Marketing for Beginners

The Importance of Marketing

When it comes to running a business, marketing is a critical factor in your success or failure. In the fast-paced and high-tech world of modern business, marketing differentiates between millions of dollars in profit and bankruptcy.

Like having enough capital to pay for operations, creating an adaptable and effective marketing strategy is crucial for your business to succeed.

What Is Marketing?

Marketing is the name for a company’s activities to promote and sell products and services. You experience some form of marketing multiple times a day.

Commercials, advertisements, billboards, and product placements are all very common examples of marketing. Consumers of today have the largest variety of choices for products in history. Marketing is the tool used to help them to choose your product over the competition.

Many different strategies accomplish this goal, but the key strategy is using “the 4 P’s of marketing”.

What Are The 4 P’s of Marketing?

Marketing is a complex idea, especially considering how drastically it changes on short notice. However, the “4 P’s of marketing” never change.

Focusing on these core concepts makes it easy to create a successful marketing campaign. The “4 P’s of marketing” are:

Product

“Product” refers to what your company sells. It can be a physical product that is manufactured and sold or a service provided. When it comes to marketing your product, you must present it as a necessity to your target customer’s daily life.

If a consumer can happily live their life without your product, they will be less likely to spend the money on it. However, if you make it appear that your product improves the lives of your consumers, then you create a higher demand for it.

High demand for your product makes the other aspects of marketing easier to plan.

Price

Price refers to the amount of money that your consumers are willing to pay for your product. Determining the best price for your product is complicated and requires detailed information.

You must know the cost of manufacturing your product, such as the cost of supplies, labor, and shipping. This amount of money is considered the “real” value of your product.

You must price your product after considering the costs to manufacture it and other costs of goods. You should also have to consider the prices of your competitors and the “perceived” value of your product.‍

Perceived Value vs. Real Value‍

Estimating the perceived value is challenging because a concrete number is not involved, and the measurement is abstract.

For example, fashion manufacturers often use the same supplies to produce their clothes. However, some designers charge more money than others due to the perception of their products. Although the real value may be the same, the perceived value allows them to charge more because consumers believe it’s worth more.

Marketing helps to create this perception. For instance, it’s believed that the price of a product dictates the perceived value. So, if your product is cheaper than your competitors, it may be viewed as low quality or as a knock-off version. If it is more expensive than your competitors, the perceived value might be higher.

However, there’s a trade-off: The higher the price, the fewer new consumers may try your product. So, there is a delicate balance to finding the perfect price to get the maximum number of consumers for the highest price possible.

Place

“Place” refers to the best location possible to sell and deliver your product. For most companies, this answer is “online,” but it can refer to physical stores, depending on the nature of your product.

The ultimate goal is to get your product in front of as many potential customers as possible. Selling a product online reaches a wide audience looking for your brand, but a physical store helps consumers browse to discover your product.

Selling your product online is very effective once you build your brand loyalty, which is another area where your marketing plans help. But it takes time to build up your brand when you are first starting. This is where the next “P” helps.

Promotion

Promotion is arguably the most important aspect of marketing. This is where you advertise or develop content around your product, telling potential consumers why they need it, where they can buy it, and how much it costs.

The best promotions are those that effectively deliver a return on your marketing investment. Sometimes this means that the more people who hear of a product, the more they will buy it. This is why 30-second advertisements during the Super Bowl cost millions, or the hero in a summer blockbuster movie might use a specific branded product.

But promotions are also introductory offers, coupons, discount codes, or other tactics to make consumers aware of your product or service. For these, you may target who gets one of these types of promotions to ensure a high ROI.

Any promotional material created should include answers to the other “P’s of marketing.” After seeing a promotion or advertisement for your product, the viewer should know how much it costs and where they can buy it.

What Are Some Marketing Tips For Beginners?

Flexibility is important in marketing, and you must be open to trying new ideas. With the right funding for your marketing budget, you can continuously reach new consumers.

For example, digital marketing trends change rapidly so staying on top of the latest trends helps grow your brand awareness.

Use the Internet Wisely

While television and radio commercials were the best way to reach a large audience in the past, measuring their marketing ROI is not as effective as advertising online.

However, simply placing advertisements on internet search engines isn’t enough to properly market your product. Advertisements are only effective when seen, and using social media platforms is another easy way for many people to view them.

So it’s best to use several internet marketing channels. It’s also important to develop keywords for your product. Search engines are extremely important in daily life, and creating specific keywords helps drive consumers to your website and product.

Know The Competition

Unless you offer a one-of-a-kind product, then you must know as much as possible about your competition. A competitor can even copy and overtake your one-of-a-kind product. You need to know what your competitors offer and how it is similar or differs from your offer.

You should also understand how the public views your competitor and the value associated with your competitor’s product. Knowing what your competition charges for their product and where they advertise helps you alter your marketing strategy to compete with them.

Create A Solid Relationship With Consumers

Providing an incredible product or service is only part of running a successful business. If consumers don’t buy your product, it doesn’t matter how great it is. A consumer isn’t just buying the product that you are selling; they trust you to provide them with a quality experience while they own it.

Customer service should be a priority during all transaction phases: advertisement, sale, and product lifetime. Providing exceptional customer service helps to inspire brand loyalty and bring customers back to purchase more products in the future, so remember to work this aspect into your marketing plan.

The Takeaway

Growing a business requires an exceptional marketing plan. Marketing is a brief interaction between your company and potential consumers. When marketing your business, you need to explain your product or service and convince consumers why they should select you instead of your competition.

Focusing on the “4 P’s of marketing” forms a good foundation for building your marketing campaign, but remember to adjust your strategy over time. ‍

Visit Ampla for more information on joining our network of partners who specialize in marketing best practices to help your brand grow and scale.