Are you currently in the process of starting your career in a creative agency and want to learn about the digital marketing industry? HC Media Group – a leading digital marketing agency in Essex wants to give you an insight into the 4 most important elements of digital marketing and from here you will begin to see your knowledge and expertise grow and expand. Let’s begin and dive into the Marketing Mix: 4p’s Of Marketing – Product, Place, Price, and Promotion.
When writing a digital marketing strategy, you will need to look into and understand the marketing mix, or in more detail, you can use the elements of the marketing mix by using the 4ps.
The 4P’s of Marketing are;
– Product (or service)
– Place
– Price
– Promotion
To create a digital marketing strategy that is going to convert, we need to ensure that the correct product is put in the correct place at the correct time, with the correct price and promotion. If all of these are correct, then there is a higher chance of ensuring that the product or service will be able to be sold.
For instance, the ‘Bob Scenario.’ The buyer is on the lookout for a specific item that you sell; you have the product, you have put it in the correct place (Search Engine Optimisation or PPC Shopping) it is at the right price for his budget and the promotion ensures that he will get next day delivery. This could now be a very high chance of converting into a sale.
Now take one of these Ps away from the mix, for instance, you do not offer next day delivery. Would you still get this business? Most probably not, which will mean that you will not get a return on investment from that particular chance of a sale.
To be able to help you understand and define each of the P’s, here are a few detailed questions to be able to ask yourself.
Marketing Mix: Product / Service.
This is all about why the customer needs your product or service. Take into consideration what features and benefits your product or service have that services the needs of the customer? Dive deep into your customers perspective, consider how and where the customer will use your product or service? From here you will need to consider the design and development of the product you’re selling, such as the appearance, size, colour and how you choose to brand the product. Competitor research is highly important and will be a key element when it comes to going above and beyond products on the market which are similar to the service you’re selling.
Marketing Mix: Place
This element is based on where your potential customers look for your product or service. For example, if they go into the shop, what would your shop look like? How would you represent your brand online and offline, your first impression is highly important therefore this needs to be carefully considered and executed. Evaluate what your competitors are doing, are they established online or in the store? Take this research into consideration and evaluate whether your product needs to be sold online, in store or both. You need to find the right distribution channels suited to your products to ensure maximum sales are made.
Marketing Mix: Price
The price of your product/service is based on the value your customer will get from the product or service. You need to take into consideration a pricing strategy to determine the value you are offering to your consumer, will the location dictate the price point? There are many factors which will differentiate the price of your product/service. Moving forward, will you take into consideration discount codes which will help to promote your business? Always research your competitors’ products, how does your price compare to theirs? Thorough research will help to place your product in the competitive market.
Marketing Mix: Promotion
When promoting your product you will need to carefully decide what point and in what location you can get your marketing message across to your target audience. This is a huge factor to the campaign, your promotion is what will ultimately bring in the sales to your business, therefore you need to analyse what digital marketing channels your target audience respond best to, maximising the conversion rate of your campaign.
When is the best time to promote your product or your service, is there seasonality in the market that you are in? Carry out competitive research and analyse how your competitors promote their product or service? From here you can begin to map out your marketing plan, working to analyse and plan every element of the campaign to ensure ultimate success.
Conclusion
There are many other versions of the 4P’s including the 7Ps and the extended marketing mix, though while doing the job myself, I think the 4Ps within the digital marketing strategy is ample to get started, you can always increase the detail of the strategy further down the line.
This Marketing Mix and 4Ps model will help you decide in which way you can take a certain product to market, it should not have its area of the digital marketing strategy, but you should think clearly about these points when deciding on what avenues to focus on.