about understanding customers’ needs and designing products that fit those needs. There is a mutual relationship between the marketer and the customer. Each is expecting something from the other. As the customer offers money, he expects value in return.
Here comes the application of successful marketing where it is about structuring the right suitable marketing mix that would lead to a happy customer. Moreover, you need to develop a product that satisfies the needs of your customers at a certain price level.
What is a Marketing Mix (4PS)?
The marketing mix is the marketing activities that qualify your product/service to enter the market. It consists of the 4PS – product, price, place, and promotion. A firm should devote its effort to controlling these activities to meet the needs or demands of the target market.
How to define The Accurate Mix?
Usually, the best way to decide on the right marketing mix is to collect data about your target market. This includes gender, age, income, life preferences, background, etc. The more you know about your customers, the more you will be able to maintain the right amount of each element in the marketing mix.
What are the Variables of the Marketing Mix?
The product is the goods or services you are offering. The product can be tangible, such as the clothes you buy, or intangible, such as car maintenance services. The process of making, creating, modifying, and adjusting your brand name, package, and images, is part of defining the product variable.
You should have a clear understanding of the market, your customer, and competitors. The key point here is to have a clear vision of what differentiates your product when compared to the competitors’. For instance, you can stand out against your competitors with a unique packaging design, high-quality product, fast service, etc.
Here Are Some Key Questions You Need to Answer:
- “what do your customers want from your product?”
- “what features/adjustments should be added/done to your product to satisfy customers’ needs?”
- “How will the customer use the product?”
- “Where will the customer use the product?”
- “How should the product look like? Its package, color, and design”
- Distribution Variable (Place)
The place is where you provide customers access to your products. You need to ensure that the products are available in a sufficient amount of quantities and convenient places. A place doesn’t have to be physical, since you can offer your products online.
The point here is to have your products offered in the right place at the right time and in quantity for customers. Understand what suits each target segment in the target market. Take into consideration how offering your products online or offline affects customers' experience.
Here Are Some Key Questions You Need to Answer:
- “Where do buys look for your product?”
- “Do they use desktops or mobile devices to shop for a similar product?”
- “Are they shopping online or offline?”
- “How to access the right distribution channels?”
- “What social media channels are they using?”
Promotion is the process of informing customers about your product. The main goal behind the promotion is to induce awareness. Moreover, it is also important to develop and maintain interest in new and existing products.
Promotion is all about integrated marketing communication (IMC) and how it is used to persuade customers to try offered products. IMC uses channels such as advertising, personal selling, public relations, and sales promotion. Moreover, a personalized promotional strategy based on the target market should be done to guarantee great results.
Here Are Some Key Questions You Need to Answer:
- “How will you reach your target audience?”
- “Where and when can you get your marketing messages across to your target market?”
- “How do competitors promote their products?”
- “When to promote?”
The price factor plays an important factor when it comes to customers. The key point here is to set affordable prices that fit the target market. Setting a successful pricing strategy isn’t that easy, you need to be clever to avoid damaging your brand or its image. Market data should be collected and calculations should be done. Make sure you position your pricing strategy to fit purchasing power of your target market.
Beware! Although prices can be altered easily and controlled sometimes it is hard to apply these alterations due to external factors such as governmental regulations, competitive structures, and economic conditions.
Here Are Some Key Questions You Need to Answer:
- “What is the value of the product or service to the buyer?”
- “How will your price compare to competitors?”
- “Are there any possible established price points for the product/service in this area?”
To Sum Up...
The main idea behind the 4PS relies on how each element is related to the other. It is not about the order. It is about how you use them and put them in a successful framework that guarantees a superior value for customers.