Marketing Principles and Strategies

Marketing principles and strategies: A
breakdown
1. Product
Product is arguably the core of the original four principles of

marketing. If you don’t have a good product, you don’t have a
good business, right?
One of the most important considerations for your product or

service is making sure there’s a strong demand. Do
customers really want it? Does it truly fulfill a need in the
marketplace?
The best way to explore these questions is through good old-

fashioned market research, which can be done through
methods like online research, firsthand interviews and
analysis, and surveys.
Market research should take a deep dive into your audience:

their traits, desires, needs, and behaviors. Market
segmentation can help you identify these key considerations,
which then sets you up to deliver star products that they really
love.
Once you’ve made some sales, consider the customers’

satisfaction. Did they get what they expected, or is there some
room for improvement?
When you’re examining the relevance and quality of your

offering, consider all the elements, like the build, quality, and
uses, as well as potential needs like repairs and accessories.
2. Price
Pricing strategy is critical to the success of your business,
which is why you should always be optimizing your prices for
your audience and market niche.
Even if you’ve found a price point that seems to work

fantastically, there are still uncontrollable elements that can
change your circumstances, like a new development or
competitors in your niche.
To set pricing, there are a couple of strategies to keep in mind.

Say you’ve put a lot of money into building that business, and
you need to recoup your investment quickly. You might want
to start with a higher price and see how it performs before
lowering it.
If you have low overhead, like a drop shipping store, you can
get away with lower pricing to start and see how your
audience reacts. If you’re selling a high volume, you might
have leeway to raise your prices to see how that impacts
sales.
Sales promotions are an excellent way to entice new

customers—but be careful to ensure you’re not discounting
more than your company can afford. Check out this video for
help with calculating your profit margins.
3. Place
If your business is fully online, like an ecommerce store or a

search marketing agency, you’ve already got this marketing
principle figured out: your website.
Even still, you might want to sell your products in online

marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Bonanza.
If your business isn’t 100% online, place is a more important

consideration. If you have a specialized product, you might
need to get creative with the places you sell it to ensure that
you’re getting your offering in front of the right audience.
For example, a small business selling organic hand-crafted

soaps might consider several places, like:
 Online through a branded company website

 Online craft marketplaces, like Etsy
 Social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram
 Local events, like a weekly farmer’s market or seasonal
festival
 National and international events, like beauty and skin
care tradeshows and conferences
 Partnering with retail shops, like securing shelf space in a
local or chain store that sells related products
 Partnering with large companies and distributors, like
selling bulk soap orders wholesale
Regardless of the place you choose, it’s important to

understand where your target audience likes to buy items and
spend their time. This way, you can position yourself so they
don’t miss you.
4. Promotion
Like we mentioned earlier, this marketing principle covers

most of the strategies and tactics that people think of when
they think of marketing and advertising.
In some ways, promotion is intertwined with place. For

example, selling on Instagram or Facebook requires a social
media marketing strategy. Likewise, selling at trade shows or
a farmers market requires a direct marketing strategy.
While there are many promotion strategies that take place in

the real world, like setting up store displays, passing out
flyers, hosting events, and even going door-to-door, virtually
every business these days does some—if not all—of their
promotion online.
Here’s a list of online promotional approaches that are

commonly used by businesses nowadays:
 Content marketing, including blogs, videos, eBooks,

graphics, podcasts, and webinars
 Social media marketing on platforms like Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter
 Influencer marketing, which is a type of social media
marketing
 Email marketing to engage leads and customers and
nurture them through the sales funnel
 Search engine optimization (SEO) to boost search
rankings
 Paid advertising, like Google Ads and social media ads
Source
5. People
This principle more or less represents customer service—the

human touch of your business that signals to customers that
there’s a real person on the other side who’s listening and
working to give them a good experience with the brand.
Now more than ever, it’s critical to give your customers

