Modern and More Effective Marketing and the 4ps of Marketing

Product

Marketer look at product variety, quality, design, brand name, package, warranties, services when formulating their products but this in modern marketing is only effective if the aspect of value the customer gets is put in place, customers are only interested in products that solve their needs and can be willing to pay anything as long as they are satisfied, the marketer should be able to tell the target market so clearly, this can be easy when he/she use segmentation, targeting and positioning. Once the market is segmented, then the target market is easily defined at this point the marketer can use market research or test marketing to find out the real need of the target market and find a suitable product to solve the exact need and once this is done very well a marketer will never get challenges in positioning the offering, most marketing professional face a problem of positioning products in the customers mind. Try this and you will see a difference in your sales even your sales leads will easily turn into sales. an example is in case the target market is geographically placed and those people love color green, let the packaging of your products be green

Price

The customer are so sensitive of the costs involved in obtaining a product, other costs include effort, time and money. marketers in this era should price their products with that in mind, customer purchase products in which they incur less costs. in some situations especially customers in the recent years they are more sensitive of the quality of the product not price.

Place

The customers will always look for convenient places to purchase their offerings/products. the place is so important, secure and easy to access. Professional need offices in urban centers and in high quality office space for customers to trust them well, supermarkets should be located near residential areas as most people who reside there love to shop household items, distribution channels should be tailored to customers needs for example banks use ATM's and they are located in many places.

Promotion

Promotion strategies should be a two way communication process, the marketer should consider that the say of the customer when promoting their products for example putting contact numbers on adverts and signposts, putting a toll free customer line. Marketers should form strategies that facilitate a two way communication flow with their target customers

A more detailed article will be released soon.

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4Ps & 6Ps - Marketing Mix

Marketing mix is one of the major concepts of marketing. According to the traditional base, there are 4Ps of marketing. These are referred to as the marketing mix. But in the modern use of the term, many more Ps have been coined. People have found six, seven even eleven Ps of marketing. In this article we will talk about the 4Ps and 6Ps.

Four Ps

The four Ps of marketing mix consist of Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Product means the thing that you are selling. It can also be a service like the tourism industry.

Price means the rate at which the product is being sold. A number of factors are involved in determining the price of a product. These include competition, market share, product identity, material costs and the value customers perceive of a product. In fact prices are also determined by competitor's products. If the competitors have the same product, then the price of a product will go down.

Place refers to the real or virtual place from where a product can be bought by a consumer. Another name used for place is called "distribution channel". Promotion is the way that a product will be communicated to the general public. There are four distinct ways in which this might be done- 'point of sale', 'word of mouth', public relations and advertising.

Somewhere down the line people felt that four Ps were not enough for marketing mix. It had to face a lot of criticism mainly on the grounds that it was extremely product focused. This was not enough for the economy which is based a lot on services as well nowadays.

Another criticism that marketing mix has to face is that it does not have a 'purpose'. So it should be looked upon as a tool that sets marketing strategy. Another criticism of marketing mix is that it does not discuss customers. This is why the concept of Six Ps of Marketing mix has achieved relevance.

Six Ps

The six Ps contain all the four Ps of marketing - product, price, place and promotion. In addition, it contains, two new Ps, namely People and Performance.

People include the potential and current customers of the business and how they make their purchase decisions. Market segmentation is also a part of this. It contains the features of market segmentation and the most attractive segments of this market.

The next P is Performance. This implies the performance of the business. The financial and strategic objectives of the business are dealt with here. It is also seen whether these objectives are achievable and realistic or not. The metrics of financial performance are also seen and appropriated in this division.

The six Ps of marketing mix help to overcome the criticisms of the four Ps. Hence the 6Ps serve to be a better alternative as compared to the 4Ps of marketing mix.

more articles at CITYOFMARKETING.COM [http://cityofmarketing.com].

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The 4 Ps of Marketing

On a theoretical level, marketing is often defined under 4 heads - known in certain circles as 'the 4Ps'. These essential marketing elements usually need to be intermingled within an online framework to deliver a complete, return-driven, focused marketing campaign on an ongoing basis.  But even with offline marketing, it's important that the various elements of the marketing mix are given due consideration just to ensure that you've got all the bases covered.

So without further ado, let's get down to the 4Ps on marketing theory and how you can integrate them within your business.

Product - the actual product or service itself has to at least stand up to the rigors of the market, and ideally redefine the space it occupies.  An overhaul of this component in your business requires looking at both the physical product and also the offer that often defines it. If the offer and the product are both compelling and interesting, you have the bare bones of a marketing strategy. Once you have this, the additional elements of your overall plan can effectively and easily interact.

