Detail your strategy for taking your product or service to the target market. Marketing is the umbrella term for the overall strategy of taking your product or service and placing it in the hands of your customers, so marketing strategies often entail the co-ordination of everything from design and pricing to sales and advertising. The core segments of a marketing strategy are often referred to as the marketing mix and consists of the ‘7 Ps’. The more coordinated these elements are, the more likely it is that your strategy will be a success. The 7 Ps are:
- Product – Designing features into your product or service that meet the needs of the target market.
- Price – Using a pricing strategy that reflects the values of your product and brand that also appeals to the target market.
- Place – Choosing the right distribution channels to make sure the product is sold at the right place and time to meet your target market and choosing the correct delivery method to meet their needs.
- Promotion – Choosing promotional and advertising tactics to appeal to your target audience to maximise sales.
- People – This covers all of the people that come into contact with your business, not just your customers. Consider who you’re recruiting to make sure they’re the best for your business as well as the customer journey and customer service experiences.
- Packaging – As a service business you might not be selling physical products that need packaging, but you should consider how your services are communicated and being sold to your consumers and what value is conveyed.
- Process – The more seamless and smooth your processes are, the more easily they can be carried out and this will translate to a happier customer experience.
All seven elements of this marketing mix must work in conjunction with each other. For example, if the promotional methods emphasise value but the pricing emphasises quality, they won’t complement each other. You should split your promotional strategy into two categories – launch and ongoing marketing – because they will require two different sets of tactics. The former will be gauged to attract new customers while the latter uses a mix that contains more tactics for keeping existing customers.When it comes to budgeting your promotional and advertising efforts, you should measure and keep track of your spend as you would do in any other part of your business. Use break-even analysis to measure the level of business that needs to be generated before you see a return on investment (ROI) and compare that with the costs as you strategize. If the ROI is unrealistic, try to find more cost-effective ways of marketing your business.