What is Marketing Mix?

Marketing Mix is a combination of different variables that any organization uses to attain its business objectives and maximize customer satisfaction. It represents the mixture of 7Ps – product, place, price, promotion, people, process and physical evidence – to optimize the revenue generation capacity. The four components of the Marketing Mix are:

• Product – It is the good or service produced by the organization for satisfying a consumer’s need. Companies must develop their product to differentiate it from the competition while also addressing the needs of their target users.
• Price – The selling price of a product should reflect your consumer’s perception of its actual value. Companies determine the price based on their strategy for a particular market segment.
• Place – The point of sale (POS) of a product -from a storefront to an E-commerce website – can be leveraged for marketing purposes. The target audience prefers certain POS outlets over others for reasons like convenience. Companies should ensure optimum distribution and efficient supply chain logistics for those outlets for more significant sales.
• Promotion – Promotion involves a company’s marketing/communications strategy to enhance its revenue and brand appeal. It includes advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, personal selling and public relations across online and offline sales channels.
• People – The company’s employees are responsible for delivering the service to customers. Organizations should leverage their potential to enhance customer satisfaction.
• Process – Organisations must work on ensuring that the business processes are efficient enough to minimize costs and maximize profit margins.
• Physical Evidence – This component is vital in service-based industries. Companies should ensure that they have physical evidence of delivering the service to the customer.

What is Promotion Mix?

Promotion helps organizations stay ahead of their competitors as it targets different consumer segments to increase product visibility. Some of the elements of Promotion Mix include:

• Advertising – Advertising is a marketing communication method where the company pays an advertiser in radio, print, broadcast, online media etc., to promote their product.
• Direct Marketing – Organizations use this method to approach clients individually and promote their product through mailers, messages, phone calls or personal meetings.
• Personal Selling – The company approaches a select group of customers to sell their product. They prefer the element of personalisation and exclusivity, which makes them open to this promotional method. Although expensive and time-consuming, personal selling is ideal for premium products.
• Sales Promotion – This method uses discounts, coupons and other offers to attract customers to purchase a product. It is effective during certain events or festive occasions.
• Public Relations – Companies employ this method to either promote or change their brand image. They use tools like press conferences, interviews, public appearances, volunteer projects etc., to increase brand awareness and attract target consumers with their messaging.

Differences between Marketing Mix and Promotion Mix

Although Promotion Mix is a part of the Marketing Mix setup, there are critical differences between the two areas:

Conclusion

Although there are differences between Marketing Mix and Promotion Mix, both of them are essential to attract their target consumers to purchase a product or service. Companies must formulate strategies to use the different Marketing Mix elements to their advantage or risk losing their competitive edge.

Also see:

• MCQs on Marketing Mix