In one of our first blog posts, we introduced the fives Ds of navigation as a useful analogy for creating a marketing strategy. As a reminder, those Ds are destination, distance, direction, duration, and description. Whilst all of these are critical elements of your strategy, there is one in particular that can help when you’re feeling lost; direction.

Direction refers to the unique path of travel that you’ll take to reach your destination. Just as there are often many paths to follow in the hills (not to mention the off-path routes you can forge as well), there are many different paths you can take in marketing. We often think of our unique pathway or direction as our marketing mix, blending the price, product, place, and promotional elements of marketing to find a way forward.

You’re probably very familiar with the four Ps model, but when was the last time you considered how they mix together to help you maintain a clear sense of direction?

Product

Your product or service should be at the heart of your strategy. It should solve a problem for your buyers and offer features that align with their needs. To ensure that you stay on course, conduct market research to listen to what your target audience needs, as this can change over time. Whilst your goal or destination remains the same (i.e. solving problem X with product Y), the product might need tweaking or updating as new technologies become available or trends in consumer behaviour impact the market.

Price

Price in its simplest form reflects the value of your offer, but it also communicates the positioning of your brand. Your destination/goal should be a guide to rules around discounting, offers, loyalty pricing, or other mechanisms relating to cost. Price is not just about making money or maintaining cash flow, it’s about affordability and perception. If you price with purpose in mind, you should be reinforcing your brand rather than confusing or undermining it.

Place

Understanding how and where your target audience can make a purchase also impacts the likelihood of reaching your destination. Do you have enough capacity to deliver (a service), or stock to fulfil orders, if you use mass distribution channels? Are you using the right channels to reach your intended audience or are they shopping elsewhere for competitor products? Learn where your target base is browsing and sell there.

Promotion

It’s all too easy to spend 90% of marketing efforts on promotion and forget the other Ps. This is a sign that you’re probably over-promoting, or that your promotional tactics aren’t as effective as they could be. Remember that not all of your promotional activity should be focused on short-term wins. Go back to your strategy and ensure you have the right messages in place for long-term goals as well.

Maintaining a clear sense of direction means revisiting your marketing strategy regularly. Breaking down your marketing mix into the four Ps, if you didn’t use them to create it, is a good way to sense-check that you’re on the right path across all elements. If your path is unclear or you’ve strayed off-course, it’s always safer to pause and work your way back to the right path rather than getting lost completely!