Every business starts with a brilliant idea. After taking into consideration all the moving parts of your ingenious invention, creation or concept, you now need to apply a little marketing theory so that your business begins to thrive. This is how the 5 P’s of marketing will help guide your promotion and generate more leads.

By trial and error, you may have found that Facebook posts on your Facebook fan page don’t really work and posting on Instagram is also a bit of a misnomer if you’re not in the right market but all the gurus have told you this is what you need to do. You may have even tried traditional marketing like networking and pamphlet distribution as well as cold calling, telesales, telemarketing, and all those naughty Sales and marketing words.

Launching your business Or generating leads

Launching your business Or generating leads seems to be an uphill battle and many tough expensive lessons have been learned. The lessons have undoubtedly been hard but you now know that the most important part of building a business be it young or old new or very experienced is building a strategy and a plan before you spend any money. 

The 5 P’s of marketing

Without a doubt you have heard or come across the 5 P’s of marketing and if not this is your chance to set the record straight and give your business the chance it needs to identify and build a market, attract clients, make sales and stand the test of time.

Throughout my years of consulting for clients big and small, I have seen many businesses start and fail because they lack one simple document.

And yes yes you’ve guessed it correctly it’s a marketing strategy, a marketing plan that forms part of the overall business plan.

Most businesses in South Africa fail because of poor planning so getting this right, in the beginning, is essential to launching a new business. And if your business has been operational but struggling it may be time to put a marketing strategy and business plan in place. In fact, it is most definitely the right time to lock yourself away for a couple of hours a day and plan the success of your business.

I’m not a business plan expert as a deal in marketing and sales but knowing how the marketing strategy forms part of the overall business plan and how finding clients is the lifeblood of any business compiling a business plan and understanding the 5 P’s of marketing is essential to getting the results you desire in you which will essentially affect your personal life, your family and your ability to make a contribution back to society.

Business Success

In order for your business to be successful, you need to have a very carefully planned and delicate balance of the 5 P’s. And yes I know this can be a little bit tedious and often boring just remember those days back in school or university where they drummed and maths and science theory into our brains over and over again.

Don’t worry though this theory becomes pleasurable as you see the results of your work. And you guessed right results are cash flow and profit.

Ready to dive into the 5 P’s of marketing?

1 – Product

The first P is Product and this is exactly the product or service that you are selling to your potential customers or that you are taking to market. Put a product of element is R&D, research and development and depending on what type of product or service you’re taking to market research and development may take far more time than you could imagine. And the reason this is a long process is that not only do you need to get the product right but you’ve got to know that it will suit the customers you want to be buying your product or service.

Far too often I see businesses startup, or develop a new product or service and go to market without proper testing. The product itself may be brilliant but without testing and knowing exactly what the market wants you may miss the mark. And in fact, statistics say that one in 10 new products or services go to market and become successful. So when you think you are done with your testing, testing again and again and again. 

Often we test ourselves and we become the guinea pigs to our products and services but the problem is that subconsciously we know what we want to get out of this product and service. The best test you can do is to choose random strangers that fit within your target market to test the product, and tested hard, even try and break it to see how well it lasts and satisfies the needs and wants. 

The same could be said for products and services that you sell online because let’s say you import some and no-name brand watches and although they look stylish and fashionable and possibly expensive do you know if clients really want to wear non-branded items, considering that watches or a fashion item which means they are there to make a statement. Without a doubt, some may enjoy the product but you will never know this until you test the market and tested well.

2 – Price

The second P is PRICE.

Pricing of products is essential to the success of your business. It becomes the ‘make or break‘ element that has the power to catapult your business into the stratosphere or sink it faster than the Titanic.

There are two reasons why the pricing of your products and services is essential:

Number one:

You need to make a profit and knowing your numbers will help you buy low and sell high. That’s the object of it of any business, isn’t it? Yes…

The second consideration of pricing is that the market must want to buy your product at that price. Pricing of products to high will make it elitist which if that’s your target market based on the product and service you offer is not a bad thing, however, if you’re aiming for a wider audience you need to be in the pricing range that that audience can tolerate. 

When I was younger my father always used the analogy of a Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen. Both our cars, both have four wheels, both have doors, engines and consume fuel but sell for vastly different prices. 

Why do some people buy Mercedes-Benz and other people buy Volkswagens when they sensually do the same thing? 

Besides affordability, there is an emotional component to choosing the car of your dreams. So your products and service need to be priced within an affordable bracket that encompasses the needs and wants of the emotional purchase.

3 – Place

The third P is PLACE.

The place is where your products and services will be presented to clients in order for them to make a purchase. Sounds simple right? But there are so many factors to consider when positioning the placement of your products and services. 

• Will clients travel to buy from you? 
• Do they want to buy online? 
• Are there able to buy online, in other words, do they have Internet access and credit cards to pay online?

And do they trust online as a place to make purchases especially if it’s a large ticket item? Another consideration is the changing of habits I how people buy. If they are used to walking into a retail shop to buy and all of a sudden they can buy online, how long will it take to change this habit? Fortunately, e-commerce is growing in popularity, more and more people are buying online and trusting online payment gateways. The figures can be seen by how much money is spent on e-commerce stores is like takealot.com, Amazon, eBay, and others.

As you can see there are many factors to consider when placing your product in front of a customer. 

4 – People

The 4th P is PEOPLE.

The 4th P which is actually an addition to the original 4p’s is people.

A business thrives because of people selling and buying. The economy thrives because people sell and buy and those people are your customers, your staff, your suppliers and all those they interact with your business. 

Identifying a customer is a culmination of your product and service research that matches the needs and wants of this target audience. But at the same time, careful attention needs to be placed on the staff that serves your audience as they represent your brand and have the ability to do immense damage by delivering poor or bad service. Unfortunately, the true colours of staff only show after the probation period.

So Smart recruitment is essential in getting the right staff to operate in your business and represent your brand.

5 – Promotion

The 5th P is PROMOTION

This brings us to the final p of the marketing mix – promotion.

Promotion is the act of getting your business in front of your potential target audience. This is easier said than done and the reason for this is that we are in a very competitive world. Your audience is bombarded with messages everywhere they go. You cannot drive down any main road at any time or city and not see hundreds if not thousands of billboards newspaper promotions street pole ads and at the same time hearing non-stop advertising on the radio.

Bringing these five elements together product, price, place, people, and promotion are essential components of marketing theory that will help you position and promote your products in a way that will generate more leads when you need them. 

Remember the more you know about your audience, the more you know how your product will relate to them and improve their lives, the more you know how they like to buy, and how to get in front of them the better your chances of succeeding in business especially in a tough economy that is highly competitive. 

Planning your marketing approach is essential. Remember what you plan you can measure what you measure you can improve on what you can improve on you can turn into success.

If you want to attract more leads and convert these leads into paying clients, contact us and we will show you how to get this done effectively. We offer an initial marketing intervention free of charge to kickstart your marketing and promotion success. Contact Us here to book