Have you ever heard the term ‘marketing mix’?
This isn’t some catchy buzzword, but a very important part of your marketing strategy. Whether you’re a Small Business Owner, a Marketing Professional, an Influencer or an Affiliate Marketer, you need to have a marketing strategy and you need to understand what the marketing mix is. And in today’s world of shares, likes, follower counts and viral videos, you need to know just how social media fits into the marketing mix.
Ok, so what exactly is the marketing mix? Great question! Let’s dive right in.
Want to brush up on your knowledge of social media strategy first? Then check out our blog ‘What is a social media strategy?’ before you deep dive into the marketing mix.
The marketing mix and the four Ps of marketing
You’ll often see the marketing mix and the four Ps of marketing together. Sometimes they’re referred to as one and the same. But this is not quite accurate.
The marketing mix is about putting the right product in the right place at the right time, and how you intend to get your message out there. The four Ps are the building blocks of your marketing mix. They are what you will use to define your marketing mix.
The four Ps stand for:
Product (or Service): What you are offering your customers.
This is what you’re selling. It doesn’t have to be a tangible thing. It can be a physical product or a service. If you’re an influencer, it could mean selling your own personal brand and image. When you have a product to sell, you should know exactly what your unique selling point is and why your target market needs it.
Place: Where your marketplace is located.
Where are your customers? Are they shopping online or are they dropping in to your physical store? If they’re online, what social media platforms are they using? Wherever they are, that’s where you need to be, too!
Price: The value of the product/service.
Price refers to the amount customers pay for your product and/or service and the profit you’re making from it. It also includes things liked discounts, payment period, package price, etc. To arrive at your price, you should also understand the competition and what they’re selling their products/services for. Your price also affects how you’re perceived by your audience.
Promotion: How will you advertise your marketing messages.
Once you’ve nailed the first three Ps, it’s time to get cracking on the fourth P. This is all about how you promote your product and any offers you have going and how to generate leads and revenue.
Your best results are going to come after you’ve asked yourself some questions and done your research.
Here are some questions you should be asking yourself:
- Which channels do my customers use?
- What’s the best time to start promoting my offer? Is it seasonal?
- What kind of messaging is most likely to get my audience’s attention?
- What are my competitors doing in terms of promotion?
An example of the marketing mix in the real world
Let’s say you’re a Small Business Owner who operates a mid-range men’s clothing store in inner-city Melbourne. The store is called ‘Dapper Gent’. Your unique selling point is that your clothes have a retro look to them. Your online store also has a convenient feature that allows customers to accurately measure themselves and choose the perfect clothes for online delivery.
For your upcoming marketing campaign you’re advertising a special: ‘Buy any collared shirt and receive a free tie.’ Your product is the shirt plus the free tie. The offer of the free tie is where you’re adding value to the offer to entice your target audience.
The place is where your store is physically located but also your online store which ships anywhere in Australia. It also covers your social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and the Dapper Gent blog.
The price is what you’re charging your customers, and where your business sits on the scale. Let’s say that your collared shirts start from around $79 each. How does this compare to other similar businesses? Is this a competitive price? Does the free tie add a lot of value to this purchase?
The promotion is how you will execute this campaign. Now that you’ve worked out what product you’re selling, who you are selling it to, the place you’re selling it in and the price, you just need to work out what kind of strategy you’ll be using to promote it.
How does my social media strategy fit in with the marketing mix?
As we’ve discussed in other blogs, a social media marketing strategy is all about connecting with your audience to ultimately convert sales.
Social media fits into both the place and the promotion aspects of the four Ps. You need to know exactly where your customers are, when they’re online, how they’re using social media to interact with your brand and what kind of content they find valuable. So if you’ve established your four Ps and done your research on the marketing mix, then it’s a relatively easy step from there to create your social media marketing strategy.
You’re bound to make a few social media marketing mistakes before you really get the hang of things, but that’s ok—so long as you learn from these mistakes and use them to improve the experience for your customers.
How do I create a social media strategy from scratch?
As a way to create your social media strategy, here are a few questions to ask yourself in regards to place and promotion:
- What social media channels are my customers using?
- How can I further segment my audience based on channel?
- What time of the day is my audience most likely to interact with my content?
- What channels are my competitors using?
- What kind of content is most likely to the get the attention of my audience?
- Should I consider paid advertising on social media?
- Should I consider influencer marketing on social media?
- What are my competitors doing on social media to promote their products?
Once you’ve got the answers to these queries you can create your marketing mix and your social media marketing strategy.
Is social media marketing effective?
Yes—but only when it’s done right.
More and more Australians are jumping on social media to connect and consume. In 2020, there are more than 22.3 million internet users and 18 million social media users in Australia, and one in three minutes online is spent on social media.
These stats are hard to ignore, especially if you’re a small business owner trying to promote your brand, or a professional marketer.
When it comes to launching an effective marketing campaign, the best thing you can do for yourself, your brand or your employer is to do as much research as possible. Research your target audience. Research your competitors. Research trends in marketing and social media. Then build your marketing mix and create a social media marketing strategy. And if your social media campaign doesn’t bring the results you’re expecting? That’s ok. Use these results to make your campaign even better.
Learn how to make an impact with social media marketing
Want to learn more about how to create a winning social media strategy?
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