Product (and service) is one of the four elements in the marketing mix, a foundational framework that guides your marketing initiatives. A product consists of any tangible or intangible goods sold to customers. Product is the first element in the marketing mix. It will guide your price, place, and promotion. Mailchimp (n.d.), a renowned marketing software company, claims customers only care about what the product or service can do for them. A customer also cares about what a product/service cannot do for them. It's no surprise that product-led marketing is an effective go-to-market strategy. The key term here is value, not the value the company believes it is providing but the value the consumers perceive.
Unlike other elements in the marketing mix, understanding the value of a product can be challenging because the metrics that support it tend to be ambiguous. Companies may find it challenging to transfer the anecdotal value to hard, fast metrics. We find that many companies show their value through time savings, cost savings, and results (before and after). Though this is a great way to show value, it is merely the vehicle to provide value. What problem are you solving, and what emotions are triggered by providing that value? Take a moment to dig deeper to truly understand the value.
What value does your product provide, and how does it stand out from its competitors? How does it compare to other competitors in the market? Notice the last two questions are similar but not the same. We will park this thought and expound more in our promotion segment (coming soon).
The product element is a dynamic effort. For a company to remain alive, it must grow and evolve. Remaining stagnant may place the company at a loss or allow a competitor to gain market share. Baker (2016) presents a few approaches that can be used independently and collectively:
Continuously modify and improve existing products to maintain attractiveness and retain customer loyalty
Add a complementary product to reinforce and extend loyalty by appealing to current customers
Enter into an existing market that is new to your company by increasing the scope of the operation and making the product accessible in new geographical areas
Development of a new market through new, radical innovation, creating a completely new product that may have appeal to the customer, otherwise known as diversification
Note that each approach may require adjustments to other elements in the marketing mix.
Baker, M. J. (2016). The marketing mix. Henry Stewart Talks Ltd.
Mailchimp (n.d.). Marketing mix (7ps of marketing). Mailchimp. https://mailchimp.com/marketing-glossary/marketing-mix-7ps/
YouTube: Meneide, J. (2023, April 04). 4ps of the marketing mix: watch this to level up your campaigns (explainer). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFjbrjWjUWc
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