The four Ps in marketing, otherwise known as the marketing mix, are product, place, price, and promotion. They are the key pillars in marketing a product or service. Each pillar is closely related. Therefore, changes in one will affect another. As you craft your marketing initiatives, use the marketing mix model to guide your strategy.
Riserbato (2023) noted some questions to ask yourself as you develop your marketing mix:
Product: How does your product meet your customer's needs? What problem(s) does it solve? What unique value or features does it offer?
Price: What is the value of your product? What are my competitors charging?
Place: Where are customers looking for your product?
Promotion: How can you differentiate your product from competitors? Where can you reach your audience?
TLTR? Check out this video that breaks down the 4Ps:
(Meneide, 2023)
Product: Take a deep dive to identify what makes that product or service valuable. How does it help your target market? What is different from the competitors? What are its areas of opportunity, and how can you leverage those opportunities for your marketing initiatives? For example, let's say you are a car manufacturer that does not sell cars with all the bells and whistles, but your cars average 100,000 miles (with the proper maintenance) before you need to replace any parts. Then, your product leverage might be your reliability, which may be a good factor to focus on in your marketing efforts.
Price: Take a holistic approach when choosing the price. The price will depend on numerous factors. Some of these factors include the value it provides, the cost of competitors, the cost of doing business, and the costs of entering the market. Meneide (2023), a marketing content producer for Hubspot, a leading customer relationship management company, noted four pricing strategies: cost-plus, competitive, value-based, and penetration. Other strategies exist. Choose one that works for your business model.
Place: Where and how do people get your product or service? More importantly, where do customers look for this product or service, and how do they purchase it? Understanding your customers will allow you to leverage this pillar. You should know your customer habits, preferences, and needs. This will allow you to craft your initiatives to align with your target audience. Misalignment can lead to marketing failures.
Promotion: How do you advertise your product? Note that each marketing pillar is interrelated. Understanding your product, price, and place will enable your team to be more informed when tackling your promotional efforts. For example, your product helps identify your target market, impacting the channels you use to promote your product. Your price will impact your budget and promotional channels. Your place will impact the best way for you to promote your product to get potential clients to that place. As you develop your promotional efforts, account for how you will stand out from your competitors to capture and retain your target segment’s attention.
Riserbato, R. (2023, October, 3). What are the 4 ps of marketing - the marketing mix explained. Hubspot. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/4-ps-of-marketing
YouTube: Meneide, J. (2023, April 04). 4ps of the marketing mix: watch this to level up your campaigns (explainer). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFjbrjWjUWc
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