MKTG Week 3: Beginning with the Basics

Introduction

We are still only just getting started on our journey into the principles of marketing, and it is the perfect time to dive into a few basics I researched this week- the marketing mix and a handful of the different types of marketing.

Marketing is its own specific field of business, with beginner's terms and rules that one heading into the career should know. As I learned more about these basics, I found it particularly interesting how marketing involves an element of psychology in many ways. When considering how best to market a toothbrush, for example, you will need to think about all the people who brush their teeth (most of the population, hopefully) and what they perceive as important in a toothbrush when they make such a purchase. 

I think that too often, newcomers to this field perceive marketing as simply advertising and nothing else- Advertising in the sense that boldly grabbing the audience's attention and spouting out the many rewards of a product is what will gain the most sales and/ or revenue. But as I've come to realize myself, there is a lot more to marketing than that. There are other considerations that are more successful than this approach. Marketing takes careful thought to thrive at its very best.  

But to give you a better understanding, without further ado, let's begin!

The Marketing Mix (Or the Four P's)

1.  Product 

2.  Price 

3.  Place 

4.  Promotion

The Marketing Mix, also known as the Four P's, is a crucial thought process for any successful marketing campaign. Product, price, place and promotion are four important things for a marketing professional to consider as they decide how best to market a specific product, service, brand, etc. 

1. Product

The product is the item that one is marketing. It doesn't only include tangible items such as laptops or textbooks, however. The "product" might also be a service, such as a haircut at a barbershop, a repair on your car, or a newly created brand promoting itself as a whole to the public to gain awareness. 

The crucial thing to think of regarding the product is that it must demonstrate some kind of value to the audience. From an affordable price to high quality materials, any consumer wants to purchase only what they perceive to be valuable. Value can include anything from the price of the product, to the material, to the place from which it is sold. Here comes one of the psychology components- Different people perceive different things as valuable. Therefore, you must keep in mind who exactly your target audience is. Do you want to appeal to most people, for example, or are you targeting a more niche audience? Think about the people who are most likely to want your product, and what they most likely want to get out of it. 

2. Price 

Another tricky thing to think of when communicating the value of the product is price. If your product is cheap, a potential consumer may perceive the low price as a value, yet this may incline them to think that the product is poorly made and hence dissuade them from the purchase. On the other hand, if the product is expensive, a consumer may believe it is high quality material but may be discouraged from purchasing by how much it costs. You will need to consider how best to balance price and quality at the same time. For the value that you are offering, what is the realistic best price that a consumer will be willing to spend on this product, that also offers a satisfying return on investment (ROI) to the business selling it? 

Again, considering your target audience is important! What seems cheap to one person may seem expensive for the next. What is a great sales discount to one person may not be a great discount to another person, whether because they don't value the product quite as highly, or they are aware of a better deal. 

3. Place 

Place involves the location from which you are offering this product, and that includes the intangible "products" such as services or a social cause. The place aspect of the marketing mix is anywhere from which a consumer can view, purchase, obtain or enjoy this product. There are the obvious retail stores, for example, where you can buy a bottle of shampoo or a box of cereal. In today's day and age, another major place in this category are online sites, whether an extension of the physical store such as Walmart's website, or a place such as Etsy that sells exclusively online. As for services or intangible products, places might include hotels, airlines, and even non-for-profit organizations such as Salvation Army that are marketing a social cause. 

It's important to realize that the place from which a product is offered significantly affects the consumer's perception of the product itself. Just as a higher price often leads a consumer to believe the product is higher quality, an environment that appears big budget will also often lead the consumer to regard its products' value more highly. A product sold at a more low-cost place will often be seen as lesser quality in contrast. 

4. Promotion

Next comes the P that is oftentimes the only P focused on of the marketing mix- Promotion. Promotion is important- It is the advertising, the spreading of awareness, the communication aspect of marketing a product. But keep in mind that considering the prior three P's first leads to better promotion overall. Why? It's because you as the marketer have a deeper understanding of your product, its value, its target audience, and what exactly are the highlights and most important things your potential consumers would want to know to persuade them this product is for them. 

Promotion is both about selling your product, and also letting people know that it exists in the first place. Not everyone knows who you are, and if you don't let them know you're here, you won't be able to gain more customers. Good promotion is more than being noticed, however- It's being memorable as well. In a world of constant media and promotion everywhere we turn, it's not successful for a product to be noticed so much as it is for it to be remembered. You want people to think of you even after they've seen your ad or sampled your product. 

As you promote your product, decide what needs to be highlighted. What benefits do you offer? Even more importantly, what problems does your product solve for your target audience? Why would their lives be better with your product in it? Remember to educate your consumers as well. No consumer will stay for long if they don't clearly and easily understand your product. You need to provide information educating them, whether on the background of the product, or the ingredients, or how it is made. It's often said that people do business with people they like and trust. I personally believe the same can be said for products as well- People purchase (and come back to purchase again) the products they like and trust. Make sure your audience trusts your product by educating them about it through your promotion strategies. 

Types of Marketing

Let's not forget that there are different types of marketing as well! Beyond the well-known product or service marketing, there are other types of marketing you may work on as well. I wanted to include a brief glossary of these types because I think it is important to be able to recognize the many different things a marketing professional works with, and what each type involves. 

Product Marketing: 

Marketing a tangible product, such as a piece of furniture or a bag of chips. 

Service Marketing:

Marketing intangible services, such as a roofing job, or experiences, such as a haunted house visit. 

Person Marketing:

Marketing a person, such as a political candidate aiming to gain voting support. 

Place Marketing:

Marketing a place, such as the mall or even a foreign country, with the goal of getting more visitors (and hence money for the stores in the mall, or tourist dollars for the foreign country). 

Cause Marketing: 

Marketing to gain awareness for a cause, such as homelessness or discrimination against the LGBTQ community. 

Organization Marketing: 

Also marketing for a cause, except that cause marketing is about gaining awareness and belief in a cause. Organization marketing is about persuading people to actually support the cause by doing something to help, whether donating money or putting in hours at the homeless shelter. 

Conclusion

With this latest blog post, my hope is that my research can bring you something you didn't know before about marketing, and that will be useful to you in the future no matter what your goals are. I personally think marketing is one of the more interesting fields of the business world, from the creativity to the critical thinking to the psychological perspective it involves. I'm excited to learn more, and bring more content to my blog!

Until next time,

Marielle