The 4 P’s of E-Marketing

The internet has caused the traditional marketing mix to paradigm shift into a modern marketing mix for e-businesses. The originator of the marketing mix, Neil H. Borden, shaped the knowledge and set the standard for marketing within businesses worldwide. The 4 P's, product, price, place, and promotion, came about in a time where the internet wasn't around yet. However, this universal marketing mix plays a major role in today's internet marketing strategies.

Product

First P in the Marketing Mix

Product is the actual product or service that your business provides for the consumer (B2C) or another business (B2B). Websites are how a business presents its products or services to the public on the internet. It's recommended to invest in a well-designed e-commerce site if you are a retailer. An effective e-commerce site is not only aesthetically pleasing to the viewer, but also embraces a simple, convenient functionality. Investing in a solution that focuses on the user experience is vital.

If your e-business is selling a service, remember this is intangible to the consumer. Customer reviews on sites such as Yelp, Google, and Angie's List can be displayed on your services site. Videos featuring demos or testimonials are a great marketing tool for your brand. Investing in SEO, social media marketing and brand reputation management is a strategy that must be included in your e-marketing plans.

Price

Second P in the Marketing Mix

Inform the consumer of your prices online and through your advertisements. You will most likely not turn off the consumer by displaying prices on ads, be it a PPC, Banner, Contextual, or an Organic ad listed on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). Your ads will get a better click through rate (CTR) and you will receive more emails, tweets, and conversions when you don't beat around the bush on your product or services price.

If you're a high-end service business, keep in mind that it's okay to display your high-end prices. Don't worry about your competition getting insight on your prices for displaying your prices. Stay true to your high-end service and you will prevail in your market.

Placement

Third P in the Marketing Mix

As the owner of your E-business, you should manage your placement on major search engines, vertical search engines/guides and local searches, affiliates, and display ads. Major search engines, such as Google, utilize algorithms that pick up on keywords through your site. The content on your site needs to be search engine friendly. If your e-business does not render on searches that use relative keywords, then you are not managing your e-businesses placement effectively.

Search yourself on vertical search engines/guides (such as business.com) and local search (such as local.google.com). Business directories and vertical searches are crucial for your business to flourish in the e-marketing mix. Localized search can make or break you in this day and age, as more consumers are going viral and researching products before making a purchase.

Working on placement through your affiliates to develop a well-to-do profiting network, will help your businesses productivity. Cross advertising and word of mouth from affiliated businesses will help you bring in new clientele.

Placement of your promotions as in display advertising can affect your e-business. Properly producing displays, banners ads, and emails will promote your business the right way when you keep them designed and targeted to the audience at hand. Create polished designs with catchy phrases and then place them on a working platform. Then, you're ready to "push" your product or service.

Promotion

Fourth P in the Marketing Mix

The web doesn't care if your e-business is B2C or B2B, so your promotions and online strategies need to be balanced. Balance your promotions on industry related sites, search marketing, social media, and your public relations. Promotion ties in brand awareness within your demographic.

Groupon and Livingsocial have recently dominated the Web 2.0 space by finding frugal consumers to try out new products and services. Keep an eye on this type of promotion as they have proven to bring in new clientele. Also, focus on SEO/SEM/PPC to create hearty search engine promotion and placement. Strategic back linking, a superior directory and content will help set a standard for your brand.

Use social media to promote your brand; it's a free and simple way to create brand awareness. Manage your major social sites effectively, obtain a strong number of followers, and promote your digital content. You will have guaranteed success when you properly place your product and service in the social media world.

Public relations and reputation management are important when promoting and creating brand awareness.  The objective is to get your brand out there in every way possible, but also in a positive manner. Find the best web based marketing channel, keep up with the new ones (such as video marketing) and you're set.

In Conclusion

Balancing the 4 P's in your marketing strategy on the web, will bring in more business capital. And who doesn't like more money?

If you have any questions on the 4 P's of e-Marketing and how your e-business can use the 4 P's, contact Hudson Horizons!