The basics of marketing haven’t changed in today’s digital age but the strategies have. You still need to identify your target audience and come up with a plan that will convince those people to buy your product or service. Marketing the 21st century online casino requires the same basic strategies that cavemen used when they tried to trade a fur pelt for a warm corner in the neighboring family’s cave. 

To market a product or a service you need to plan your presentation, set your price, promote and distribute your goods and services and maintain a relationship with the buyer so that they will, hopefully, return. How can you make sure that you focus on the basics of marketing while, at the same time, you address the changes that the modern age demands of marketers? 

Overview

If you want to establish awareness about your product or service, attract new customers and build lasting relationships with valued clients you must market. When you market effectively you increase your sales and establish a competitive advantage.

Today consumers have more choices than ever before in history. To reach those potential customers and convince them that YOUR product is the one that they need and want you must start by creating a marketing strategy that focuses on satisfying the current and future needs of those individuals. 

You’ll need to ensure communication and collaboration within your entire team to make sure that everyone is on board with the sales technique and that everyone in your organization feels ownership of the campaign. You must be prepared to devote time, planning, research and an appropriate budget to your campaign. 

Once you have addressed these basics you’re ready to get started.

Marketing’s 7 Ps

Focus on the 7 Ps of Marketing to be sure that you have covered all possible approaches to advertising your product or service as you aim to satisfy customers in your target market. You need to make sure you’re your marketing tactics will meet your customers’ needs and wants.

Product

Start by making sure that your materials describe fully and accurately what you are selling. The description should include all of the features and advantages of the product as well as the benefits that your customers will enjoy when they make the purchase. These can include the product’s quality, styling, durability and accessories as well as anything else that you believe would appeal to potential clients.

Price

You need to set your price. Research can be based on trial and error, customer surveys, surveys of competitors’ pricing, etc. You might also think about giving discounts and seasonal pricing, especially as you start out, so that word of your product or service becomes more widely known.

Promotion

How are you going to make potential customers aware of your product? Direct Marketing? Word of mouth? Media? Decide on your marketing tactics and get started.

Place

Try to make sure that your product can be seen in an appropriate setting. You aren’t going to market an online casino on a children’s TV program. You don’t want to market baby items in a men’s magazine. No use trying to promote hot fudge Sundays in a nutritionist’s office.

If you have a physical product you need to consider where that product will be placed. You might decide that, as part of your advertising budget, you want to pay the store to place your product at eye level or next to the check-out counter.

It’s also a good idea to set yourself apart from the competition by effectively designing your retail space. If you are going to set up your own shop, consider the location of the shop – for instance, if you are opening a car repair shop, make sure that customers will have plenty of space to park their car. If you are thinking of opening a toy store, do so in a location where parents will be able to park large vans so that they can bring their kids into the shop.

People

Choose your people carefully. You want your customers to feel valued so that they’ll come back and refer friends and acquaintances. Recruit the right people and train them to develop their “people skills.” Reward good staff members with bonuses and salary increases to increase retention.

Process

You want to make it as easy as possible for people to purchase your product. The more positive the experience, the more likely that the customer will return, will give you good reviews and will act as an ambassador for you in the future.

Some of the things that you might want to do to make the purchasing process easier might include options for online shopping and purchases, easy credit terms, quick delivery, etc.

Physical Evidence

Make sure that what  your customers see when they interact with your business will help keep the product in their mind.

You want to brand your business by making the physical space and everything in that space a positive experience. For instance you can make sure that your shop and the land around it is attractive and in good repair, that your logo, colors and style appears on your packaging, staff members’ shirts, website, brochures, signs, business cards, etc.

You also want to make sure that your shop is laid out well and comfortable for your customers – that there’s parking nearby, that there’s sufficient heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer, etc.

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