The main goal of marketing in a company is most often to attract customers. But marketing is not only about selling goods or advertising, it is necessary to understand that the classic formula of the marketing mix consists of 4 elements (4 P):

• Product – show how your product solves customer problems;
• Price – explain the cost of your product to potential customers;
• Promotion (promotion) – define channels of interaction with your target audience;
• Place – select the sites where you will find clients.

That is, marketing is responsible for at least 4 components: product, price, place, promotion. Now more expanded models have appeared: 5P, 7P and even 9P. But today we will consider the classic model, because we need to figure out whether everyone really needs marketing or whether there are companies that can refuse it.

Let’s take a closer look at each element.

Product

By product here we mean what you sell. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s a product or a service. 

When you want to introduce your product to an audience, you must not only highlight its strengths, but also describe it in a way that makes users want to own it. That is, it is not what the product is that matters, but what qualities your audience values ​​in it.

Therefore, it is important to study what the audience segment you are interested in “says” about your product.

If you are just starting sales and have no experience communicating with the audience, then study the reviews of your competitors’ products. Pay attention to what customers praise and criticize the product/service/company for. Think about whether you can talk about your product in the same words that the audience talks about it. Can you imagine your product through the eyes of the customer and describe it on the website? Can you describe what competitors are criticized for in a positive way? For example, customers complain about long delivery, and yours takes 30 minutes, but this information is not on the website right now. Add what will help your potential customers make a choice in your favor.

It turns out that in order to present a product, it is not enough to indicate its characteristics. It is necessary to study the audience and talk about the product in a way that reflects valuable information for users.

Price

They say that the same part of the brain that processes physical pain is responsible for parting with money. What this means for us is that it can be quite difficult for customers to give you what they’ve worked hard for. But what are people really paying for?

If the user understands that the product can solve his problem, then he is ready to pay for it as much as he thinks is rational. That is, most often users compare prices for similar products and assume what they are ready to pay for and even overpay.

For example, you sell products near your home and compete with chain stores for customers not only on prices, but also on the quality of service. And you decide that you can add value by decorating the premises: you bought decorations for the store or did repairs, and now you need to recoup the investment. But users do not see that the walls have become a different color, they are not ready to overpay for products. Because there is no value in it for them. 

That is, when you increase the price, you must justify it to buyers with additional value that is important to them.

Place

When you clearly know who your customer is and where they hang out most often, then you can easily find channels where you can broadcast information about your product. 

There is so much information noise these days that information often gets lost and doesn’t reach the target consumer if it is broadcast to too broad an audience. Of course, it depends on what budget you are willing to spend. But if you don’t have several million to create broad coverage campaigns that users will encounter more than once or twice, then it is worth more precisely setting up campaigns that will introduce consumers to your product.

If you have a fairly narrow segment of your target audience, then your focus should be on where to find your consumer and how to convey your offer to them. Recently, the user needs more and more touches with you so that you become fixed in their minds as something familiar. Therefore, it is so important not to try to cover everyone at once, but to have a clear idea of ​​​​where to find your client. Especially if it takes time for them to make a purchase decision.

Therefore, choose the channels where the user can find your product. This can be both online (advertisement, website, social networks) and offline: points of sale, exhibitions, conferences, seminars, etc. 

Promotion

When you understand that your audience is not static, that is, it can be in one place today and move to another tomorrow, then it is easier for you to select those promotion methods that will be as close to the audience as possible.

It is especially important to consider promotion for rather complex products, the purchase of which may be associated with resistance. For example, you have a fitness center. And you know that there are such clients who should come to do sports, but there is something that stops them. And it is not even that they do not know about you, the thing is that they may not understand how sports will change their lives. Yes, you can work with hot demand, and you will have clients. But you can also reach those who are not yet ready to make a choice in your favor, because they do not understand why they need it. And if you give enough value to gain a person’s trust, then they are more likely to become your client.

In essence, all elements of marketing are increasingly reduced to knowing your audience. Because lately we are increasingly concentrating on a person who can become our client. We are trying to stand out from the crowd of competitors so that the consumer will notice us. That is, all marketing efforts are reduced to satisfying the needs of the consumer.

Are there any businesses that can forgo marketing because they don’t need it?

Let’s look at some examples.

Just a few years ago, you could sell head-on. For example, in cold calls, you could simply call any company and ask to speak to the CEO. And in 90% of cases, they would pass the phone to him. If you decide to contact the head of the company so easily now, you will most likely be refused. In large cities, for sure.

When the market was not so saturated with offers, many companies could only find clients by word of mouth, that is, through recommendations. Yes, this method works now, it most likely will not give you huge results. But there are exceptions.

If you have a small business “for the soul”

For example, you do manicures, you are a tutor or a “jack of all trades”. That is, you are a specialist who does his job well, but alone. At the same time, you are not going to scale your business, and you already have enough clients. You simply cannot handle more, because you do all the business alone. Then you do not need to invest money in improving the product or attracting an audience. And you do not need marketing at this stage.

If you are a monopolist in the market

If you have a truly unique product that has no analogues on the market. Either you are the only manufacturer or the only contractor for services in the city, region, country. You have an audience that knows you well. And if everyone knows that they can’t turn to anyone but you for a product, then you don’t need marketing. When you have competitors (and if they appear), then you can think about marketing activities.

If you have very premium services

If you provide services or sell goods from a very narrowly specialized and niche market, then publicity is more likely to scare away buyers than attract them. When you deal with antiques, exclusive goods aimed at a premium segment of the audience, then it is better for you not to use mass distribution about yourself, because most clients value you for exclusivity and belonging to something closed, where it is not so easy to get into. 

If your product is not intended for a wide audience

When you have a very specialized product and only a few customers worldwide, then you can ignore marketing and work directly with those customers. 

But if you have competitors, your product is popular among a fairly wide audience, you want to scale your business, and you have fairly ambitious plans, then you would be better off creating a marketing strategy that will lead you to achieving your business goals.