What is The Marketing Mix (The 4 P’s of marketing)?
Certain terms like marketing mix can seem complicated or confusing, but this is a simple concept. Marketing mix also known as the 4 P’s of marketing has four components: product, price, place and promotion. These key elements are all part of a successful marketing strategy for any business.
The marketing mix is a key part of the business strategy. By paying attention to four components you can aid your organization with the best chance of potential success:
Product. Whether you have a product or service to sell, it has to meet people’s needs.
Price. Products should often be sold at the right price for consumer expectations, neither too high nor too low.
Promotion. Consumers should be made aware of the product and their features so that they understand how it fulfills their needs.
Place. The location where an item can be purchased is important so that you might optimize sales.
When marketing a product or service, the four Ps of a successful marketing plan are the key considerations that must be thoughtfully considered and wisely implemented in order to successfully market it.
The 4 P’s of marketing, or marketing mix, is a frequently-used term that’s meant to encompass all the different strategies for attracting and retaining customers. Since the four Ps were introduced in the 1950’s, more of them have been identified. They now include people, process, and physical evidence.
Understanding (Marketing Mix) the 4 P’s of Marketing
Neil Borden from Harvard is one of the earliest people to formulate marketing methods and theories in the 1950s. He popularized the idea of a marketing mix that would later be known as 4 Ps: product, price, place, and promotion.
His 1964 article, “The Concept of the Marketing Mix,” was one of the most influential articles that we’ve ever published. It showed us the revolutionary ways companies could engage their consumers through advertising. Today, the concepts Borden popularized are still being widely used in advertising. Companies are using them to advertise their goods and services.
At the time, companies were introducing the concept of marketing mix. It allowed companies to break circuitous boundaries that could hamper widespread product adoption. Today, many business owners are taking advantage of the convenience and potential of the Internet as a way to overcome barriers.
Processing, physical evidence, and people are all important aspects of a marketing strategy. They’re relative to the Four Ps, which apply to pretty much every industry or current trends in marketing.
These Are the 4 P’s of Marketing: (Examples)
Marketing strategies don’t work well without strategies that align with the four P’s. People have developed various marketing concepts over time, but success can be found when following these principles in your business’ strategy.
The following is a systematic breakdown of each P with examples:
Product – What does your product or service offer?
Products are commodities, which provide solutions and satisfy the needs of consumers. Services, on the other hand, are part of what businesses offer. A product is anything that you sell. It includes tangible items such as clothing, food, furniture, and electronics. It also includes intangible things like services, ideas, and experiences.
Whether the product is unique or fills a void in the marketplace, it must provide something that both entertains consumers and provides value. Demand must increase in order for a product to be successful.
Example.
Before the iPhone was released, most users were unfamiliar with the type of phone that would allow them to access anything- whether information or services – at their fingertips.
Apples marketing strategy made people re-think how they used their smartphones by adding all these new features that were previously only available on dedicated devices. Its simple yet powerful appeal gave people the motivation to simplify their lives, using the iPhone as a GPS and all the other functions it provides.
Questions to ask.
It is important to fully understand the product you want to sell before marketing it. This includes being able to meet the needs of your potential customers and understanding their preferences.
Before you go out and develop your product, always consider the following questions:
Is it a service or a specific product?
What is the product?
Does the product provide a unique experience or fulfill a need?
What does the product accomplish?
What differentiates the product from the competition?
Who are the target customers for the product?
Price – How much will it cost?
You need to decide how much you want to charge for your services or products. If you set too high a price, people won’t buy your product. On the other hand, if you set too low a price, you’ll lose money.
The price of a product is the amount the consumer must pay for it. Price-sensitive or affordable, but profitable? When you’re marketing your product, it’s important to take into account the current market trends and find a price that reflects that. You’ll be able to see what consumers are willing to pay for and make sure the business is still making a profit.
Prices of goods and services can varied based on demand, supply, and the product’s lifecycle. It’s difficult to discern when low prices can be justified, especially if your product is a luxury brand. Some businesses might lower the price to compete with the competition, while others might inflate it in order to raise their profit margin.
Example.
A product’s price point plays a major role in how successful that product is. To make the product seem cheaper, companies sometimes underprice their products and that can mislead consumers into thinking it’s not as good as a more expensive option. People also have a tendency to buy things simply because they’re on sale, rather than assessing whether they’re truly worth purchasing.