positive experiences. Research from Accenture shows that US
companies lose a whopping $1.7 trillion to customers
switching after poor experiences.
If you’re running an online business, customer service might
be as simple as responding to emails, phone calls, and social
media posts from customers.
For in-person brands, this will also include your team members
who interact with customers, like your employees working at
your store location or out working your event booths.
When staffing and setting up customer service processes, set

up people and processes that really reflect your brand’s
personality and cater to the types of experiences your target
audience wants and expects.
6. Process
Process is one of the marketing principles that helps to

streamline and simplify your operations, which in turn has
benefits for virtually every aspect of your business. You’ll find
that optimized processes contribute to lower costs, more
productivity, and a reliable customer experience that stays
consistent for each customer.
Source
To optimize your processes, it’s important to create

standardized, integrated workflows that are easy for all of your
team members to follow.
For example, how are orders fulfilled and offerings delivered?

How are customer service inquiries answered? Does your team
use specialized software to track and manage these tasks,
while ensuring that nothing slips between the cracks?
A great way to create reliable, repeatable processes is to

document them. For example, you can create official
spreadsheets and instruction manuals that anyone can
reference when certain issues come up. You can also create
training materials so that all new employees receive the same
training and handle tasks the same way.
7. Physical evidence
The last of our seven principles of marketing is physical

evidence. Every brand has physical evidence, even if it’s
service-based or digital.
For example, one piece of a plumber’s evidence is a fixed

drain, and a piece of a dog walker’s evidence is a happy dog
that isn’t peeing all over your house. Even before those
services are rendered or a product is sold, there’s other
evidence, like the company’s website, sales materials, and
interaction with sales people.
The main takeaway here is to ensure that every touchpoint of

your business does the following:
 Aligns with the brand identity you’ve created

 Enhances the customer experience by clarifying your
goals or catering to theirs
 Ensures that customer expectations are met, and that
your final offering matches the promises you made during
the sales process
Turning marketing principles into brand

success
These basic principles of marketing were designed to be
broad, which can be both a positive and a negative.
While they might not be 100% applicable to your 21st-century

business, we have no doubts that there are several ideas and
concepts that are important, and even critical, to making sure
your business rises above the competition and successfully
carves a slice of the market.
If you’re looking to start a new business, take the time to

think critically about the seven principles of marketing and
how you can apply them to your blooming business model.
Even if you already have a business, it’s not too late to see
where you have room for improvement. In fact, the world’s
most successful brands never sleep on this—they’re always
looking for ways to improve, because the world of business
and commerce is constantly changing.

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Marketing principles and strategies: A

Product is arguably the core of the original four principles of

One of the most important considerations for your product or

The best way to explore these questions is through good old-

Market research should take a deep dive into your audience:

Once you’ve made some sales, consider the customers’

When you’re examining the relevance and quality of your

Even if you’ve found a price point that seems to work

To set pricing, there are a couple of strategies to keep in mind.

Sales promotions are an excellent way to entice new

If your business is fully online, like an ecommerce store or a

Even still, you might want to sell your products in online

If your business isn’t 100% online, place is a more important

For example, a small business selling organic hand-crafted

 Online through a branded company website

Regardless of the place you choose, it’s important to

Like we mentioned earlier, this marketing principle covers

In some ways, promotion is intertwined with place. For

While there are many promotion strategies that take place in

Here’s a list of online promotional approaches that are

 Content marketing, including blogs, videos, eBooks,

This principle more or less represents customer service—the

Now more than ever, it’s critical to give your customers

When staffing and setting up customer service processes, set

Process is one of the marketing principles that helps to

To optimize your processes, it’s important to create

For example, how are orders fulfilled and offerings delivered?

A great way to create reliable, repeatable processes is to

The last of our seven principles of marketing is physical

For example, one piece of a plumber’s evidence is a fixed

The main takeaway here is to ensure that every touchpoint of

 Aligns with the brand identity you’ve created

Turning marketing principles into brand

While they might not be 100% applicable to your 21st-century

If you’re looking to start a new business, take the time to

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