How 7P’s of Marketing Mix can be used in Digital Marketing?

If you all have undertaken higher education marketing degree or course you all have studied the 4P’s of marketing: product, price, promotion, place, originally intended for product-focused organizations.

The 4p’s eventually developed into 7P’s, which added people, process and physical evidence to the model to accommodate for changes in buying behaviours and technologies, as well as to be more accurate for the growing amount service-based organizations.

The 7P’s of marketing mix is the combination of elements used by a business to enable it to meet the needs and wants of its customers. They combine them to perform complete elements, marketing department needs to review to promote the organization successfully.

The 7P’s help companies define key issues that affect the marketing of its products and services and is often referred to as the 7P’s framework for marketing mix.

1. Product

Product or service is the heart of any business, without it, everything else will fail sooner or later. Some businesses find success by simply putting all the eggs in their basket, but this is not a wise decision.

Things to consider:

· Is my product new or original?

· Is there a demand for my product?

· Is my product functional or appealing?

2. Place

Where can a consumer acquire the product?

Place is where your product is distributed. Today this can be a brick-and-mortar, an e-commerce platform, and anything in between. Fortunately, with online marketing, the whole world can have access to your store, no matter where you are.

Things to consider:

· Will my product be more successful online or in a store?

· Will my product succeed in another neighbourhood, city, or country?

· Do I need more than one location to distribute my product?

3. Price

What does the consumer exchange for the product?

Your price needs to be fair and profitable. But “price” doesn’t necessarily mean the money the consumer exchanges for product. Instead, “price could represent goods, time, effort or any other resource that’s up for trade.

Things to consider:

· Is my product’s perceived financial and social value reflected by price?

· Is my product sufficiently profitable?

· Am I able to offer discounts or promotion in the future?

Price is one of the biggest challenging factors to decide on, but it could ultimately decide the course of your business. Put a lot of research into what people will trade for your product.

4. Promotion

Promotion is how consumers discover your product. This can be through media or simply how the stores are laid out whatever the product is sold. It is essentially the full scope of the marketing communications aspect of your product.

Things to consider:

· Do I need to build a brand around my product?

· Do I need to advertise my product?

· Do I need to change my methods or strategy?

Promotion requires the most planning, and needs to span far enough into the future how you understand how your brand and product will develop and evolve over time.

5. People

What sort of service does the consumer receive?

Your people stand between your product and the consumer. Poor customer service is more than enough to kill a brand’s reputation with a consumer, even when the product is great.

Things to consider:

· Are my services people friendly and helpful?

· Do my service people represent my product?

· Are my service people willing to positively influence my product?

Choose your partners, affiliates, and employees wisely because they become part of your brand.

6. Process

What sort of coordination is necessary to receive the product?

Your process is every step between your product and the consumer. Of course, from your point of view, million things need to take place before the customer even place their first order. An e-commerce website needs to be built, along with a marketing strategy, and a logistics system etc.

Things to consider:

· Is my process enhancing my product to generate revenue?

· Are there tools or services that will improve my process?

· Is my process simple and automated?

7. Physical Evidence

It is tangible evidence of your product. A box of cereal, straight teeth, and shipping notifications are all considered “proof” that the consumer received the product.

Things to consider:

· Will takeaways fill in a void in your product’s perceived value?

· Do the packaging and distribution method enhance the perceived value?

· Does the product represent the communicated message?

HOW CAN YOU USE THEM IN DIGITAL MARKETING?

1. Product

It’s incredibly important the users entering your website see your product’s feature and services. With the rapidly increasing popularity of Youtube, companies are now paying them to sponsor their products by making unboxing videos eg- Technical Guruji, Gogi Tech etc. This is a great example of how you can share your product's features to millions of customers.

On your website, you can make your product stand out by using indicative images. Companies like Apple and Dyson, use stunning images to promote their product’s features.

2. Place

It might seem impossible that the distribution can happen in a digital landscape however, some businesses solely rely on it. Uber, for example, has many drivers waiting for the golden phone call via its app to pick up a passenger. The user can easily see where the driver is and can even contact them directly through digital media.

Another example that can be used with fast-food chain companies like Dominos shows live updates to tell you when your order is being delivered, and even tells you when it’s in the oven.

3. Price

There are many strategies you can implement on your website, which can make your product stand out to your customers:

• Discount codes
• Online vouchers
• Price cutting (20% off etc)
• Packages and bundles

These techniques have worked very successfully on websites in the past. Amazon India is a fantastic example of this, generating Rs. 750 crores(within 36 hours) during it Great Indian Festival.

4. Promotion

Now this a very easy one to fit in digital. There are so many effective ways to use promotion in digital marketing:

• E-banners
• Email
• Websites
• Social Media
• SEO
• PPC
• YouTube
• Video Advertising
• Web Forums
• Blogging
• Podcasts
• Digital PR
• E-newsletters
• Social Influencers

And many more.

5. People

With the advancement of technology and AI, the marketing mix element of People is becoming more widely used online. Thousands of websites now use chat bots to contact users directly to answer their needs. Social Media is also a fantastic service to help customers answer their questions regarding a product. If you take a look at Vodaphone’s Twitter account and click on “Tweets & Replies” you can see the extraordinary work the customer service team do to help their clients.

6. Process

Although Process is commonly related to the processes of product delivery, an e-commerce website can have similar traits. With the amount on online purchases increasing at a substantial rate, the ‘journey’ of a user entering a website and then buying a product is more important than ever. The role of a User Experience designer is to make that user journey as easy as possible through attractive website design. Other technical aspects of a website can also effect the process of a users journey:

• Website Speed — People are becoming more impatient, if it takes too long for a webpage to load, you could loose potential customers.
• Device Optimisation — With the majority of people browsing on smart phones and tablets, can your website adapt to all devices?
• E-commerce Optimisation — How easy is it for a user to make a payment online? Can someone make a payment from a different country? How quickly can a payment be processed?
• Conversion Optimisation — How many steps does it take for a user to make a conversion? Can you improve these steps?

Process is all about thinking how you can improve a users journey. Always think about the customer first and what their expectations are when interacting with your website.

7. Physical Evidence

Physical evidence in a digital world? Surely not! Well…we have a question for you:

When was it the last time you made an online purchase based on reviews?

This is one of the biggest examples of physical evidence that can be found online. From TripAdvisor to TrustPilot, these review/comparison websites use the physical evidence from public reviews to make products stand out from their competitors.

Have you ever liked a product so much, that you shared your thoughts on social media? This can also be classed as physical evidence because you are sharing your experiences to the public. Many social influencers promote and review products, which helps the customer make a decision during the buying process.