THE FOUR "P"s OF MARKETING ONLINE

Resource Center » The 4 Ps of Marketing Online (Placement, Promotion, Price, and Product)

The 4 Ps of Marketing are still relevant in online marketing. Learn some of the key differences, and how to use them to your advantage.

Although many people use the terms interchangeably, sales and marketing are two completely different things. To have successful sales, a business must properly and effectively market its products or services. Most successful marketing managers follow the 4 Ps of marketing (product, price, placement, and promotion). Whether you're promoting your new neighborhood store or you’re venturing into online marketing, the 4 Ps of marketing will provide the structure to help you design a marketing campaign that will produce the best results.

The first P refers to the product. If you’re putting together a marketing campaign, then you'll first need to have a product to sell. Your product can be either a service you offer or a physical item. You should consider functionality, quality, safety, packaging, brand, and warranties while before selecting your product. Try to include innovative giveaways into your promotions to generate more customer interest. Also, here are a few questions that you should answer about your product prior to launching a marketing campaign:

• Who are your target customers?
• How will your target customers get your product in their hands?
• Why would your target customer choose your product over your competitors' products?

With online marketing, your product may not fit into the traditional categories. It could be a physical product but it could also be online catalogs, online services, or informational products. Regardless of where your product is categorized, it is absolutely necessary to have it showcased on your web site.

The second P is price. Simply put, the price is how much you charge your customers for your product. The price should include discounts, allowances, and financing. When determining what price you are going to charge, you need to consider material costs, manufacturing costs, competitor pricing, product value, and market conditions. Price also includes how much you pay for a product or service, so it's always smart to be on the lookout for inexpensive promotional products. The right price should help the company reach its financial goals and fit the marketplace. Although the price of your product will ultimately reflect how much you profit, it is not the most important marketing aspect to consider. Generally, the price will not stop an interested person from purchasing a quality product.

The third P of marketing is place. In its most literal meaning, place is how your product must reach customers in order for them to purchase it. However, when it comes to online marketing, place or location refers to how easily customers can find your business. In order to help people find your business, you need to take advantage of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and work on getting your site into multiple directories. You also want to make sure that you get a good domain name. Ideally you should have something simple, but a common term that can easily be found via search engine is also recommended. If you don’t have the skills to make your site memorable, then hire a web designer to help you. Look at your web site as your product's packaging; it will make the first impression on anyone who visits. You also want to make it easy for customers to navigate through your site and make purchases, because people will get turned off if the process is too complicated. Remember, the Internet is supposed to be fast and easy, and a customer may move on to another website if he or she has to spend 20 minutes filling out a form to make a purchase.

The fourth P is promotion. Promotion is the advertising of and selling of your product; it's how you bring your product to your customers' attention. Online promotion offers the chance to work on ad campaigns with sites like Yahoo and Google. By purchasing ad space on search engine results pages, you can reach customers that may not have otherwise heard of your product. You can also advertise your web site in magazines, in newspapers, and on television. You can also use other online marketing strategies to your advantage, such as special offers and discounts.

The 4 Ps of marketing are relevant in online marketing and can help to ensure success. Best of all, they can be tweaked to fit your specific company needs!

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