Questions to ask.
Price is determined by the target audience and what they are willing to pay for a product. You must take into account the demographic of your audience and study their preferences as well as their purchasing habits.
Here are some questions you need to answer before establishing a pricing strategy:
What is the price range and affordability of target consumers?
How much your competitors charge for similar products?
What is the highest price the product can sell for?
What is the lowest price for the product can you sell for?
What ideal price for the target market?
What price is too low or too high for the target audience?
Place – Where will it be available?
The placement of your product is a critical decision, and should be evaluated before starting the campaign. Should the product be featured on an e-commerce website or in a physical store? This is where the customers go to buy the product or service, in what areas it is made and stored, and other important information on where your business resides.
Digitally-transformed products are found in both global and local stores. This allows consumers to be able to find what suits his or her tastes and needs without resorting to “high-end” shops, where prices are much higher. This marketing plan also considers ad location and format, such as magazines, online ads, radio, film or infomercials.
Example.
The place where you market your product is important because it determines how your product will be perceived by the audience. For example, when targeting a product to people older than 70, it would be a smart idea to not market it on TikTok.
If you want your products and/or services to get a lot more attention, you’ll want them to target the younger generation. They’re more sociable, more likely to engage with brands on social media, and much more interactive when it comes to profile-based advertising.
Questions to ask.
Businesses that are not able to figure out where they’re supposed to sell their product often end up distributing it without much thought. Because of this, a good sense of where you should choose to sell your product is important.
Before deciding on a place to market a product, here are some questions for you to consider:
Where are the competition selling their products?
Which venues or places do buyers frequent for similar services and products?
How can the right distribution channels be accessed?
Will the product distribution and placement require a sales team, to be self-service or the use of Salesforce?
What are the shopping habits of the target audience?
Promotion – How will people find out about it?
You need to promote your products so that people know about them. This includes advertising, social media, blogging or affiliate marketing and other methods of getting the word out. Make sure you are engaging your customers with the products and services you sell.
In order for your promotion to be effective in the market, it needs to communicate that you need this product or service and it’s being offered at a price that is reasonable. Promotion can include marketing, advertising, broadcasting and public relations for introducing an product.
Marketers typically partner with social media sites in the hopes of reaching their core audience. The idea is that those who follow them will also reach similar audiences, meaning larger potential growth.
Online placement is becoming more important and in the digital age, it’s not just about traditional offline promotion factors such as physical store locations and certain types of advertising. Online marketing means much more than what happens in the real world.
Read on: What Is Online Marketing? (Expectations Vs. Reality)
Example.
Timing is important for various reasons. You can take pizza delivery deals as an example. During football games, that’s the time when people are more likely to try new foods and products out of the normal meal time hours, so that your brand gets a chance to make a strong impression amongst consumers.
Questions to ask.
Setting the right price or developing a great product is just one way to promote your product. In addition, proper distribution in marketing mix can help your product sell more. So, promotional messages should have to revolve around the target audience and the distribution channels.
When developing a promotional strategy, you should consider the following questions:
Which mediums or channels will the target audience get their information from?
When is the right time to reach the target audience?
Which channels are the most efficient and cost-effective for product promotion?
What advertising methods will be the most rewarding for the target audience?
Where are the competitors spending their marketing revenue and advertising efforts?
Which part from the target audience should be engaged?
How Do You Use (Marketing Mix) the 4 P’s of Marketing?
There are various approaches you can use when planning a new product launch, evaluating an existing product, or trying to optimize the sales of an existing product. The 4P’s of marketing model is just one approach that is starting to gain more attention.
Experts recommend carefully analyzing these four factors (product, price, place, and promotion) when crafting marketing strategies. They can help determine how to successfully introduce or reintroduce a product with the target market in mind.
In Conclusion…
The ‘marketing mix’ (product, price, place, promotion) refers to the key factors in marketing a product or service. These key factors interact with each other significantly, and can be summarized as —the 4 P’s of marketing.
Marketing can be one of the most challenging tasks for companies on their journey to success. It has a profound impact on every single aspect of your company, from hiring to customer satisfaction to growth. But, in order to execute a successful strategy, you have to put it all together and consider these factors that make up marketing: finance, sales and product.
