How Do You Get To The Big P…Profit?
When starting a new business, rebranding or growing a current business, you have to look closely at your marketing efforts. In order to get to the BIG P...PROFIT, you have to identify and begin to work creatively and efficiently on your marketing cocktail! The cocktail or aperitif so to speak in this case should include many different ingredients and serve to stimulate and entice your customers appetite.
Some of you may or may not be familiar with the four essential P's of marketing: product, place, price and promotion. These are extremely valuable ingredients to a good marketing plan that aids in achieving growth and success. In today's ever changing environment and economy, where the need to pivot and be flexible is an everyday occurrence, some additional P's need to also be taken into account and addressed. These additional factors are People, Process and Physical Evidence.
Let's do a quick rundown of what each of these topics mean to you and your business. To start, what is your Product (Services)? What are you providing to your customers? You have to clearly identify your product or service so people know exactly what they are getting when they reach out to you. The second P is for Place. Place can refer to your physical location, but it also refers to making clear to your customers how they will be receiving their products (services). Do you have a brick and mortar location? Do you have a good and informative website? Do you do drop shipping? How does your shipping and handling work? Do you have an online store? What type of fulfillment center do you run?
The next up in the cocktail shaker of P's is price. You must be very clear with your customers what your price is and what they can expect to receive for that price. A lot of thought and research needs to go into the area of pricing. Your pricing needs to be enticing, project quality and ensure that you are covering your costs and reaping a profit. Next on the ingredient list is promotion. Your promotion efforts should be comprehensive and detailed. It should include such items as sales techniques, how and when you will be advertising, your social media plan, outreach informational materials like brochures, direct mail, listservs, networking activities and your overall branding efforts.
The next set of P's involve People, Process and Physical Evidence. The satisfaction of both your internal and external People (customers) is a significant factor in how well your business is doing and how well it will do in the future. We live in a world where people speak loudly and use ratings and reviews to share information about your business and how they feel about it. Your staff and your customers need to feel as if they are an important part of your business and that they are valued.
We now move into your Process, which includes how your product and/or services are delivered. Your service delivery should be designed with the customer in mind and should be advertised as such. Additionally, are your database systems user friendly and manageable? Customers need to easily navigate through your processes and systems in order to conduct business with you.
Lastly, the 7th and final P is Physical evidence. Physical Evidence works closely with promotion. Promotion is the planned marketing activity and the latter is the physical evidence of it, the hard good or tangible portion of your marketing plan. These are tactile business objects including your building, website, business cards, annual reports, brochures, logo and signage. This is what creates your business image, look and recognizability.
As you can see, there are several steps and different measures of ingredients to this perfect little potion called Marketing. Each ingredient in your marketing cocktail has to be curated carefully and the right amounts will make for a perfectly blended concoction that your customers will be happy to consume! Our Marketing 101 - The Fundamentals of Marketing workshop can provide you a more in-depth training on Marketing your business. For more information on our workshops and on learning how to establish, develop or grow your business, contact us at hiveconnex@gmail.com, or visit our website at www.hiveconnex.com.