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Marketing is not just advertising… although advertising is part of it. Marketing is not just selling… although selling is part of it. Marketing is not just promotion… although promotion is part of it. Marketing is satisfying human needs and wants, while making a profit! Marketing is everything! Marketing is what it is all about? I love marketing! Why? Because in business, marketing will make or break your business. I see it time and time again, people think because they have a good product or service they don’t have to worry about anything else. Like the fish & chip owner who cooks beautiful crispy fries and tasty fish, but the shop is dirty and the staff are rude. There is a good chance that the customer will not go back there next time. Or what about the local plumber who knows all the technical issues about gas, water pipes etc. He is a skilled tradesman, but arrives late, dresses dirty, has no personality and leaves a mess, doesn’t explain why he charged a small fortune for his services. Also he has a good chance he will not get more repeat business from that customer again. So therefore, marketing isn’t about the best product or service! It is everything you do and don’t do. It is what you communicate to customers. It is what you shout out at the top of your lungs, while standing on Mount Everest and it is what you whisper at night time in the deepest cave to your customers. Every single part of your business that is heard, seen, felt, tasted, experienced and everything that is not, that is Marketing! Marketing is satisfying human emotions, it is creating perceived value and making a profit from this at the same time. Without profits businesses die, without good marketing,businesses flounder and eventually die.
Is your business struggling? Or do you want to increase your profits dramatically? Marketing circles talk about the four Ps of marketing. The Ps are a good way to break up your marketing into easily identifiable categories. If your business needs fine tuning then the Ps make it easy to identify what needs improving. The four Ps stand for Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Lets go through each one; Product - The product is what you sell, it could also be a service. You could alter the product or service by making it faster, slower, bigger, smaller, newer, older, more colourful, no colour, quieter, nosier , more ingredients, less ingredients, more healthier, more calories, thinner, thicker, more expensive, cheaper, lighter, heavier, etc. Changing the product will influence your business direction,such as, is it perceived as a quality product that will appeal to just affluent people, or does it cater for the masses? Price – There are a number of things you can do to change your profit and sales, pricing is one such strategy. You could raise it, sell two for the price of one, or cut the price on one popular item to draw people in and hope they buy other higher margin products. The combinations and outcomes of changing the price are endless and lowering the price doesn’t always mean more sales. Test and monitor the results for the correct pricing. Your product, promotion and place will have a direct bearing on what you can and can not charge. Place – This is the location of where your business is. It can also be the distribution channel you use to sell your product, such as if you are a wholesale business. By relocating your retail shop further up the street, where the traffic is busier, you can change the dynamics of your business. You might decide to not have a shop at all and distribute your goods solely via the internet and party plans, or sell just overseas. Promotion – Also could be called presentation, it is telling your customers about your product. It could be an advertising or radio campaign, or a press release, a big telemarketing promotion or a couple of e-mails to clients. It could be personally telling people about what you do, or a free report with 101 tips. The sky is the limit for this, Richard Branson for his launch of Virgin Cola drove a tank across Coca Cola cans. Your product, price and place will dictate on how and where you could connect to your customers. For example you would not advertise expensive women’s golf clubs in a children’s comic book. Do not let your budget or business category standards limit your promotional efforts. Look at other industries for ideas, push your mind for more effective ways to tell people about your product. The combination of the four Ps, is also called the marketing mix. A good way to look at the marketing mix is like a cake mix. If you slightly adjust one or two ingredients you can change the taste of the cake. If you radically change one or more ingredients, you will alter the taste dramatically. This is the same as marketing, adjust some Ps, like raise the price, alter the packaging of your product, change the place of where you sell it and promote it differently and your business will change.
Do not alter too many Ps at the same time, as you will not know if your new increased sales was a result of the new improved product, or if it was the new price. Test, test, test and more testing, is the secret to getting the most out of each P. Over the years more Ps have been added, like people, persuasion, position, I have even heard of nine Ps. However the main four Ps, are the common pillars of marketing. Keep the business and marketing strategies simple for now, tweak the four Ps by listening to your ideal customer. Change the P to suit the customer and your business and then tell them about it. You can have your cake and eat it too, that is good marketing!
Disclaimer - The articles aim to provide general ideas. Neither the authors nor publisher shall take any responsibility for any loss or damages occasioned to any person or organisation acting or refraining from action as a result of this information. As always the advice of a competent legal solicitor, accountant or other professional advice should be sought.
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