The Four P’s of Marketing
Table of contents
Have you already heard about the 4 Ps of marketing? Even though you might be familiar with this topic, we want to remind you why the four Ps are important. The 4 Ps are crucial to consider when a business decides to market their product or service to customers. It’s the foundation for a great marketing strategy and a successful company. So, what does the 4ps include? It's product, price, place, and promotion. We already know how popular and widely used it is across companies, but not many of them execute it correctly, which is why their product or service loses its competitiveness in the market. Let’s take a closer look at each of the key elements.
Product.
Product refers to what your company sells to the customers. You must have a clear idea of what the product of the company is, but what differentiates it from its competitors? It’s essential to know in advance how you want to market your product to make it stand out from the crowd and ensure its good quality with your target audience in mind. Take a look at the questions below to clearly see what you are offering to the consumer:
- What problem does your product solve? How does it meet customers' needs?
- What is its unique selling proposition? What are its features?
- Who is the target audience?
- How should it be perceived by customers?
Price
Next, comes the price. What are you going to charge for your products or services? Having a good pricing strategy for your product is crucial to your company’s success and profitability. If the value of the product isn’t determined correctly, it will impact supply, demand, and the product's positioning in the market. You need to consider many things before coming up with the right price. To name a few, you have to analyze competitors’ prices, your product’s brand image, consumer expectations, etc. Answer some key questions to get an idea of what kind of pricing strategy to choose:
- What is the cost of selling your product or service to consumers?
- What is the price a consumer is willing to pay for your product?
- What are the competitors’ prices?
- How does your price correspond with the brand image?
Place
Place means where you sell and distribute your product or service. It’s not necessarily confined to a physical location and also includes online selling points. Choosing the right place is as important as the other 4Ps. If you don’t thoroughly consider where your product should sell, you might not even reach your target audience, which means it will affect your company’s profitability. To ease your task, go through the following questions:
- Where do you want to market your product, in the online or offline space?
- How will customers find you?
- Will you sell it directly or through the wholesalers?
- What kind of marketplace will be suitable for your brand?
- Where are your competitors selling their products?
Promotion
Promotion includes every aspect of advertising, including brochures, packaging, etc. At this stage, you have to reach your target market with the right message at the right time. Revise once again all the above-mentioned 4Ps to come up with the right marketing strategy. Depending on your brand image, you have to think of specific and relevant content to reach your target audience through various marketing channels such as advertising, digital marketing, email marketing, etc. Even if you have a good product, reasonable pricing, and a competitive location, if you don’t let people know about your business through different marketing channels, they will not get to know about your product and its benefits. Some questions that you need to answer are:
- How can you reach your potential customers?
- What kind of message will be most effective?
- Which marketing channels will be best to use?
- How do your competitors promote their products?
- When is the right time to push a promotional campaign? How often should it be?
Why are the 4Ps still important?
Even though the marketplace has changed since the 4 Ps were developed, the foundational elements are still there. It’s still as important as it was in the 60's when it was first developed. You probably think you already know all of these, but when you feel your business is stuck, take a step back to clarify what your business’s 4Ps are. It will help your business immensely to reassess where it stands in the marketplace and which direction it should go from now on. If you correctly place the product, promote it efficiently, and optimize the price, the 4Ps will help your business grow. By analyzing these foundational elements, you will gain a competitive edge over your competitors, and the perception of the company will rise in the eyes of your customers.
