Place (distribution)
In the past, good distribution was always more important than excellent advertising. And it is still true today that you have to be where your customers are. Make your brand visible, so that people will think about it when they are considering a purchase.
Marketers can identify all possible distribution channels. Together with colleagues from business development, they should be capable of explaining how best to approach each identified customer segment.
Price
Pricing can increase profitability, affect product life cycles and also kill your competition. But get it wrong and your sales will be devastated. An understanding of how sales and volume change with price helps enormously when planning promotions and price changes for specific occasions.
The pricing strategy should be aligned in discussions with product and marketing people. This applies not only to the launch but for the entire product lifecycle. Do not underprice; instead, identify features that justify higher pricing. Pricing is not only about revenues; it is also vital for brand value perception.
Promotion
Channels are fragmentated nowadays, so advertising is not as effective as it used to be. Purchasing decisions are often based on recommendations by friends or old habits and various other factors. In 2015 Google admitted it is possible that altogether 50% of Adwords clicks were accidental.
Focus therefore on content marketing centred around your customers’ needs. An existing customer is always worth significantly more than a future one, so retention is a necessity. You need to take advantage of every single stage of the consumer journey and each step also requires its own metrics. This is the conclusion of a blogpost on the website of the INSEAD business school.
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