[speaker]
Time never remains the same. It changes fast – ruling out a few, and emerging other concepts. Even in the race of time, the significance of a few things remains intact just as the marketing mix or the 4 Ps of marketing.
There is hardly a marketing expert or PPC advertising agency that is unfamiliar with this principle of the business world. But knowing this is equally important for businesses to have a glitch in how they are spending their money rightly.
Though coming from ancient times when there was no concept of a digital world, the marketing mix is so important consisting of product, place, price, and promotion. Combining these elements, marketers develop successful strategies to reach more customers, higher engagement rates and devising success for the brands.
Here is the marketing mix defined in the context of the digital era.
Product
A product can be any tangible commodity or service offering value to the customer or a client.
It can be a dress, tires, customer support services, web design and development, marketing, branding, or any other service.
The clients need your product and you supply them meeting their demands based on the demand-supply curve we have been studying in the school. However, it is the marketer who understands the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of your product grabbing more attention from the consumers.
And this is how it works:
Analyzing the demands of the customers – what do they want?
What advantages do you offer?
Where are consumers going to use the product and what will satisfy them?
What unique selling proposition does your product offer?
What additional benefits/features are you offering but not your competitors?
What features do your competitors offer but you don’t?
How do you brand your product?
What can be the lowest price you can charge still resulting in enough profit?
Price
Simply, the cost or charges you receive from the client against your product or service. There is a simple psychological factor behind it. What consumers are willing to pay for the value of the product you are offering.
However, the pricing strategy is not as simple as it sounds. It’s a tricky aspect. Both very high and too low prices can push your customers away or limit your profit margins.
In the digital marketing mix, several factors are affecting the pricing strategy.
Varying tax rules in different states
Overhead expenses
Competitive offerings and prices
Market share
Quality of the product and brand value
Discounts and promotions
The perceived value of the product
Value-added features
And last but not the least, payment method.
Place
It’s all about putting the right product in the right place or offering the right services from the right medium. Back then, they were newspapers, brick mortar shops, TVs, and radios. But in digital marketing, the scope of the place has broadened.
A variety of channels available to measure the customer needs and attention, so as a large number of channels available to meet the specific needs of consumers.
In online marketing, finding a perfect place to convert leads is a spontaneous task, the best digital marketing agency and a professional to find the best channel for your product. From a variety of options, you have to find out where your consumers are sitting and how they will interact with you.
Digital marketing mix channels include:
Websites, display ads
YouTube, Vimeo, Daily Motion
Search engine ads
Bing/Google/Yahoo organic search results
Emails
Affiliated channels/Partners
Guest posts/blogs
Social media i.e., Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn
Online forums such as Quora
Promotion
This is how you communicate with your targeted audience. Mostly it is being mistakenly synonymous with marketing, however, this is only a fraction of it. It is propagating the right message to the right audience at the right time to strengthen your brand image and increase leads.
In other words, promotion is an art of interacting with your potential customers to create awareness about the product and persuading them to take action. The message can be in the form of text, video, or a combination of both text and visuals.
While promoting, you should analyze how your competitors are targeting the consumers through which platforms? Which channels are the most effective? How frequently should you promote the product and how much budget do you have?
Types of promotions include:
Advertising
Retargeting
Direct Marketing
Sales Promotions
Public Relations
Personal Selling
Analyze whether you are a pioneer or have competitors in the market? How tough does the competition exist?
Who is your targeted audience/customer? How financially strong are they? What are they after? Does your product meet their needs or wants?
What USP are you offering to the consumer and why would they prefer your product than your competitors’?
Where will your potential customers engage with your product? What will the platform/channel offer them?
What price are you going to charge your customers? What price are your competitors charging? What is the profit margin?
Last but not least, reviewing and evaluating your marketing strategy over time and engage in why, what, and if questions frequently for optimal results.
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