One popular definition of marketing is known as the five P’s of marketing. The five P’s refer to the type of decisions that you will have to make when you market your products. Here are the Five P’s to help you plan and clarify your marketing direction:
Product – The physical product or the service that you are offering to the customer. When marketing your product, you need to think about the key features and benefits your customers want or need, including styling, quality, warranty, and customer service support.
People – People refer to the staff and salespeople who work for your business, including yourself. The people decisions that you will make are those that refer to how you want your customer service to interact with your customers. How will they be instructed to work with the customers?
When you have great customer service, you create a positive experience for your customers. In turn, existing customers may spread the word about your great service and you can win referrals.
Price – This refers to your pricing strategy for your products and services and how it will affect your customers. Pricing decisions are made based on profit margins, pricing that competitors use, taxes and the demand in the market.
Promotion – The methods used to communicate the features and benefits of your products or services to your target customers. You will have to decide what you can afford to spend on promotions based on the expected return on investment (ROI).
Place – Place (or placement) decisions are those associated with channels of distribution that serve as the means for getting the product to the target customers. These decisions regard how you will sell and distribute your products or services to the target customers.