The four P’s in the marketing mix are more valid and important today than ever before:
• The right Product: is there a demand for what you sell?
• The right Place: Location, location, location. In the pre-internet world, it was about your bricks and mortar location. Today it’s about your location in the mind. Do you create a pre-need pre-search preference for your business in your customer’s minds BEFORE they go online?
• The right Price: not necessarily the lowest price, but at a competitive price and at a profit.
• The right Promotion: in the electronic age your most powerful new media strategy is to use broadcast to inspire, internet to inform.
Of course, in previous SoundADvice tips, we’ve told you about an important fifth P, your People: do you have courteous, well-trained and knowledgeable people who will keep your customers coming back for more and create more word of mouth, online and in person?
But there is a sadly overlooked sixth P in successful marketing: Planning your marketing. And the most important thing about planning your marketing is…planning your marketing.
You have deadlines for ordering your merchandise, hiring that new sales manager, renewing your lease and submitting your taxes. But marketing appears to have no deadline and can always wait until tomorrow. Not so.
So, what’s the solution? Set aside one hour a day, five days a week, to focus on the most high-leverage selling activity on your to do list…planning your marketing.