The marketing mix is a simple concept and is one of the first things you learn in a marketing class. Once you have clearly defined your customer and done any necessary research, the marketing mix is the next thing that needs to be developed. The marketing mix is comprised of four components:
- Product
- Price
- Distribution (Place)
- Promotion
Each of the four components of the marketing mix should be tuned to the needs of your target customer. All the marketing mix is, is a helpful exercise that forces you to think about the different way you impact your target customer. Because of a lack of formal marketing training and up front web site planning, this simple and convenient tool is often neglected by online marketers.
The Traditional Marketing Mix
The standard textbook definitions of each element of the marketing mix are:
- Product: The decisions made about the design, branding, trademarks, life cycle and functionality of the product or website.
- Pricing: The methods of setting fair and justifiable prices.
- Distribution: The physical flow of your product from the point of origin to the point of consumption.
- Promotion: Personal selling, advertising and sales promotion tools utilized by the firm to communicate with customers.
These are the textbook definitions and now we will delve into some online twists with the marketing mix.
Online Applications
The online version of the marketing mix is basically the same, but is applied differently. Here are some of the twists and turns encountered when applying the marketing mix to online situations:
The Product Element Online
The key question you must ask here is whether the website is the product or the promotion. If your website is simply promoting your product you can skip this element of the marketing mix when thinking about your website. For example, if you have a local flower shop, your website is only there to promote your off-line product. Your website is not the product. On the other hand, if you're starting a social news site or a lead generation site your website definitely is your product and you need to think long hard about this one.
You need to develop a product (website) that offers some kind of unique value desired by your target market. This could be niche content, an interesting application or another form of value. I think this is the element that kills many website since there is often no true value add for the target market.
A lot of advertising agencies have problems with this element of the marketing mix because when marketing client web sites they are only dealing with the promotion element. The client created the product, and the agency promotes it. When agencies start creating their own websites they are handling both the product and promotion elements. This is an entirely different ball game.
The Distribution Element Online
The primary considerations for traditional, off-line business-to-consumer organizations involve consumer convenience (a la gas stations) and image. Where your business is located will have a lot to do with how your brand is perceived. The Sharper Image is a whole different business when you stick it in a different part of town.
Business to business organizations have a whole other set of considerations and must consider their place in the value chain and how they can pass value down to the end consumer.
Distribution online is becoming a lot more interesting today. Web content was once limited to simple reading or online purchases. Today, online distribution can become convoluted quickly. You can choose from widgets, iframes, RSS, XML, downloads, and off-line combinations. What is best? What does you user want? What do the webmasters in your vertical prefer? What channels do you want your product to be seen in? As more technology is developed from distributing content, these decisions will only become more difficult.
The Pricing Element Online
Do you charge anything for my product? No? Don't be so sure. Even if your product is "free" your user target market may give up their time to consume your content, and your fellow webmasters are giving up real estate to link to you. Put your self in there shoes. How can you save users time? Write more concisely, don't post unless you have something to say and make sure you offer RSS.
When looking at webmasters in your vertical and trying to get links you have to think about opportunity costs. That webmaster can link to anyone in the world. Will he or she be giving up something (opportunity costs) by linking to you?
The Promotion Element Online
This element is most like the off line counterpart. Be sure to use a mix of promotion tactics. Don't just send email requests asking for links. Use other tactics. Develop a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. Get involved in the social channels, and attack your target market from several angles.
I think the big thing people miss when executing the promotion component is the importance of consistency. Your different tactics need to support each other. There needs to be a consistent message, and image based on your value proposition.
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