The term marketing mix was coined over 50 years ago by American Marketing Association president Neil Borden to describe the elements, or “mixers,” that must be combined to successfully execute a promotional strategy. Those elements have changed significantly since then.
What is a Marketing Mix?
A marketing mix is a combination of strategic elements that helps businesses promote the goods they sell.
The traditional marketing mix has four parts:
- Product (or service): What your business sells to generate revenue, whether it’s a tangible good or an intangible service
- Price: How much money customers will pay to purchase your product, or other sacrifices they must make to do so, including time and effort.
- Place: How will you distribute your product to your customers?
- Promotion: Generate awareness among and spark the interest of your target audience.
How the Original 4 Ps have Evolved
Product
Businesses have begun to adopt a new approach that doesn’t involve developing a product or service and then spending a ton of money promoting it and hoping for people to buy it,
Solution-based products are all about understanding customer needs, and building products that are dedicated to solving problems they have.
Price
Consumers will always want to pay the lowest possible price for the best product. That hasn’t changed, and it never really will.
What has changed is the importance of perceived value. Focusing on the benefits of your product is what will make it stand out from your competitors’.
Place
Since the internet has virtually made every product or service available to everyone in the world, it’s all about making your product accessible.
Make sure people can research it, buy it and review it, from any device at any time. This includes having a mobile-friendly website that is also ecommerce-enabled if applicable.
Promotion
People are so bombarded with promotional advertisements that they’ve become numb. Instead, the modern method of promotion is branding through content marketing.
Sharing valuable, educational content with your target audience establishes you as a trusted expert in your industry. Consumers tend to buy from trusted brands.
The Additional 3 Ps
Some experts argue for the addition of three more Ps: people, process and physical evidence. These are a result of digital marketing’s rise.
People
Businesses don’t function well without the right people. Your company relies on real humans to thrive, from your sales team to corporate management, from the cashiers to the warehouse workers.
This “P” of the marketing mix focuses on the human aspect of your business, including strengths, skills gaps and potential for improvement.
Process
Your business’ process is the course of action it takes after someone makes a purchase in order to deliver the product to them.
Businesses often use process blueprints to clearly outline each and every detail, ranging from sales scripts to shipment of a product.
Physical Evidence
This refers to the presentation of your product, whether it’s in a physical store or an ecommerce shop on your business’ website. A clean presentation gives customers a high-quality experience. This also makes it more likely that your business will retain their loyalty.
Combining all of the factors of the marketing mix can help your business implement a sound strategy that generates revenue.
