Cooking is my favorite thing. It’s so much fun to find new recipes and learn new ingredients. In addition, the results are (usually) delicious. Finding new recipes and ingredients is absolutely delightful.
A meal that I enjoy making is grilled cheese – but not just any old grilled cheese. Instead, I use vegetable ingredients and add two spices: butter and mayonnaise (trust me).
If I were to make grilled cheese for myself, I would have to add a few things. First, all of my ingredients have to be vegetable due to my dietary restrictions. Second, I would add two more spices: butter and mayonnaise (trust me).
Cheese and bread are a great duo in themselves. But with a few additions, a nice duo becomes an excellent mix – one that I am always excited to eat.
Like a perfect sandwich, any marketing structure requires good strategies or “ingredients” that make it great. These “ingredients” are commonly referred to as a marketing mix and can be grouped into four categories: product, pricing, placement and advertising.
While the marketing mix describes the basics for product Marketing, it has no place for Services Marketing. This is where the expanded marketing mix comes in. And just like my vegan grilled cheeses, some additional changes can take your service marketing structure to the next level.
Let us examine here what an extended marketing mix means and how it can help
Extended marketing mix vs. Marketing mix
The Marketing mix Pillars work together to help you make business decisions that define marketing strategies and activities. Recognizing these pillars shows what you need, where your company excels and where it can improve.
The four pillars of the original marketing mix are as follows:
- product – Your company sells it.
- space – This identifies How They sell the product to customers in their preferred way of shopping. For example, do you sell your product on a website or in a physical store?
- price – This determines how much money you will need to sell your product to meet sales targets while remaining within the overall price ranges set by the industry.
- promotion – Here you specify the methods with which you involve customers. With advertising, sales, PR, sales and advertisements, companies usually communicate with their target market.
Notice how the marketing mix works together, of course. Products need a price, a location, and promotions to reach a specific audience. Promotions need a product, price, and location for these messages to be effective. However you look at the mix, you will find out how the other three fit.
On the other hand, the expanded marketing mix is just that – one extension of the original pillars. Instead of just four components, there are three more. These three allow for a more complete, updated mix.
The expanded marketing mix came about when marketers noticed that the original was out of date and needed some additional pillars. With the additions, the marketing mix now enables service marketing.
What is the advanced marketing mix?
The expanded marketing mix describes three more Ps added to the original four. People, processes and physical services create space for service marketing and round off a complete marketing mix method. Marketers can use the advanced marketing mix to refine a structure when their company sells a service rather than a physical product.
- People – Describes the people behind the company. Regardless of the role, the employees of the product are as important as the customers. They stand up for the company and communicate the value of the company to their customers.
Example: The baristas in my local café ensure an exceptional customer experience. Of course the latte is good, but my favorite barista greets me by name and knows my order, and that ultimately always brings me back. A company is only as good as the people behind the scenes.
- Processes – Indicates how you meet customer expectations. Describe what you will do to provide a fantastic customer experience every time. Consider creating Standard flow (SOPs) to solidify processes.
Example: Let’s look at the coffee shop scenario again. Baristas must follow a recipe when preparing various drinks to ensure that the customer receives his order as he expects it.
- Physical evidence – Write down the physical elements needed to complete the mix. Even when a company provides services, there are physical aspects that companies use to delight customers and differentiate themselves from competitors, such as advertising materials.
Example: The café in my neighborhood thrives and defines itself as a local company among the mass of coffee chains in my region. Everything is local – the beans, mugs, and decor are from the Boston area – so it’s different from a massive chain.
The expanded blend works like the original with the rest of the blend.
First, let’s talk about how the three Ps can intertwine. People in your company they have to follow Processes put in place with physical evidence. We can say that too Processes Defined in place define the role of People and physical evidence.
If we look at both mixtures, we see the same thing. Companies need the right People To run promotion of product or service. To make the connection between the mixes different, the Extended Mix is a customer-oriented toolkit to improve the marketing mix.
The expanded marketing mix helps companies to define their marketing strategy in a well-rounded system. When you identify each part of the mix, you are one step closer to a functional, complete step Marketing plan.
Consider using the advanced marketing mix to make business decisions that make your business stand out. For example, to develop the tools necessary for advertising, an individual marketing campaign must be developed that the audience loves.
Marketing mixes are seen as a fundamental part of any organization. If you are just starting to define a Business planUse this strategy to support budgeting for marketing. The different elements of the mix help to determine the costs.
Each pillar, especially price and advertising, helps you determine where to assign it Your Büdget. For example, you need to set a fair price for your product and how much you are willing to use for other factors such as advertising and physical evidence.
Now that you know a little more about the advanced marketing mix, will you use it to track your next campaign’s spend? Remember, this strategy is not just for startups. If you are having difficulty defining a successful strategy, identifying these pillars can be a helpful organizational tool.
Marketing mixes and their expansion. Cheese and bread. Chai leaves and hot water. Duos are best when they work together – how can you get your marketing mixes to work together for your business?