Price - the price point of your product or service is the next essential element to the marketing mix.  Your pricing policy shouldn't be based on a hunch - how do you know dropping your price by a $1 won't double your sales? Test as many different price points as you possibly can for your products and services and then let the numbers decide how much you should charge. On a similar note, the price has to be just right in proportion to the other elements. It should be high, low or in between, depending on the market to which you're pitching and the message sent out by the other elements of your marketing strategy.

Promotion - perhaps the most traditional of the four, this refers to the kind of marketing we traditionally think of like advertising and public relations. The most important practical step you can implement in this regard is a system for tracking and testing responsiveness to different marketing variables. To truly know your marketing mix, you need to know what promotional methods are doing the business for you and which ones are just drains on your resources. This will allow you to better allocate your resources and more effectively align your marketing strategy. The ability to easily track your marketing results is why 'new media' marketing methods, such as email marketing and mobile marketing, continue to be so successful.

Place (i.e. Distribution) - this effectively means ensuring your product is in the right place for your customers to buy. That could literally refer to the shelf in your local store, or figuratively through your website or online presence.  A growingly technological age is becoming ever more valuable and conducive to business promotion.  It's important to make sure your online marketing campaigns are taking advantage of all the options in order to deliver value on a month-on-month basis.

While the 4Ps of marketing are a simple theoretical skeleton, they do nevertheless provide a good framework for identifying, isolating and building on the individual components of your marketing strategy. Making sure you have this important foundation in place when starting your business or launching a new product will go a long way towards creating a more effective long-term approach to building and growing your business.

Warren Miller - Lead Marketing Consultant - Logic Path
Logic Path is a 'new media' marketing agency that delivers customized solutions through new technologies, including full-service marketing solutions and various SEO services. They also offer membership programs to help businesses to get ahead online, featuring marketing tools, one-on-one consulting and more. Their marketing blog is updated daily with essential business marketing advice and tips.

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The 4Ps of Marketing

The 4Ps of marketing are product, price, place, and promotion. The most important of this bunch is product, of course. Get that one wrong and none of the others matter. We'll discuss more about your "product" in a moment.

Marketing is often misunderstood; most small business owners see it purely as way to get the word out. But, it's much more complex. In this article we'll discuss one of the many aspects of marketing... the 4Ps.

Understand the 4Ps and...

You will have a product that people want, love, and tell their friends about...

You will maximize the profit of every sale...

You will make your product easily accessible to the people that want it most...

You will have a way to get more people to try it (that wouldn't otherwise).

Product - You need to spend sufficient time developing your product. You must understand your market's wants, needs, and don't wants and then build them into your product. And then go one step further, do something extra to "Wow" them. Because if your product does not satisfy your market's needs better than the competition, why you? What's different about you?

Price - Find out how your top 3 competitors price their products. Then determine the true value of your product. Then determine the cost to develop your product. Then decide whether you're going to be the low-price provider or the premium provider. There are pros and cons to both. Make sure you understand them, and then pick your position. Now you can price your product appropriately - above your cost and then above (or below) the competition based on your "position" decision.

Place - Make sure you know where your prospects hang out, where they gather. When they need your product, where are they? Then find a way to get your product to those places. You want your product at the location it's needed. Sell hotdogs at a ballpark and you'll make a profit. Sell hotdogs in the lobby of a dentist's office and you won't.

Promotion - Give something away, because providing a free gift is one the best ways to get people to try your offer. Once they try it, they may decide to buy it. If they never try it, they'll never know if they like it and so they may never buy. You can give away a free consult, a free trial, a free sample, a free inspection, a free report, a free video, a free e-book... be creative. Find something your prospects want and then find a way to give it away for free. You want to get your product in the hands of as many people as possible. You want to get them talking about it. Do your math on this one though. Make sure you fully understand the cost to you and then your breakeven point. How many sales do you expect to make as a result of the promotion? How many sales will it take to break even on your promotional costs? Do the math. Make sure it's viable. If so, then go for it.

Edward Bordi is a marketing consultant. He works with small businesses by uncovering problem areas and identifying untapped opportunities. Through careful analysis, he develops and then implements a custom and comprehensive marketing plan - that is focused on dramatically increasing profits. Edward studied marketing at the prestigious Wharton business school, and is certified as an Independent Marketing Advisor (IMA) by one the top online marketing companies in the world, DotComSecrets.
Visit Edward's company website, 1EASYPLAN, to learn more online marketing solutions.

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