When we looked at the marketing mix in previous blogs we talked more about actual products, but can the marketing mix work if you perform a service as your business? First thing we need to do is set the stage by looking briefly at the five characteristics that make a service: Lack of ownership, Intangibility, Inseparability, Perishability and Heterogeneity.  I can see you scratching your heads so let’s spend a little time discussing these.

Characteristics of a service

Lack of ownership-You don’t own a service and you can’t put it into storage like an actual item. Services are used or hired. For example, a painter comes to your house to give the outside a fresh coat of paint.  His service lasts until he finished. While you now have a good looking house, you cannot take the painter’s work home with you.

Intangibility- You are not able to hold or touch a service like you could a can of paint. A service is something that the customer experiences. Experiences are not physical things.

Inseparability-You cannot separate the service from the service provide. If you sold widgets, people could buy one and take it home. But you need the service provider to do what you need done. You needed the painter to paint your house.

Perishability-Services last a specific amount of time and you can’t store it to use later. Think electric company. You can’t save the electricity although you can save money by taking certain measures. Your electricity started on a certain date; and if you don’t pay your bill, it will be cut off on a certain date.

Heterogeneity-Businesses have systems and procedures they follow to provide consistent service, but is very hard to make each service experience the same.  It’s like two identical plane trips may be different because of things like the weather and the screaming baby that are beyond the airline’s control.

When it comes to your marketing mix you need to mind your Ps and Qs, or at least your Ps. We have spent a lot of time talking about the 4 Ps of the marketing mix, but there are 3 more Ps that are often mentioned in addition to the first 4 Ps. One set of the next group include packaging, positioning and people.

First a quick reminder of the first 4 Ps:

Product- Based upon the marketing mix strategy, what products and or services fit your business? On the service side, perhaps you own a 24-hour emergency service that arrives at the home within 30 minutes. On products, your business decides to carry and use top grade Kohler plumbing fixtures. Using an online marketing mix strategy, you could offer a free e-book to educate the homeowner about the value and benefits of these products and services.

Price- What's your Price position in the market? Based upon the target market you've chose, are you the discount provider, mid-range, affordable option, or the premium price business? The Denver Plumbing business operates using premium pricing in their marketing mix.

Place- Place is both where you offer your products and services, and where you will market your business. Going back to the Denver Plumbing business, they target the South Denver Upper Income neighborhood to provide their services. Many of these homeowners are busy, two-income professionals who use the Internet, social media, and mobile phones to locate local businesses. It makes sense for this business to use online marketing as well conventional means to reach these homeowners.

Promotion- What media will be used to deliver your marketing message? The Denver Plumbing business decides to use paid online ads, search engine optimization, and social media to spread the message about their products and services online.

Your company has a vision and mission. Being able to develop a strategy using the marketing mix module will make it easier for your company to achieve its goals. Creating an effective strategy will allow you to achieve this success in a reasonable period of time. By designing a marketing mix strategy, you will be closer to having a complete synergy of what you need. You might want to start by learning the basics in a marketing mix strategy that you can apply to your company so that you will come out ahead of your competition in the search engines.

Are you a small or medium size company that is short on time and resources to develop and implement a marketing plan? Or maybe you are struggling to put together the right marketing mix for your product?

The right online marketing strategies have the ability to transform your business. Rather than chasing and interrupting prospects and buyers for your products and services, you are able to use a variety of approaches to attract them online. 

The world of Internet marketing is filled with all kinds of sexy, shiny marketing approaches you can use. There is blogging, Facebook, Twitter, viral video using YouTube, email marketing, webinars, and photo sharing on Pinterest. No wonder it's easy to lose sight of the fundamental marketing strategies and getting your marketing mix right online.

Let's look at the difference between Internet marketing strategy versus marketing mix, and how you can figure out what works best for your business.

What Is an Internet Marketing Strategy?

Your company’s vision helps you to determine your goals; the sales volume you want to reach, the number of repeat customers you want on the books, the market penetration you want in your identified area, etc.

Your marketing plan consists of several marketing strategies and marketing activities to help reach your organizations’ stated goals. Each marketing strategy identifies a particular target market, determines your position in the market, and what you’ll do to place your products and/or services in front of your prospects.