Marketing Mix

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Description Marketing Mix is a set of tactics used by a business to attain the marketing objectives of its products or services. It is crucial in determining the offer given by the products or services and in efficiently promoting it to the target audience. It is known as the “4 Ps� which are the product, place/distribution, price and promotion. There have been extensions of the marketing mix which include packaging, people and process.

Why it is needed?

Marketers need to make sure before launching a product that they are marketing to the right set of customers at the right place, at the best price and at the perfect time. For example, if you are manufacturing pencils and targeting school students, you need to make colorful pencils at a low price and sell them at the school stationary shops.

Identify customers on the basis of similarity and gather insights on different types of customers.

Once, the target customer is clearly defined, work through the marketing mix step by step.

Product Marketing is all about identifying the needs of customers. The product or service has to offer something to satisfy those needs and get some value in return. You need to make sure that your product features match with the customer needs. After that, analyze your customers and see how much they are satisfied with your product and the customer service that is being provided.

Price The price element generates revenues for the organization that makes it paramount. Before deciding price, you need to consider the production cost, the target customers and the competitors. Production cost will tell you the minimum amount you can charge for your product. Keep in mind that if you calculate inaccurate cost you will suffer more loss the more you sell.

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Place The place you select to market your product will impact the promotion and pricing decisions.

Place is the distribution strategy a marketer chooses depending on the products or services. If your target customers are businesses you might sell them directly through your own sales force but if your target customers are individual consumers then you will probably sell through wholesalers, retailers or personal retail outlets.

Promotion Promotion is the way of communication a marketer wishes to use. It is the process of delivering a message to the customers in order for them to understand what your product is. Promotion of the product or brand generates awareness about the company. It also builds a brand image which includes advertising through various channels, direct marketing, publicity, one-to-one selling and sales promotion.

Conclusion All marketers should think about their marketing mix and see where they stand. Perfect combination of 4 Ps can help in achieving marketing targets in terms of profits, sales and customer satisfaction. Marketing mix is said to be a marketing manager’s weapon for achieving their goals.

Reference: http://www.researchomatic.com/marketing-mix-104231.html

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