Image source: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/courses-images-archive-read-only/wp-content/uploads/sites/1505/2015/12/04104710/The-Marketing-Mix-1.png
PRODUCT
You may have complete faith in your product or service, but without the proper research you may find yourself let down. You have to know for certain if your product or service is of interest to the consumer. Is it useful and appealing? What type of competition do you have with this product/service? What makes yours unique and different from other similar items? If you skip over these questions you may find yourself struggling to make a sale.
PRICE
Similar to the questions you ask concerning your product, you'll want to do the same for your price. What is the pricing of your competitors products? Can you afford to price lower or must you keep an even amount? You want to do research and compare the prices of all of the competitors in your local area and online. This will allow you to understand the highest and the lowest amounts you can charge per item.
PROMOTION
Promoting a product is a must. If you were to focus on one area alone, this would be it. If you do not promote or advertise your business, customers will never know about your offers. If a customer is not aware of your product or service, how can they ever make a purchase? There are numerous methods for advertising your business. You can keep the cost of basic methods such as business cards, flyers or brochures down by printing them in your home office. Promoting online can reach a global market and is less costly than a local newspaper advertisement. Review your options and choose the options that best suit your needs and budget. Even a minute amount of advertising can bring about your first wave of customers. After this, word of mouth will be a great help to your business.
Once you have taken the necessary time to review product, price and promotion details, you'll be ready to build your marketing strategy. You'll be aware of the funds you have available and which areas you wish to apply them. Once you begin you will want to keep track in some way of how your customers heard about your product or service. This allows you to see which form of advertising brought about the most customer awareness.
You will be prepared for future promotions and business success. You'll be able to sit down with employees or business counterparts and show them why you run your marketing the way that you do, with proof of its effectiveness. This information could come in handy when applying for a business loan. A loan officer would be pleased to see that you have all of your information readily available and proof to back up your results. You could be prepared to watch your business grow and you will be ready to market your expansion.
