The marketing mix considers the product, place, price,
and promotion with the intention of reaching a target market. In 2004, by
coordinating online marketing efforts via AOL, MSN, Yahoo, and email, Ford
reached 40 percent of men ages 25 to 54 in 24 hours (Roberts & Zahay,
2013). Different pieces of the marketing mix help in different areas of the
four basic marketing strategies: customer acquisition, conversion, retention,
and customer value growth.
Price, Product, & Acquisition
Recognizing a product’s unique benefits is part of the
product strategy. When a business considers selling a product, one must
consider if it is a product that consumers need, if those consumers have money to
purchase the product, and if that market is large enough to profit from (White,
2012). If the product does not already have a need for the item, a business will
have difficulty selling it to any market. A pricing strategy is different considering
what the goals are for the business. Sometimes prices are listed higher so they
are valued as a luxury items. Sometimes businesses lower the price so they sell
more in a competitive market. One pricing strategy is to keep the prices
relatively neutral to the competing market (White, 2012). However a business
decides to price an item, it will draw in a certain target market. Consumers
should drive a company’s price strategy and product selection.
Promotion & Acquisition
Promotion is a large part of customer acquisition and
advertising online and offline attracts consumers. Company-driven marketing is
most effective in the initial consideration stage which is a combination of
traditional advertising, sponsorship, and direct marketing (Roberts &
Zahay, 2013). Consumers use the internet over 20 hours a week. Companies just
need to decide which platforms to use and balance the budget across platforms. Television
has the largest reach, but also the highest expense (Roberts & Zahay,
2013). Ninety percent of internet users log on daily. Social media sights like Facebook,
Twitter, Google, and Instagram promotes businesses and products while
encouraging engagement and interaction with consumers. Display, search, and
social media advertising create strong leads (Robert & Zahay, 2013). Email
promotions help acquire customers, if a business can obtain email addresses
ethically. Fifty-six percent of internet users have a Gmail or Hotmail account (Roberts
& Zahay, 2013). Website optimization can assist online with attracting more
leads.
Place & Conversion
Conversion is essentially the time at the first point of
sale where businesses convert leads, clicks, and interest to an actual sale (Roberts
& Zahay, 2013). Companies must understand what drives this segment to visit
the site or express interest, and also understand why the consumer may not
purchase. Locating an interested target
segment is a part of the place strategy. A company must understand the market
to reach the market and place the product accordingly. I company should assure
that the website have high usability and that customers have a positive experience
for conversion (Roberts & Zahay, 2013).
For example, I am currently researching podcasts for my assignments,
and it is important to understand where these listeners are listening. Seventy percent of podcast listeners do so on
iTunes (Lee, 2018). There are many online platforms and applications that
podcasters can utilize to reach new segments (Quah, 2016). Seventy percent of
podcast listeners do so on iTunes (Lee, 2018).
Promotion, Retention, & Customer
Value Growth
Customer retention pertains to changing a one-time
purchaser into a loyal consumer for a longer period of time. Customer lifetime
value (CLV) measures revenue by the amount of money a customer spends, the
amount spent after marketing campaign efforts, and word-of-mouth leads (Roberts
& Zahay, 2013). However, many companies
lose fifty percent of their customers. And customers who retain a positive image
of the company at six times more likely to repurchase than unsatisfied
customers (Roberts & Zahay, 2013). A company’s brand identity is unique and
a positive association attracts and retains consumers (White, 2012). A company must
use all of the marketing mix to retain consumers. While this can be done
primarily on the internet through emails and interacting on various social
media platforms, traditional advertisements such as mailers and television ads
can also help maintain a positive relationship.
References
Lee,
K. (2018, November 30). We didn’t know how to promote a podcast. So here’s all
we learned. Buffer. Retrieved from https://buffer.com/library/promote-a-podcast
Quah,
N. (2016, March 8). Hot pod: Decoding what makes a podcast a hit on the iTunes
charts. Nieman Lab. Retrieved from https://www.niemanlab.org/2016/03/hot-pod-decoding-what-makes-a-podcast-a-hit-on-the-itunes-charts/
Roberts, M. L. & Zahay, D. (2013). Internet marketing: Integrating
online and offline strategies (3rd ed.).
Retrieved from https://redshelf.com
White,
S. (2012). Principles of marketing.
San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.
No comments:
Post a Comment