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Marketing today encompasses a dizzying array of techniques, including market research, branding, inbound and outbound marketing, search engine marketing, content creation, influencer campaigns, and more.
Marketing can seem complicated, especially for an executive who doesn’t have direct contact with his or her marketing team. However, there is a easy basis for all marketing, which is: American Marketing Association calls the “four Ps”: product, place, price and promotion.
Product background
You consider you have invented (or acquired) the neatest thing since sliced bread. However, before you begin a company, conduct market research to determine whether there is actually a market for it and whether it is willing to pay its price. According to Small Business Association (SBA), “market research combines consumer behavior and economic trends to validate and improve your business idea.”
Market research could be done by hiring a specialist company, using an online platform, or using a DIY alternative like Survey Monkey. Here’s what you would like to answer:
- Is there a demand for your product or service?
- Where do your customers live and can your company reach them?
- Are similar options already available and how much do they cost?
Once you are sure that the product or service you propose to offer will have a large audience, it is time to move on to the next “P” – place.
Product location
If your business is not focused on a large e-commerce platform like Amazon, locating your business is essential. In my company’s case, after launching our brick-and-mortar franchised restaurant as a food truck in Miami, we knew where our customers were, which led to our first physical location — but our experience is not standard for every company.
The place will revolve around the kind of business you run and the results of your market research. Here are some examples of “places”:
- Homemade – A superb place to start a DIY business.
- Retail – storefronts, shopping malls, airports, pop-ups.
- Mobile – for example a food truck.
- Commercial – for businesses that do not require foot traffic.
- Industrial – for manufacturing and distribution activities.
The price is good
Without an advanced business education, analyzing all the aspects that affect price could be difficult. From a purely marketing perspective, knowing the economic status of the goal consumer is paramount. In short, how long will the market endure?
Achieving greater profit while maintaining market-level prices may require cutting costs. Here are some suggestions:
- Conduct a detailed cost evaluation.
- Negotiate with suppliers to get better deals.
- Implement portion/product size control measures.
- Implement energy conservation practices.
Advance
Now the fun part. Promotion is where creativity achieves maximum effect. (*4*)The fact is: “Brands that are willing to take risks and think outside the box often stand out in a crowded marketplace.”
When considering about promotion, you could think of key chains with a company logo, billboards and signage in general. While these could also be excellent promotional vehicles, there are newer and more exciting options. Consider how your business can profit from pop-up locations outside of your major retail location, or offer your customers automotive magnets and allow them to be “brand ambassadors.” Presence on social media is also mandatory (and this is a separate topic).
Here are some specific ideas that can assist your company raise its profile a few notches:
1. Gifts
Consider giving an item that represents the brand. In our case, it’s a taco gift, but it will possibly even be a lanyard with your logo. Giveaways should all the time be a line item in your marketing budget, including promoting and public relations, because nothing builds goodwill like freebies.
Here are 4 reasons why handouts work:
- It creates brand recognition and unforgettable impressions.
- Possibility of sharing on social media.
- Reaches latest customers and builds loyalty among existing ones.
- It allows you to collect data, e.g. e-mail addresses.
Giveaways—whether it’s a product, a promotional item, or a free service offer—drive community engagement, brand awareness, relationships, and social media buzz. Always use social channels to share key giveaway events before, during, and after the campaign.
2. Guerrilla campaigns
Many businesses underestimate the value of a properly executed guerrilla marketing campaign. But first, what exactly is a guerrilla marketing campaign? According to the Entrepreneur Small Business Encyclopedia, it means pursuing conventional profit, sales, and growth goals by using unconventional means, reminiscent of expanding offerings during economic downturns to encourage customers to buy more.
It is essential to design a campaign using guerrilla marketing tactics in a way that can allow you to measure its impact by using a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics. Here’s how:
- Define clear goals.
- Track online engagement and monitor media coverage.
- Calculate your return on investment (ROI) to ensure the money spent was value the sales and/or customer engagement.
Here’s a personal example: A customer ordered food from my restaurant for home delivery, and when it arrived, raccoons stole it. She recorded the incident and posted it on social media, and it was then picked up by local news. We worked to get the video uploaded to some of the greater meme accounts on Instagram and Facebook, and it got more attention than any print or TV ad. All it cost us was a $100 e-gift card to the customer to compensate for her stolen food.
3. “Old-fashioned” PR tricks
PR stunts used to have a bad fame, but they’re becoming more common again—so long as you’re ethical. A PR stunt can often be an easy-to-implement, unconventional marketing strategy. Before we were a brick-and-mortar restaurant, we ran a food truck. We had friends and family line up all day to create the illusion of a crowded food truck. Promoting the small crowds that crowded the food truck drew even larger crowds.
Eventually, the variety of fans using the food truck became so large that we had to open a physical location – and then one other, and one other. We have now turn into a successful franchise business.
4. Strategic alliances
Look for firms that align with, but don’t compete with, your product or service to create cross promotions. For example, look for a partnership with a local sports team. Research shows that 66% “lifelong” sports fans take motion after seeing brand sponsorship.
In relation to the 4 Ps of selling (product, place, price and promotion), I would really like to emphasize one “C” – creativity. Creativity is key in marketing, but don’t get carried away: all the time keep the customer in mind and do every little thing you do to be relevant to the brand.