Elements of Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix is a mixture of several ideas and plans followed by a marketing representative to promote a particular product or brand is called marketing mix. Several concepts and ideas combined together to formulate final strategies helpful in making a brand popular amongst the masses form marketing mix.

Elements of Marketing Mix

The elements of marketing mix are often called the four P’s of marketing.

1. Product

Goods manufactured by organizations for the end-users are called products.

Products can be of two types – Tangible Product and Intangible Product (Services)

An individual can see, touch and feel tangible products as compared to intangible products.

A product in a market place is something which a seller sells to the buyers in exchange of money.

2. Price

The money which a buyer pays for a product is called as price of the product. The price of a product is indirectly proportional to its availability in the market. Lesser its availability, more would be its price and vice a versa.

Retail stores which stock unique products (not available at any other store) quote a higher price from the buyers.

3. Place

Place refers to the location where the products are available and can be sold or purchased. Buyers can purchase products either from physical markets or from virtual markets. In a physical market, buyers and sellers can physically meet and interact with each other whereas in a virtual market buyers and sellers meet through internet.

4. Promotion

Promotion refers to the various strategies and ideas implemented by the marketers to make the end – users aware of their brand. Promotion includes various techniques employed to promote and make a brand popular amongst the masses.

Promotion can be through any of the following ways:

(i) Advertising

Print media, Television, radio are effective ways to entice customers and make them aware of the brand’s existence.

Billboards, hoardings, banners installed intelligently at strategic locations like heavy traffic areas, crossings, railway stations, bus stands attract the passing individuals towards a particular brand.

Taglines also increase the recall value of the brand amongst the customers.

(ii) Word of mouth

One satisfied customer brings ten more customers along with him whereas one dis-satisfied customer takes away ten more customers. That’s the importance of word of mouth. Positive word of mouth goes a long way in promoting brands amongst the customers.

Lately three more P’s have been added to the marketing mix. They are as follows:

• People: The individuals involved in the sale and purchase of products or services come under people.
• Process: Process includes the various mechanisms and procedures which help the product to finally reach its target market
• Physical Evidence: With the help of physical evidence, a marketer tries to communicate the USP’s and benefits of a product to the end users

Four C’s of Marketing Mix

Now a days, organizations treat their customers like kings. In the current scenario, the four C’s has thus replaced the four P’s of marketing making it a more customer oriented model. Koichi Shimizu in the year 1973 proposed a four C’s classification.

• Commodity: (Replaces Products)
• Cost: (Replaces Price) involves manufacturing cost, buying cost and selling cost
• Channel: The various channels which help the product reach the target market.
• Communication: (Replaces Promotion)

Robert F. Lauterborn gave a modernized version of the four C’s model in the year 1993. According to him the four C’s of marketing are:

• Consumer
• Cost
• Convenience
• Communication

Importance of Marketing Mix

There are several benefits of the marketing mix that makes it important to businesses;

• Helps understand what your product or service can offer to your customers
• Helps plan a successful product offering
• Helps with planning, developing and executing effective marketing strategies
• Helps businesses make use of their strengths and avoid unnecessary costs
• Helps be proactive in the face of risks
• Help determine whether your product or service is suitable for your customers
• Helps identify and understand the requirements of customers
• Helps learn when and how to promote your product or service to your customers

How to Develop a Marketing Mix?

1. Define Your Goal and Set a Budget

Developing an effective marketing mix starts with setting the right goals. Establish what you want to achieve with your marketing plan; is it to grow sales? Acquire more customers? Build brand awareness?

Once you have set realistic and measurable goals, determine how much you are willing to spend on achieving your objectives.

2. Study Your Target Customer

In order to build a product or service that your customers would want to buy, you need to know who they are.

Find different segments in your target audience and create separate customer profiles for each. Refer to these when you are developing your strategies.

3. Identify Your Unique Selling Proposition

Clarify what your unique selling proposition is through customer surveys, interviews, focus groups etc.

Here you will identify the benefits your product or service will bring to your customer, and how you are better than anyone else in solving their problems.

4. Understand Your Competition

Carry out a competitor analysis to understand the different strategies and tactics used by your competitors. This knowledge will be especially helpful when you are creating your pricing strategy. 

5. Identify the Unique Features of Your Product

List down the unique qualities and the value of your product. You can build on these when you are marketing it to your customers.

6. Create a Pricing Strategy

Using the competitor research you have done, build a pricing strategy. Make sure that you have not overpriced or underpriced your product.

7. Choose Your Distribution Channels & Promotional Methods

Choose the channels you will be distributing your product through based on the type of your product or service and your target customer.

And select the promotional techniques you want to choose based on your budget, and again the customer and your product.