Aug 6

Written by: ABD
8/6/2009 1:24 PM

The four most important "P" words in any marketing campaign; Product, Price, Placement & Promotion.  Every effective marketing plan incorporates these four concepts. 

Product, the item or idea you are selling.  With the selection of the product you must consider a few things.  Who is your target audience or niche market?  What will this group use the product for, its functionality?  How will the prospective customers attain your product? Is there any competition?  If there are competing products, why will the potential customers choose your product over the others?  What are the main attributes and benefits associated?  Price, how much you will charge for your product.  Price determines the value of you product.  Generally, people associate higher prices with greater quality and vice-versa.  The price must match the product.  However, if your product is a one-of-a-kind and will be in demand you can afford to price it higher.  Make sure when you are setting the price you are factoring in costs such as discounts/allowances, materials, labor, time, competitor pricing, value and market conditions.  Price plays a large role in a purchase decision, especially in this economy.  People are expecting to get their money's worth.  Placement, how your customers will access the product for purchase.  How easy is it to find or purchase your product?  Placement of your product is key.  If you are focusing on a target or niche market, you will need to advertise or display your product in areas those customers will frequently visit.  If you are marketing online make sure you learn about and take advantage of SEO (search engine optimization) so when customers search for you or your product you are high on the results list. Get your site into numerous directories, blogs and social networks.  The packaging fits into this "P".  You need to have your product appeal to your audience, this is especially important in the look/design of your website.  This is the first impression a customer will have.  Make sure the site can be easily navigated and ordering can be done fast and painless.  In today's world we want it “quick and easy".  Promotion, the last P, the selling and advertising of your product.  How are you going to get your product or information about your product in front of your audience?  You can't sell your product if no one even knows it exists.  Ask yourself what your target audience likes, what they watch or read and where they shop.  You can advertise in various publications, tv or radio stations, social media website, online store, etc.  There is a plethora of advertising streams today but you need to know which ones to utilize.  If you answer some key questions regarding each of the 4 "P"s and do some research, I guarantee you will have a much more successful marketing campaign. 

 

 

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