A successful business needs more than a good idea and market research. It also requires a marketing plan. Marketing means identifying consumer needs and producing the products and services that will satisfy those needs. Marketing starts before the product or service has been developed, by researching what customers want. If the research is faulty then the business could end up trying to sell a product that no one wants.
2. What is a marketing mix?
Once an entrepreneur or business has decided on a product a marketing mix needs to be created that will appeal to the target market. The target market refers to the customers that a product or service will be aimed at.
The marketing mix is the combination of actions (Product, Price, Place and Promotion) a company uses when selling a product or service. The marketing mix is also known as the 4 Ps of marketing. Every product or service should try to have a marketing mix with a unique selling point. A unique selling point (USP) is a feature of a product or service that makes it different from, and better than, other similar products. The USP can be emphasised in advertisements for the product.
