The 4 P's of Marketing

If you aren’t new to the world of marketing, you most likely have heard of the “4 P’s of Marketing” - product, price, place, and promotion.

This is a model used by businesses to help them reach their marketing goals, and if you aren’t using it, you should be!

These are also referred to as the “marketing mix” and can be used for any product or service out there, which is just another reason why it is so largely used. It helps guide you and your company to an effective marketing strategy and plan.

If you’re still confused, or just now being introduced to the 4 P’s of marketing, let’s delve deeper into it!

Product

The first P stands for Product, and refers to whatever good or service that your business sells. This is very important to identify for multiple reasons. One of those being that many companies offer more than one product or service.

Identifying the “product” your company offers will also enable you to figure out the other 3 P’s, which you can’t determine without having a thorough definition of your product.

This portion of the marketing mix poses questions like - What does your product do? Who is it for? Is there a demand for this good or service? What is the life cycle of your product?

Those are just a few important questions that come from this method, and will definitely benefit you and your company to go over.

Price

How much is your good or service? How did you decide that? Does it cover your costs? Are people willing to pay this price for the product being offered?

The second P in the marketing mix is for Price. After you’ve defined exactly what it is that you’re selling, you can move forward and determine the best price for it, considering the above questions as well.

This can also help you ensure that you are covering all of your costs, and that you aren’t charging too little or too much for the product. It’s important to take the time to consider who your competitors are, how your product stands up against those competitors, and what your competitors are pricing their product at.

For example, if you are selling a lipstick for $12, but Revlon is selling a higher quality alternative to your lipstick at $8, you most likely aren’t going to make many sales. The theoretical situations are also important to think about in this portion of the mix.

Place

The third P is for Place. Or Placement.

This is all about figuring out where and how you will sell the product. Will you have it retailed through other businesses, or will it be exclusively sold by your company?

To be more specific, this also considers how your product will be placed in physical displays at retailers (if that is the route you choose).

Think about the way you see products displayed in places like Target, how they look, your impression of them, etc. Every detail of those displays is deliberate, which means more thought should go into the placement of your product than you may think! You know what they say, the devil is in the details.

Ultimately, the goal of Place in the marketing mix is to make sure you are getting your product in front of your target market. You can promote your product all day on every social media platform, or retail it in plenty of stores, but if you aren’t getting it to the right people, it’s a waste of time and money.

Promotion

The fourth and final P in the marketing mix stands for Promotion. Keep in mind this step will not matter if you weren’t thorough with the first three P’s!

This includes everything from billboard advertisements to public relations and more. As mentioned in the Place section, the success of your promotion is going to rely on whether you get the promotions in front of the right target market.

This is the time to differentiate your product from the competitors. Why is it better? Is it more affordable? Higher quality? You have to communicate the value of your product at this stage, and communicate it well!

This is the time to really pull out those notes from the first P, Product, and show your target market exactly what your product is and does. Make it stand out, get it in front of the right audience, and watch the sales flood in.

When you hear promotion, you probably associate that with marketing. Well, branding is heavily involved here as well. You can’t just communicate and promote the product, without promoting the brand as well. This will “put a face to a name” for the customer, and help them associate the product with your brand.

The Big Takeaway

While marketing has changed since the 4 P’s became well known, and has continued to change, the 4 P’s are still foundational building blocks for marketing success because they can be applied to any company, product, or marketing channel.

Regardless of where, how, or what you are marketing, dissecting the details of what the product is, how it should be priced, where it should be placed, and the way it should be promoted will be vital in your marketing strategy.

The 4 P’s of the marketing mix will allow you to thoroughly understand all the important details and aspects of everything from who your actual customer is, to why they should buy it. Ultimately, this will make your marketing strategy a thousand times easier.

The marketing mix also enables you to set clear cut goals, as well as the most financially aware, strategic, and beneficial way to meet those goals.

So there you have it, the famous 4 P’s! Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

You can do plenty of research on the marketing mix, but the success of it comes down to how thoroughly and seriously you take the strategy. No matter what you sell, who you sell it to, where you sell it, and how, this foundation will help you get where you need to be.