Strategic Planning Kit For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Reaching Your New Target Markets

No matter whether you're targeting 18- to 34-year-old high-income males or 65- to 85-year-old fixed income retirees, you've got to reach them effectively and efficiently. That means finding the right balance of marketing tools and program elements to create and deliver the right product or service to consumers at the right price, right location, right time, and with the right features and attributes. I show you how to do all that in the following sections.

The Four Ps: Neither a soul band nor a legume

At this stage, you want to bring in your marketing mix. The marketing mix, or the Four Ps — promotion, place, product, and price — are the combination of actions you have to serve your target market.

Think of each P as a leg on a chair. If they don't all support each other, the chair falls over. The same thing is true for your marketing mix. Each element needs to support the other. If any inconsistencies exist, your customers will notice.

One of the main keys to the success of any marketing program is creating a marketing mix that's 100 percent relevant and resonates with your target market. The following list covers all four Ps and how they fit in to the market.

• Product: Your marketing mix is based on and built off your products and/or services. Products are defined as anything that's capable of satisfying customer needs. Make sure that you have ...