What is the Marketing Mix and 7P’s Elements?

The elements of the marketing mix are the aspects of marketing that a company uses to promote its goods or services. There are seven elements to consider: product, price, location, advertising, people, packaging, and process. Every company needs its very own marketing mix in order to win its customers. In this post, we’ll discuss the definition of the marketing mix, what it means, the elements of the marketing mix, and how to develop an effective marketing mix for your product or service.

 

What’s the marketing mix?

A marketing mix is ​​a series of measures that a company takes in order to develop its products or services and market them to its customers. It helps ensure that you can offer your customers the right product at the right time, in the right place, at the right price. While the marketing mix was traditionally implemented by 4ps Marketing, 3 additional tools were added to the mix that makes it the 7 elements of marketing. Businesses use a combination of these marketing mix elements to get the desired response from their audience.

 

What is the importance of the marketing mix?

 

The marketing mix has many advantages that make it important to businesses;

1. It helps to understand what your product or service can offer your customers
2. Helps plan a successful product offering
3. Support in planning, developing, and implementing effective marketing strategies
4. Helps companies to use their strengths and avoid unnecessary costs
5. Helps to counter risks proactively
6. Help determine if your product or service is right for your customers
7. Helps identify and understand customer requirements
8. It helps to know when and how you are promoting your product or service to your customers

Easy Steps on How to Write A SWOT Analysis

 

What are the 7P’s of the Marketing Mix? (7 Elements)

 

1. Product:

The service product requires a consideration of the scope of the services rendered, the quality of the services rendered, and the level of the services rendered. You should also pay attention to things like the use of trademarks, warranties, and customer service. The service mix for these items can vary widely and is reflected in the performance comparisons between a small local building community and one of the largest in the country; Or between a small hotel that offers a limited menu selection and a four-star hotel that offers a wide variety of dishes.

2. Price

The price is the price consumers pay for a product. Marketers need to relate price to the actual and perceived value of the product, but they also need to consider shipping costs, seasonal discounts, and competitive prices. In some cases, business people can increase the price to give the product the appearance of luxury. Alternatively, they can lower the price so more consumers can try the product.

Marketers also need to determine when and if discounts are appropriate. The discount can sometimes attract more customers, but it can also create the impression that the product is less exclusive or less luxurious than at a higher price.

3. Place

When a company decides where it belongs, it tries to decide where to sell a product and how to get it to market. The goal of business people is always to showcase their products to the consumers who are most likely to buy them.

In some cases, this can refer to the placement of a product in specific stores, but it can also refer to the placement of the product on the display of a specific store. In some cases, the placement may refer to the inclusion of a product on a TV show, in a movie, or on a website to promote awareness of the product.

The location and accessibility of service providers are important factors when marketing services. Accessibility refers not only to physical accessibility but also to other means of communication and communication. Thus, the types of distribution channels used (e.g. travel agencies) and their coverage are related to the critical question of the accessibility of the services.

4. Promotion

Advertising refers to the methods a company uses to attract customers’ attention to its products. This includes sales promotion, customer service, public relations, advertising, etc.

When creating your advertising strategy, consider your competitors’ tactics, which channels are most effective at reaching your customers, and whether they match the perceived value of your product.

Funding can take place using one of the following methods:

a) advertising

Print media, television, and radio are powerful tools for creating customer loyalty and making them aware of a brand’s presence.

Smartly installed billboards, billboards, and banners in strategic locations such as high-traffic areas, intersections, train stations, and bus stops attract passers-by to a certain brand.

Slogans also add value to brand awareness among customers.

b) Oral speech

A satisfied customer brings ten more customers, a dissatisfied customer takes ten more customers. This is the importance of word of mouth. Positive word of mouth goes a long way in promoting brands with customers.

5. People

All human actors who play a role in the provision of the service and thus influence the perception of the buyer: in other words, the company’s employees, the customer, and other customers in the service environment. All human actors involved in the provision of the service give signals to the customer about the nature of the service itself. How these people dress, their personal appearance, attitudes, and behavior all influence the perception of the service by the visitors.

The service provider or contact person can be very important. For some services, such as counseling, counseling, teaching, and other relationship-based professional services, the services are actually the provider. In other cases, the contact person may play what appears to be a relatively minor role in providing the service, such as a phone fuser, an airline baggage handler, or a dispatcher for equipment delivery. However, research shows that even these providers can be the focal point of service encounters that can be critical to an organization.

6. Packaging

The company’s packaging attracts the attention of new buyers in a crowded marketplace and adds value to returning customers. Here are a few ways you can make packaging difficult for you:

a) Design to differentiate. Good design helps to get to know your brand at a glance and can also highlight certain characteristics of your product. For example, if you work for a shampoo company, you can use different colors on the packaging to denote different hair types.

b) Provide valuable information. The packaging is the perfect place for product training or branding. Add clear instructions or an unexpected article to surprise and delight your customers.

c) Add more value. Exceed your customers’ expectations by giving them well-designed branded extras to use, like a free toothbrush from their dentist, a free quote for their ceiling cleaner, or a freestyling guide from their hairdresser.

7. Process

The actual and automated processes and flow of activities through which a service is provided, operating systems, and service delivery. The actual delivery steps that the customer goes through or the operational flow of the service also provide the customer with evidence by which to judge the service.

Some services are very complex and require the customer to follow a complex and extensive set of procedures in order to complete the process. Highly bureaucratic services often follow this pattern, and the logic of the steps often eludes the customer.

Another distinguishing feature of a process, which can give the customer an indication, is whether the service follows a production line / standard approach or whether the process is delegated / ad-hoc. Neither of these characteristics of service is inherently better or worse than the others.

Rather, the point is that these process characteristics are another form of evidence that a consumer uses to assess service.

 

Conclusion

Develop your marketing mix and incorporate it into your marketing basics. As you develop the marketing mix, consider how each element affects the rest to create a unified branding experience for consumers, from the user experience to the perceived value of your product. Think about how the price of the product will change its advertising strategy, how specs contribute to pricing, and how your people conduct operations. Make sure that the people and tools you are using can communicate with each other, and use the right tools to reach the right people.