What Are The 4 Ps Of Marketing?

Leveraging marketing expenditure is critical. Marketing budgets are often pretty tight. So getting the best return on your investment from your marketing budget should be a high priority, no matter how big or small.

The 4 Ps were first applied to marketing strategies in the 1950s. Neil Borden came up with the marketing mix concept, which was later popularised by E. Jerome McCarthy to become known as the 4 Ps of marketing. These encompass the foundation of key control elements to shape marketing strategy.

A Closer Look at the Ps of Marketing

1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion

Product – What you sell

This encompasses your products, services and brand. Your product or service should seek to fulfil an already existing customer demand or be a trailblazer capable of setting the trend. You should convince your audience you are the answer. Understanding your product cycle and the pain points it addresses is key to marketing your product within the marketplace correctly. You either need to have something so compelling that a customer must have it or create the buzz that sees demand grow. Understanding demand and product or service lifecycle will help dictate how much you charge, where you sit in competitive price points and how you should approach and promote your product within the marketplace. Product also encompasses packaging, making your product unique and wonderfully irresistible. Packaging must make your product or service stand out, be recognisable and brand strong. 

Price – Your prices, discounts and credit policy

The retail cost of your product or service. Marketing is a great way to influence perceived values to fit demand and secure your product or service its market placement. Your marketing must link to the product’s real and perceived value. The price may rise to give the impression of luxury. Luxury is often perceived and malleable. Alternatively, a lower price can help drive more extensive sales and enable more people to try the product, so return on investment comes from quantity.

Discounts can sometimes draw in more customers, yet it can reduce exclusivity or make the higher price seem too high initially, so handling marketing correctly is the key.

Place – Where, why and how

Deciding where to advertise and how to deliver the product to market, so it shines in the places where consumers are most likely to buy from, means understanding your ideal customer and the journey they take when they are looking to purchase or use a product or service. It also means placement in those environments, not just the stores, but store positioning and shelf positioning all matter. 

Promotion – Advertising, marketing, publicity and sales promotion

The goal of an advertising, promotional and public relations strategy is to enlighten customers on why they need your product or service, show them the pain points you can relieve and why your product is worthy of its price tag. Place and space are important, where and how your product features on your website and social media, the area you give it and the brand awareness you promote. Iconic advertising campaigns are timeless and memorable, whether in print or digital. Achieving that, however, is not easy. Here are seven signs your marketing channels need refreshing; the services of a small business coach could be invaluable to provide your business with a holistic and cohesive approach to both branding and marketing.