Keith Weed believes that digital technology plays a fundamental role in marketing and that the term “digital marketing” is now outdated.

It needs to play a central role in our operations.

In 2022, digital marketers will need to use both a digital media mix and a marketing mix to succeed.

Marketing Mix

The Marketing mix refers to the set of marketing levers that companies use to achieve their business objectives.

A company’s success can be measured by how well known its brand is and how well its products or services sell.

He outlined the four essential tools of this activity, the decision-making levers of Marketing. With the proper application of the Four P’s, a company can find success and manage itself effectively.

The 4p’s of Marketing

Product: What are Its Characteristics and What is Its Usefulness?

The product is the most important part of the marketing mix, everything else revolves around it. When we talk about a product we identify its production, its composition, any variants, the brand that produces it.

Design and naming are both important elements to consider.

You need to identify your target market by studying their persona including: age, sex, profession, purchasing power, and habits.

It is just as important to make people understand how useful the product is, and what benefits can be gained from buying it.

Price: what is the Right Price for My Product?

The product must be priced correctly to satisfy users and maximize profit.

We must assume any promotions when we define the price.

In order to maximize profit, we need to take into account the production and distribution costs while also considering the competition and the purchasing power of our target consumers.

It is essential to analyze the price that the competition applies to similar products and, above all, how much the target audience spends on similar products.

Distribution of the Product / Service on the Market (Place)

In this case we refer to the different ways you can sell your product, either online or in person. I define how to get my product to my target: will the distribution be direct or will I use some distributor?

Instead of using a middleman, I will sell the product directly to the customer so that I can make more money.

If I distribute the product myself, I will have a smaller profit margin. But, I will be able to reach a wider audience.

Promotion: How to Communicate and Attract Attention

The promotion covers all marketing communication activities, sales incentives, branding, and requires a certain investment.

The goal of all communication is to reach the target audience and create curiosity or interest.

The choice of the communication strategy must consider the use of the following tools:

  • offline advertising:  advertising in newspapers, flyers, posters, radio or TV;
  • online advertising: Google advertising , Facebook Ads etc;
  • PR:  offline public relations and also digital pr;
  • e-mail marketing : newsletter, dem etc.

The promotion of a product is the communication to the target audience that is designed to increase awareness and interest in the product.

There are four decision-making levers that can be controlled by marketing to achieve objectives.

The 4 Cs of the Marketing Mix

Consumer

Lauterborn has shifted the focus from the product to the end customer by transforming the Product into the Consumer.

Thus, we need to understand the needs of our target consumers and thoroughly investigate their needs.

This analysis allows us to understand what additional services the customer may need, even if they are not yet aware of them. This diversification sets us apart from our competitors and allows us to offer a more complete product / service.

Cost 

In this case, the price of the good has become the cost incurred by the consumer. However, how much is our customer willing to spend?

We need to understand what value our product/service has for the buyer. If we set a price that is higher than what the target customer is willing to spend, we make it less likely that they will buy it.

Convenience 

Ease of access is an important factor to consider when determining how customers will purchase your product or service. This can be studied by observing the purchasing habits of your target customer.

To make it more relatable, it is beneficial to choose the most practical distribution method for the customer (selling directly or online?). And if online, would the customer prefer a lower shipping cost or a more reliable courier service?

Communication 

The idea is to work on a kind of loyalty rather than one-time consumption. The goal of establishing a lasting relationship with the customer is more important than online advertising in this case. The idea is to work on developing customer loyalty rather than one-time consumption.

The brand can be strengthened by using a slogan that emotionally connects with the user. For example, “irresistible melt-in-your-mouth.”

Whenever you hear the words “Lindt” and “red,” you automatically think about the Lindt chocolate brand and the feeling you get when you eat one of their chocolates.

Benefits of Digital Marketing

Clear Measurement of Campaign Effectiveness

You can tell how many people have clicked on a banner ad to get more information about what is being advertised.

The number of people that have clicked on your advert and then gone on to purchase something as a result of that click can be easily determined, allowing you to see how effective your advert was at driving sales.

Quicker Conversions and Engagement

You can quickly convert customers and keep them engaged throughout the entirety of the customer life cycle.

An example of this would be if you were selling an insurance product. Customers would be able to go from a price comparison website straight to your site and fill in a few details to make a purchase, rather than seeing an advertisement on a traditional channel like television and then having to call.

The likelihood of someone taking that option is much lower than the digital one. You can also connect with customers in a strong way through digital channels. Email marketing is a great way to do that.

