Finding the Right Marketing Mix for Your Business
The term “marketing mix” has been a cornerstone framework for most companies, historically focused on price, product, location, and advertising. The marketing mix was originally defined by B.K.S. Iyengar is “a mix of traditional and nontraditional marketing methods that are used by a firm to achieve its marketing goals”. It has come to be known more commonly as a four-quadrant marketing mix (also known as the marketing triangle), wherein the customer, the firm, and the advertising community all play an important role.
In many marketing circles, it is now understood that there are seven different components to a marketing mix. It is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the marketing mix, even for small-time marketers such as podcasters that try to buy Spotify streams to gain a larger audience. These components, when used together, provide a complete marketing solution, which can be classified into the following categories: Production, Sales, Publicity/promotion, Recruiting/recruitment, and Marketing. As one might expect, each of these components requires multiple strategies to be successful. In addition to this, some marketing mix strategies are quite simple while others require extensive research and development. As a result, there are a variety of marketing mix models available today, each one offering its own benefits and features.
In the simplest form, a marketing mix may be thought of as four Ps and a Pro. The four Ps are generally categorized as product, price, location, and promotion. Ps refers to the specific action that a firm takes to make their product or service available to the public, while the price is a set price that will not change based on the supply and demand conditions for that product or service. Finally, promotion refers to the overall impact that marketing mix strategies have on a company’s business, including their reputation in the market, the number of sales and new customers they receive, as well as the quality of those sales and new customers.
Marketing Mix Modeling starts with establishing a specific marketing strategy for any particular product or service. This strategy should take into account what potential clients need, what kind of things they are searching for, how long they plan to stay at your place of business, and what makes your business stand out from competitors. After which, a specific marketing mix model is developed, and this model can be described in four key ways: Personal branding, Direct marketing, Affiliate marketing, and Internet marketing. Each of these forms of the marketing mix is explained below.
Personal branding is the most common form of the marketing mix because it involves clear identification of your business with a specific, unique product or service. If you are, for example, a funeral home, then you may want to use social media marketing to generate interest in and awareness of your services. Social media marketing is an effective way to build brand recognition in the market because it allows you to show off your personality, your specialties, and your offerings. With this in mind, it is important to carefully choose the specific phrases that you will be using to promote your business to ensure that it is something that not only describes your business well but also gives a personal touch to it.
The direct marketing mix is another form of marketing mix strategy that allows businesses to reach their target audience directly without wasting their time on mailing lists, telemarketing, and other direct marketing techniques. It is often used as a follow-up to personal branding. If you are, for example, a funeral home, then a direct marketing mix strategy would include mailers and brochures to your target audience. However, it is usually combined with other marketing strategies such as advertising through media, television, and radio.
The affiliate marketing mix is another low market share business strategy that allows businesses to sell products that are not physically related to their business. For example, if you are a funeral home, then selling caskets is not a physical product that you can offer to your customers. You can, however, still use affiliate marketing tactics to advertise the products that you are selling to your target market. It is important, though, to remember to use the right affiliate marketing tactics in order to avoid being penalized by Google and other search engines for deceptive practices.
The above mentioned are just a few examples of how an effective marketing mix can be used effectively. A good way to find out which marketing tactic would be best suited to your company is by using a combination of two or three different tactics. Some research even suggests that incorporating several different marketing techniques can increase a company’s chances of survival. Using a mix of several proven methods to promote your company has several benefits including reaching your target market more effectively, saving you money, and most importantly giving you peace of mind. Knowing that if something does not work out the way you want it, you can simply change the marketing mix to make it work again.
