In order to meet marketing objectives, brands need to understand the marketing mix or the combination of elements they should use. All 4 Ps of marketing are involved here: product, price, place, and promotion.
Digitalization has caused the standard methods and practices of nearly every industry to change and adapt in order to work within the new paradigm, and marketing is certainly no exception. Digital technology has arguably been most beneficial for the marketing industry.
What are the 4Ps of marketing?
A marketing mix consists of the four Ps of marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. In his book Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach, E Jerome McCarthy first introduced them. A successful launch and marketing strategy can be put together using the 4Ps of marketing, which take the element of luck out of the equation.
Let’s explore each of them in more detail.
Product
The first P of the 4Ps is a product, which means something that you can sell. It can be a physical or intangible service designed to meet a customer’s needs, wants, desires, and ambitions. To build an emotional connection with your target segment, your product should have a unique selling proposition that will differentiate it from competing products.
Products that are successful tend to be those that were the first in their category. It was Apple that launched the first smartphone that allowed users to browse the internet, listen to music, and make calls. Apple ceased to release public sales figures for iPhones in November 2018. Thus there are no recent sales figures. To date, iPhone sales have reached $2.2 billion as of November 1st. earlier in that year, the company also announced it had sold nearly two billion iPhones.
The following questions will help you gain a comprehensive understanding of the “Product” component and will help you decide what you will be able to offer your customers:
- Is there anything that will encourage customers to buy your product instead of your competitors’? For example: Is it packaged beautifully, or is it the least expensive product on the market, or does it taste better than the rest?
- What problem will your product solve? Would it be possible to develop a new detection algorithm that is capable of detecting new types of computer viruses in addition to existing antivirus security software?
- Will users have similar experiences to what you promise? For example, a TV advertisement promises that your company’s washing machine requires only 10 grams of washing powder to clean ten clothes. Is the customer getting that benefit? If not, how has the benefit become different between what was promised and what was actually received?
Price
Price is the second component of the 4Ps of marketing, which refers to the amount the customer must pay to buy your product. Between what the seller wants to charge and what the buyer wants to pay, there is always a tug of war. A compromise between the two quantities determines the actual price of the product.
Finding that sweet spot where buy soma 500mg online both the seller and buyer are satisfied is the golden rule of pricing. However, there are a few things you should remember about the “Price” component.
You will sell more goods if you charge less, but your profits will suffer. On the other hand, if you charge more, you will deal only with a small volume of goods, but your earnings will increase.
It is also important to consider price in brand positioning and developing a positive customer perception. Your customers might doubt the quality of your product if it’s cheaper. Nevertheless, they might have second thoughts about purchasing your product if the price is too high, especially if there are similar products on the market.
Keep the product price in check by asking yourself the following questions:
- What is the cost price of your product? This step will ensure that your selling price is always higher than the cost price, not making any losses.
- What is the demand for your products? Remember that the higher the market, the higher the price you can charge.
- Does your industry accept higher markups as a standard practice? For example, the wedding industry is well-known for its high markups.
- What are the prices of your competitor’s products? Are they more or less than yours?
Promotion
Excellent products and competitive pricing are important, but they aren’t sufficient. In the 4Ps of marketing, the promotion makes up the third component. It is a communication strategy used to inform your target market about your products.
The promotion has the following three components:
- A marketing campaign targeted at a particular audience.
- The audience to which the promotional message is directed.
- The medium through which the promotional message is distributed.
Here are some questions that will help you gauge the “Promotion” component and develop a better promotional strategy:
- What will the promotional message contain? The message should talk about the benefits that users will get from using your products and help them solve their problems.
- Would you communicate through text, audio, or video?
- How will you communicate your message – through a full-page newspaper advertisement, short TV ads, podcasts, email newsletters, or mobile advertising?
- Which season will your ads appear during? Take into consideration the seasonal and festival purchasing patterns of consumers.
Place
This fourth component of the 4Ps of marketing refers to the place where consumers can buy your products. An online or brick-and-mortar shop can be used. Marketing professionals must decide which distribution channel will make your products accessible to consumers quickly in this step.
You can use the following questions as a blueprint for the critical areas you must consider when deciding the “Place” component.
- What are the channels through which your products will be found by your customers?
- Through which channel will you sell your products — physical shops or online stores?
- How will you design the supply chain — will you sell directly to consumers or through a mediator?
- Does your company plan on selling its products exclusively online or are you considering outlets such as Amazon and Flipkart?