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Marketing mix p's

30 March 2009

Marketing is a core part of my business coaching and mentoring with Entrepreneurs and business start ups. This article explains the 9P’s of Marketing, which has grown from the original 4P’s, and talks about the fact that Marketing is not just about Advertising, which happens to be part of Promotion. Marketing is all about bridging the distance between your product and the customer. It will also explain the benefits of working with you rather than the competition, which will automatically include highlighting your USP’s as part of an accurate Product description. It involves correct Pricing for the market you are targetting, Placing where your target customers congregate, the use of Processes, Paperwork proof of what you have done, the use of People (your staff and yourself to spread the word), who Partnerships you should be building and what is your Passion is that makes the difference.

After reading this you will have a good understanding about:

the full extent of the Marketing process and what is needed to connect your product to the customer
what you need to think about starting with your Product and the Market you are targeting
how you need to attract your customer and stand out above the competition
some of the key points that need to be born in mind during each of the stages
some questions that need to be asked during each stage

Marketing mix P's

Marketing Mix – you need to identify what you are going to do - online and offline - to construct the bridge between your Product or Service and your customer so that you...

build your silent Marketing engine all the time
keep in contact with your customers and match their expectations all the time
go the extra mile
Wow the cistomer by under promising and over delivering

Before you start contructing your Marketing Strategy you must know who your customers are

age, gender, habits
attracting - how will you hook them
drivers – what are they looking for in a product or service
competition
market size and sector

9P's of Marketing

Product/service -
Pricing
Place
Promotion
People
Paperwork
Process
Partnerships
Passion

Product/Service - what exactly are you offering?

What is your specialness – difference - betterness?
What market are you after?
What are your potential customers looking for?
What are their buying habits?
What are their decision processes?
What does your competitors product/ service look like?

Pricing – how much are you charging and does it fit the target market?

What level of the market – socio-economic group - are you aiming for?
What are their pricing expectations?
What are your costs?
What are the price breaks?
What margin do you want?
What is your break even point?
What are the prices of the competition?

Promotion – how are you going to promote your product/service?
You will never have enough and will always want to do more than you can pay for

Paid promotion – newspaper, taxis, posters, radio, magazines, buses, Internet, exhibitions, fairs, direct-mail, telephone calls, brochures, cards,letters
Semi-free promotion – PR articles, e-zines, newsletters, competitions
Free promotion - yourself and your staff (networking), speaking engagements, voluntary committees, journalist sources, radio auctions
Gold promotion – your customers, testimonials, referrals, conversation, word of mouth

Place – where to promote and sell your product?

How is the Internet changing where and how people buy your product
Where did your prospective customers buy your product/service pre-internet?
Where do they hang out?
What else do they buy?
How are they buying now?
How are you going to get it in front of them?
Who could you create a partnership with – market, location, quality, values, ethics?

People – the Staff and You

Unsung forgotten heroes of the marketing mix
What are the advantages?
Dress them accordingly
Train them accordingly
Respect and honour them

Paperwork – the proof of what you do, which are always excellent in reception, exhibition stands, point-of-sale

certificates, articles, testimonials, thank you letters, memberships, photographs
all of your Unconscious Competence explained

Processes – How do you deliver your product or service?

Taken for granted – another unconscious competence
Importance of being written down
Sorts the men from the boys
Use laymen language
Always take into consideration the customer buying process
Protect your IIP

Partnerships – who can you join forces with who supply into the same sector?

Who also sells to them?
What do they do to get them?
Where do they find them?
How do they market to them?
How can you model yourself on them?
How can you ally yourself to them

Passion

How do you show that you have this amazing energy of belief in what you are doing
Keeps you going 24/7, through the good and the difficult times
Much more than the competition
One of your USP’s
Never ending source, like a waterfall