by Karli Feldhake

So what’s your marketing mix? Not sure? Generally accepted as the basic, tactical components of a marketing plan, the marketing mix refers to four basic components – product, price, place and promotion.

Think of it like a cake recipe – almost all use the basic ingredients of eggs, milk, flour and sugar. When you alter the amounts of these basic ingredients you come out with completely different types of cakes. Similarly, by combining these four marketing “recipe” ingredients you can create a marketing plan that satisfies both your customers and company objectives.

The marketing mix is portrayed in the following diagram:

Product refers to the combination of goods and/or services offered to customers by your business. This can mean tangible items, a cup of coffee, or intangible items like computer repair. Be sure to think about features such as brand name, packaging and warranties that make your product more attractive to prospective customers.

Simply put, Price is the monetary amount a customers pays for your product or service. Knowing how your price fits into the market is important as being too high or too low can have an adverse affect on sales. Price is determined by a number of factors including market share, competition, material costs, product identity and the customer's perceived value of the product.

Place is often referred to as the distribution channel as it represents where your product or service can be purchased. Do you have an actual physical location where customers can come to you? Is business conducted via a website? Take aspects such as market coverage and warehousing into consideration when making decisions about place (distribution).

Finally, Promotion represents all of the forms of communication between a business and its customers. The four basic elements included in promotion are advertising, public relations, word of mouth and point of sale. For the best success, blend all four promotional aspects together and work within a pre-determined budget. You don’t need to break the bank on promotion but don’t under utilize this very important piece of the marketing mix.

Even if you are already open for business or are just getting started, it’s wise to give thought to your marketing mix. Maybe you’ve completely missed one of the components or are putting too much emphasis on another. From my baking experience, add the wrong amount of a key ingredient and you might get something that looks like a cake, but isn’t quite what you expect when you take a bite. It’s the same thing with marketing. If you want the end result to be delicious, use the right marketing mix!

If you need help analyzing your entire marketing mix or maybe just with one of the components, Splattered Ink is here to assist you and your business.

Karli Feldhake is the Sales and Marketing Director for Splattered Ink.