The 4p Fundamentals of Marketing

...

The invention of the Internet and of smartphones gave consumers the power to research products offered by dozens of competitors with a simple touch of their finger. People have changed significantly in the way they shop and don’t see themselves as passive consumers any longer. They expect to get the attention they feel entitled to immediately and if that attention isn’t given, they aren’t afraid to relay their negative experience to the company’s social media followers. This has been a large benefit to consumers who are determined to get the best deal on the product they are purchasing. Many stores have begun price matching their competitor’s price in order to retain their consumer. If a retailer can keep the consumer in their store, the likeliness of them purchasing additional products is high. Therefore, they may lose some margin on the product they were required to price match but they will regain that in the additional products purchased. When developing a pricing strategy for a product, companies need to ask the following type of questions:

- What is the value of the product or service to the buyer?

- Are price points established products or services in the area the product will be sold?

- Is the customer price sensitive?

- Will a small decrease in price gain extra market share?

- Will a small increase be unnoticeable, and therefore, gain extra profit margin?

- What discounts should be offered to trade customers, or to other specific segments of your market?

- How will your price compare with competitors?

Incorrect pricing of a product at its launch is crucial. Most times consumers will review the product as it’s released and if the price point isn’t within their scope, the chances of getting them to reevaluate after a price correction is often slim.

Promotion is the last segment of the marketing mix and deals with any one or two-way communication taking place with the consumer. There are many different types of promotions a company can utilize:

Advertising: Communication through mass media that the firm will usually pay

Public Relations: Developing a positive relationship between the organization, the media and the public

Sales Promotion: Promotions designed to create a short term increase in sales

Personal Selling: Sales interaction between the firm's representative and a consumer on a one to one basis

Direct Mail (post and e-mail): involves sending marketing to a named individual or organization

Internet Marketing: Placing advertisements on internet pages through programs

Social Media: Firms place daily messages on social media such as Facebook and Twitter to keep customers interested in their organization

Sponsorship: An organization or event is paid to use your branding and logos

When developing a promotional strategy, it may be helpful to ask the following questions:

- Where and when can you get across your marketing messages to your target market?

- Will you reach your audience by advertising online, in the press, on TV, on radio, billboards, direct marketing, or public relations?

- When is the best time to promote? Is there seasonality in the market? Do wider environmental issues dictate the timing of your market launch?

- How do your competitors do their promotions?

The impact the past twenty years has had on the way companies do business has been tremendous. However, if a business is able to continuously research and reevaluate the 4P’s of marketing within their business, they can remain successful and continue gaining market share.

---------------------------------------------------------------

References

The Marketing Mix. (n.d.). In Learn Marketing.Net. Retrieved August 6, 2016, from http://www.learnmarketing.net/promotion.htm

The Marketing Mix and the 4Ps of Marketing. (n.d.). In MindTools. Retrieved August 7, 2016, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_94.htm

The Statistics Portal. (n.d.). In Statista. Retrieved August 7, 2016, from http://www.statista.com/statistics/183755/number-of-us-internet-shoppers-since-2009/

Constantinides, E. (2010, February). The Marketing Mix Revisited: Towards the 21st Century Marketing [Editorial]. Journal of Marketing Management, 22(3-4), 407-438.