All aspects of marketing can be categorised under one of these 4P’s of marketing. Optimising each of these 4 categories is a successful strategy for marketing every business owner and marketer should use.
The 4 P‘s stands for:
- Product
- Price
- Place
- Promotion
The 4 P’s are supposed to work together and are also called The Marketing Mix. Marketing Mix is a mix f 4 P’s that are customised for your business to succeed.
The First P of Marketing: Product
Defining your product is the first step in determining your unique marketing mix. What do you sell or provide to the customer? This can be a physical product or a service.
The marketing mix 4P approach suggests that you clarify your product as much as possible by defining the following attributes:
- Who is my target customer?
- What are they searching for?
- How does my product meet their needs?
- What makes my product distinctive?
- What makes my product stand out from competitors?
- What are my product’s features?
- What are my product’s benefits?
This will help you create the most appealing description of your product/service and drive more consumer interest and sales.
The Second P of Marketing: Price
The marketing mix strategy acknowledges that different businesses will use different pricing strategies to find the price sweet spot.
- Premium pricing – especially for “luxury” or “premium” brands
- Undercutting competitors
- Offering a loyalty program
- Offering purchase points redeemable for rewards
- Coupons
- Sales
- Free shipping
- Bonus offers/free gift with purchase
- Entry-level pricing
- Accepting credit or pay-later systems
- Financing
The Third P of Marketing: Place
The Third P of marketing refers more to where your product is marketed than your actual physical location. This means finding where your customers spend time online and placing your product there or if you have a physical store where is it most likely to suceed.
Do your target customers frequent use any of the following sites:
- TikTok
- Snapchat
- YouTube
Determining this will rely primarily upon your demographic research, but competitor research can help too.
Are your competitors placing their products on Facebook? Have they ignored Instagram because your audience doesn’t spend time there, or is this an opportunity for you to locate your product near customers but away from competition?
The Fourth P of Marketing: Promotion
The 4Ps wouldn’t be complete without promotion. This refers to how you reach your customers and what strategies you use to incentive purchases.
This may include some of the following tools and types of digital marketing:
- Search engine marketing
- Direct emails
- Targeted ads
- Content marketing
- Word of mouth
- Influencer marketing
- TV
- Magazine
- Billboards
- Direct Mail
- Radio
Anything that gets your product in front of your target audience is part of your marketing strategy – you can find our marketing services HERE.
Remember, The 4 Ps of marketing maintain that each business has its own unique recipe. Just because billboard advertising works great for the auto repair shop down the street doesn’t mean it will work for your financial business.
Do you Know The 4Ps of Your Business?
Does your business have a well-defined marketing mix? Here are some ways you can tell:
- Your marketing goals are clearly defined
- You have a strong brand voice
- You know what percentage of business occurs in-person and online
- You know what online channels your customers frequent
- You are clear about your product(s) benefits
- You’ve invested in market and competitor research
- You have chosen your distribution channels
- You have a clear pricing strategy
If your business is fuzzy on some of these basics, you probably need to revisit your unique marketing mix.
How to Apply the 4Ps in Your Own Business
So – what is the marketing mix you should be using?
Your marketing mix may be different for any given product or phase of your business growth. Ideally, you will be determining your mix before you even finish developing your first product/service.
This is because you want to make sure you are actually offering something customers need.
Step 1: Research: Customers, Competition, and Market
- What products or services are people looking for?
- Is there dissatisfaction with the current offerings?
- How can you offer something distinctive?
- What is your competition doing well and poorly?
Step 2: Determine your Pricing Strategy
- Will you position your product as a luxury/premium offering?
- Will you undercut existing prices?
- Do you plan to offer customer loyalty incentives?
- Do you plan to offer free services or loss leaders?
- Do you anticipate raising prices over time?
Step 3: Placement
- What are your primary distribution channels?
- Online, in-person, or hybrid purchase offers?
- Will you need a physical location for promotion?
- Do you plan to work through wholesalers and retailers?
- What online channels will you place your ads on?
Step 4: Determine Promotional Strategies
- What is your promotional budget?
- Do you have a digital promotion strategy?
- What promotions are most effective with your target audience?
We suggest that you think about this in the process of developing new product or service. If you ned a professional help to create the best 4P’s of your company we are HERE to help.
