I HAVE A PRODUCT/ SERVICE, HOW DO I MARKET IT EFFECTIVELY?

By Ms C, in-house marketing champion

So, you have that fabulous product or service and you’re ready to share it with the world! But what do you do now?

Most people spend lots of time and effort thinking of that perfect product and service and look into all the intricate aspects of how to make it run smoothly or perform great functions that help make our lives even better. But they’re stumped when it comes to moving that product or service out of the door and right to their target audiences. Worse still, they might be unsure of their real target audiences and how to reach out to them.

Welcome to the whole new world of marketing, a world which changes all too quickly with different trends, fads and even fantasies taking centre stage at different points in time.

There’s lots of different ways of marketing a product, understanding the product or service landscape and the ways external and internal factors that affect the sales or distribution of a product is important.

No matter how marketing and distribution methods change, the fundamentals still remain important and understanding the marketing mix is essential to understanding your product or service positioning, your product or service’s unique selling points as well as the promotional methods and opportunities available to you.

What is the marketing mix?

The Marketing Mix 4 P’s:

Product – Having a product that meets the requirements and expectation of the consumers and performs the required tasks or functions.

Place – Making the product readily available for purchase by the target audience whether through retail shops, distributors, mail order or via e-commerce platforms.

Price – The pricing should be competitive and reflect a true value for the price you’re paying. The pricing usually depends on varying factors including the positioning and quality or features of the product.

Promotion – Advertising (print/ outdoor/ online media), public relations, sales promotions, personal selling and digital tools including social media are all key sales and marketing tools for any organisation. Promotion can be done through various communication methods that can be utilised more effectively to fit specific target audiences.

The extended 7 P’s:

People – People are the front face of the organisation and they communicate the brand and product as well as service offerings to the target audiences. Everyone involved in the organisation needs to be able to represent the brand and product/ service offerings well and share the same enthusiasm and service levels.

Processes – Processes define the everyday workflow and the quality of the goods and services that are delivered the end user. Having clear processes and good customer service standards to adhere to are essential to having a great brand or product experience.

Physical Evidence – Physical evidence refers to the physical cues available when users experience a product or service. The outcome of the delivery of the final physical product or service determines the user satisfaction. A lot of elements affect the final satisfaction levels of the client including perceived experiences and also the processes and environment where the product or service is delivered.

Once you’re ready with the right focus and you clearly understand your product and service, it is important to have the right tools and people to help in your marketing outreach.

This can get complicated, but if you’re able to cross the first hurdle of being your own product and service specialist, you can always look for the right agency partner to help with the following:

Market Research

Finding out what’s available in the market and what are your customer’s concerns

Target Audiences and Marketing Objectives

Defining realistic goals and marketing objectives over short to long term periods are important in keeping track of what you want to achieve with each campaign whether it is purely brand awareness, engagement or a campaign meant to drive sales

Creative Concepts and Marketing Collaterals

Creating the right collaterals, visuals, copywriting and content that appeals to your target audiences and creatively sells your product or service to them, as well as helps you achieve your defined goals and objectives

Campaign Planning and Promotional Outreach

Once you have your tools ready, it’s time to analyse and utilise the most effective methods to reach out to your target audiences depending on their geographic location and demographics.

Campaigns can run over 3,6 or 12 month periods or longer and it is important to design an effective plan that rolls out correctly (possibly in different phases) and continually excites and provokes the audiences to think of and embrace the product or service with the right call-to-action (CTAs) that help you meet your objectives

Constant Review and Planning

Every campaign and promotional effort needs to be reviewed regularly against the right KPIs for effectiveness – whether the initial campaign objectives have been met, gathering feedback from campaigns and working on the next campaign to make it better!