The right marketing mix is essential to the success of any business. It is a crucial combination of key marketing elements: Preparedness, Product, Price, Promotion, Place and People. It is based on sound market research and planning and guided by customer service.
Some organizations have developed a comprehensive marketing plan and need help implementing the communications and media relations aspects of it. Others are at the important stage of getting to know their customers better and require market research. Still, many don’t have a marketing plan and don’t know how to take this important, first step.
Davidson Communications offers a wide array of services that will meet your organization’s needs and budget. We can work on a project, daily or long-term basis. Our goal is to help you succeed in the most cost-effective way.
Can You Build a Better Mousetrap?
Product is one of the most important components of the Marketing Mix. You must produce an excellent product or service that customers want to buy. Otherwise, all the promotional techniques money can buy will not sell it in the marketplace.
Continually evaluate your product or service by obtaining advice from the group who matters most: your customers. Frequent, easy to complete customer satisfaction surveys; focus groups; suggestions boxes; and other techniques are just some of the methods you can use to help build a better mousetrap.
Location, Location, Location
For many businesses, place is one of the most important aspects of the marketing mix. Restaurants, stores, medical offices and similar establishments need to be in the right location to attract the right customers. Many companies use distribution networks and/or a sales force, so location is a less important consideration for them. For others, the world wide Web has become their “place,” offering an immense, new source of customers where the power of the Internet sells their services or products. And a few lucky companies have a wonderful reputation andfiercely loyal customers who would travel to “the ends of the earth” to purchase the product or service.
“Place” can be a powerful tool for expanding your market. For example, health care providers can develop satellite services in distant locations that provide basic services while attracting patients who will need more advanced care at the main facility.
People: The Heart of Every Organization
Your employees who interact with customers can contribute to your success or failure. It’s your choice.
Your company can produce a great product or service that is exactly what your target market wants and needs and which is priced right and promoted with ease. But your downfall happens when the public interacts with your employees. This is why excellent customer service is a necessity, not an accessory.
This is especially true in the service industry where employees are “producing” as they communicate with customers. Instilling a “customer is always right” attitude needs to be a consistent them that starts with the company president and comes full circle to the employee who answers the phone or cleans the floor. Don’t take it for granted.
Price: Is it Right?
Correct pricing can be one of the most perplexing components of the marketing mix. Companies need to cover their costs and make a profit, but they must also be competitive and meet market demand and expectation. Good market research will provide essential clues to solving the pricing riddle. At whatever the price, customers must perceive a value to your product or service, or they won’t buy it.
How Well Do You Know Your Customers?
Do you know their: • Wants? • Needs? • Communication styles? Do you know the newspapers, Web sites and blogs they read, the radio stations to which they listen, and the television shows they watch? Do you know what your customers think of your service or product and those of your competitors? The answers to these questions and others are essential to an effective marketing campaign. Knowing can mean the difference between an expensive, ill-conceived plan or a cost-effective, successful campaign.
Which Tactics Are Right For Your Company?
Advertising, public relations, sales, direct mail? So many choices, so little time, money and resources!
Once you have reviewed and evaluated the other “P’s” of the Marketing Mix, it is time to decide which techniques will work best to increase business and brand awareness. In fact, at this point, choosing the right techniques will be easy because you will have gained a thorough understanding of the marketplace, developed a great product or service that adds real value for your customers, priced it correctly, and are providing it by customer-focused employees in a location that your customers can easily access.
Market research also will have provided you with key data on the best ways to reach your potential customers. Once you decide and implement a technique, it is imperative you stay the course while continually monitoring the effectiveness of the tactic.