Ability to Reach Real niche Target Audiences

Social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn allow you to target ads to specific groups of people, so you can reach your target audience more effectively.

You can for example, segment your audience by job profile or where they studied, in addition to all the regular things like age, geography, and so on.

Create Test and Learn Campaigns

A test and learn campaign is where you compare two different versions of something to see which one works better. The scientific name for this is A/B testing.

Then you will be able to spend your marketing budget more wisely on the area that is more successful.

Greater Shareability

It allows consumers to share content easily and effectively, increasing the reach of your marketing communications.

The reason digital communications are so powerful is because things can go viral very quickly. For example, the Ice Bucket Challenge was a huge success because it was shared so many times. User-generated content is also a great way to get people interested in what you’re doing.

What this means is that consumers can interact and have a say in the type of message that you’re trying to communicate.

Potential for User-Generated Content

The Ice Bucket Challenge is a great example of user-generated content. Celebrities got involved, which then enabled family and friends to do the challenge themselves.

The wider appeal generated by social media was a great advantage that could never have happened using traditional communications alone.

Identification of Key Influencers

You can learn about the people who are helping to spread your message, and use influencers to try to reach more people.

If you want to reach more people with your message, consider using bloggers or other content marketing professionals to help get your word out there.

Benefits of Digital Communications

Small Financial Commitment

Organizations of any size can use digital tools to reach their target audiences, at a small financial cost.

This feature allows you to set a limit on how much you want to spend on advertising on platforms such as Google or Facebook. This ensures that you never go over your budget.

Organic Evolution

If someone shares or engages with your content on social media, it could potentially go viral.

This enables the organization to expand their reach without having to spend any money.

Highly Targeted

An analytics tool like Google Analytics provides you with audience data such as demographics, age, and attitudes, which can give you insights into who is clicking on your website.

This allows you to have a greater understanding of the types of customers that are using your product or service.

Accountable

The digital tools you use can help you understand the complete impact you have on the customer journey, so you can identify any bottlenecks.

When customers leave your website, you know when and where they are doing it. You can then take action to improve that stage of the journey.

Complement Offline Communications

An online infrastructure that is supported by digital communications is essential for companies in order to stay relevant and keep up with their competitors. A company that is using this model effectively is Burberry.

Burberry has a great online presence, so much so that they are trying to integrate digital into their in-store experience.

The company’s goal is to make the transition between the online and offline world as seamless as possible, so that customers feel like they are shopping on the company’s website regardless of how they access it.

Scalability of Digital Communications

Start Small

With a digital communications campaign, you are able to get a lot of insights into how your campaign is doing. One of the benefits of digital communications is that you can start with a small budget. You can monitor your campaign’s progress and increase your budget based on your findings.

Revenue and engagement from digital communication.

You may want to reinvest part of the money you make from a pay-per-click campaign back into the pay-per-click channel because you know it will bring in more money.

You can also start to change the way you communicate digitally.

Small businesses may set up simple Facebook pages to connect with customers.

Evolve

The good thing about evolution is that you don’t have to do it all yourself. You can get user-generated content to help with the process.

This approach should make it easier for your creativity to shine through. Make sure that your digital strategy and your creative content complement each other to get the best results from your chosen channels.

A classic example is that a five-minute video wouldn’t be effective if the goal is to put it on TV.

Integrate

The ability to integrate digital communications across multiple channels enables you to be more targeted and develop a campaign that compliments traditional channels.

For example, many TV campaigns have a short, 30-second ad followed by a longer ad that is posted on YouTube. A classic example is the Super Bowl.

Digital Marketing Mix and Tools

The digital marketing mix is the use of digital technologies to achieve marketing objectives.

  • Google Ads : it is probably the most performing and direct tool. It allows you to show your advertisements on the first page of Google to users who actively search for our product / service.
  • Bing Ads:  the operation is the same as Google Ads, the difference is that in this case the ads are published on the Bing search engine .
  • Facebook (and Instagram) Ads:  Zuckerberg’s social networks are the other main web marketing tools and allow you to reach users with Ads based on the interests and behavior of users.
  • Mail marketing:  one of the most underrated and probably the most effective tools. It reaches users with personalized emails by providing information about the brand, or by announcing promotions.
  • SEO  (Search Engline Optimization): allows you to position the site in the first pages of Google for organic results (therefore not paid). Compared to Goolge Ads it is less expensive, but it brings results only in the medium-long term.
About the Author Brian Richards

See Brian's Amazon Author Central profile at https://amazon.com/author/brianrichards

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