The New Marketing Mix and the Business Marketing Plan

The old Marketing Mix is defined by 'company performance elements' that influence whether or not consumers purchase goods or services. The traditional Marketing Mix contained four key elements:  Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

1.  Product
The aspects of the actual goods or services and how they relate to the end-user's wants and needs. These are generally supported by such factors as warranties, guarantees, and customer support.

2.  Price
The final price for a product or service, including discounts and rebates. Price is usually a monetary value, but can also be other factors that are exchanged for the product e.g. time, energy, or attention.

3.  Place
Place is in reference to the channel by which a product or service gets to the consumer, e.g. retail or online, etc and, the geographic region, industry, or target segment (young adults, families, business people).  All these factors and the environment in which the product is sold in can affect sales.

4.  Promotion
This refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or company, e.g. advertising, branding, public relations, promotions and personal selling.

While the above represents traditional acceptance for the marketing mix, our marketing experts understand there are several more elements that need to be considered when building the Marketing Plan, especially when we are dealing with services-based companies. Here are four more “P’s” of the marketing mix that we take into account.

5.  People
Any person or employee who comes into contact with customers will have an impact on that customer’s experience with the brand.  Whether involved in sales, service or support of the product or service, employees are considered by customers to be inseparable from the total service. We can do tests to ensure yours are well trained, highly motivated and posses the personality for the job.

6.  Processes
Extremely important to customer satisfaction are the processes involved in providing a product or service and how employees conduct themselves.  Our business consultants love to optimize business processes because there direct affect the saving of time, money and increase both internal and external target audience satisfaction.

7.  Proof
Unlike a physical product, a businesses service can rarely be experienced first-hand before it is delivered. This makes it an intangible item and means that potential customers perceive there to be a greater risk in using the service. To improve the chance for success, AgencyMarketing will work with your company to develop physical evidence, or proof, that the service provides value.  Tactics include online or physical demonstrations, case studies or client testimonials.

These days, marketing reaches beyond even these factors. With the introduction of the Internet, ecommerce and social marketing, the Marketing Mix for online and Internet Marketing needs to be factored into the Business Marketing Plan.

8.  Participation
The Internet allows customers to interact with and participate in the operation and evolution of brands by providing direct and immediate input on how products and services are designed, developed and deployed.  Through online focus groups and the democratization of information, customers can even affect which marketing they feel is best to persuade their peers.

9.  Peer-to-Peer
Networks and communities of like-minded or like-interested people, either online or offline that share ideas, information and advocate for a cause.  Passively marketing through these communities by intelligently interacting with them and providing value is a more effective marketing strategy (in this environment) that the traditional interruptive marketing. The social and Internet marketing experts at AgencyMarketing can walk you through this potential minefield to engage consumers in these social environments, affect P2P conversations, build loyalty and potentially leverage or initiate viral marketing opportunities. 

10.  Personalization
Technology and instant communication enables us to consume and deliver custom products and services through the use of the Internet. Early examples included Dell and Amazon.com, but this concept has evolved to include fashion, automotive, furniture and more.

If your business' goal is to increase sales through market penetration, call the deep thinking business and marketing consultants at AgencyMarketing and we'll develop a Marketing Plan that is in line with your objectives, capabilities and budget.