Marketing mix: what it is, definition, and examples (2024)
Marketing mix is a company’s tools to develop and sell products. Usually, businesses focus on the 4 P’s or 7P’s using them to design their goods and promotional efforts. You’ll learn more insights in this article.
Brief Summary
The marketing mix is a combination of strategies and tactics that a company uses to promote and sell its products or services. These include the 7 P’s: product, price, place, promotion, physical evidence, people and process.
4Ps of marketing mix
Understanding marketing is critical whether you own an online shop or any other business type. So, read below for an explanation of each of the 4Ps.
1. Product
Before you think about how to sell an online product, you first need the product itself. The best approach is to conduct market research to understand what your audience wants and expects from what you’re offering. Based on such information, you should decide things like:
- Design.
- Features.
- Name.
- Packaging.
- Services.
- And more.
2. Price
It’s how much people need to pay to purchase your product or use your service. You need to study your audience and your competition to determine the average price of similar products that your competitors offer. You also need to consider the following:
- Discounts.
- Sales.
- Payment options and period.
- Bundles.
- And more.
3. Place
It’s the location where people can buy your product. Again, it’s essential to research your market, as you want to be where your clients are. For example, if they buy a lot from Amazon, you should consider selling there. You also need to consider other factors:
- Inventory.
- Transportation.
- Logistics.
- Web host (if you choose to build your store).
- Website builder (if you decide to make your store).
- And more.
4. Promotion
With everything set up, you now need to think about how you’ll inform your audience that your product exists and that they should buy it. Here are some options you can consider.
- Affiliate marketing.
- Local SEO.
- Search Engine Advertising.
- Public relations.
- Social media marketing.
- And more.
The 4Ps of marketing will help you develop and sell your products. But some people have added more Ps to the marketing mix. Their goal was to add some steps to offer more detailed guidance. Read about these extra Ps below.
7Ps of marketing mix
In addition to the Ps you’ve read about, the 7Ps add the following to the marketing mix:
Physical evidence
You need to offer some evidence that your product exists. You could do so through pictures or videos. You can also use social proof through reviews from satisfied consumers. You could also add social media buttons to your website, so people can easily share your product.
People
A lousy execution destroys a good idea. So, you need the right people to work with you and develop your product. This P is even more critical when your business grows, and you need to expand your team.
Process
It stands for how your clients will find your product. Will they find it through a Google search? Or do they need to give you their email address, as it’s often the case with eBooks? Determine the process that makes the most sense to your business.
And now that you’ve learned the theory, it’s time to see an example of a marketing mix in practice.
Marketing mix example
Let’s use one.com as a marketing mix example. The product will be email hosting. Let’s break it down using the 4Ps.
1. Product
After extensive market research on the needs of companies of all sizes, one.com has created webmail with the following features:
- Easy migration from your email provider
- Webmail
- Ad-free email
- Spam filter
- 15 GB email storage
- 5 email accounts
- 3 GB mailbox size
2. Price
Using the data it gathered from its market research, one.com created two different email plans: Email Essentials is free in the first year. But, the other plan, Unlimited, costs (Insert UK cost). You get some additional features for this cost:
- Access from any device.
- Unlimited email accounts.
- Unlimited mailbox size.
one.com also offers various plans and prices for all its products.
3. Place
one.com understands that most of its customers want online solutions for their businesses, especially builders, to build their websites from scratch. As such, this company uses a website to share its products with people.
4. Promotion
Great questions lead to great discoveries. And most people ask questions to Google. So, one.com creates SEO content to answer people’s questions and introduce its brand to them.
