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What Are the 4 Ps of Marketing?

• Understanding the 4 Ps

4. Promotion

How to use the 4 ps of marketing in your marketing strategy, example of the four ps of marketing, the bottom line.

• Business Essentials

4 Ps of Marketing: What They Are & How to Use Them Successfully

Product, price, place, and promotion are the four Ps in a winning "marketing mix"

The four Ps or marketing are a “marketing mix” comprised of four key elements—product, price, place, and promotion.

These are the key factors that are involved in introducing a product or service to the public. Often referred to as a marketing mix , they provide a framework that companies can use to successfully market a product or service to consumers. Since the four Ps were introduced in the 1950s, more Ps have been added to the mix, including people, process, and physical evidence.

Key Takeaways

• The four Ps are the four essential factors involved in marketing a product or service to the public.
• The four Ps are product, price, place, and promotion.
• The concept of the four Ps has been around since the 1950s. As the marketing industry has evolved, other Ps have been identified: people, process, and physical evidence.

Investopedia / Julie Bang

Understanding the 4 Ps of Marketing

Neil Borden, an advertising professor at Harvard, popularized the idea of the marketing mix—and the concepts that would later be known primarily as the four Ps—in the 1950s. His 1964 article "The Concept of the Marketing Mix" demonstrated the ways that companies could use advertising tactics to engage their consumers.

Decades later, the concepts that Borden popularized are still being used by companies to advertise their goods and services.

Borden's ideas were developed and refined over a number of years by other key players in the industry. E. Jerome McCarthy, a marketing professor at Michigan State University, refined the concepts in Borden's article and named them the "four Ps" of marketing. McCarthy co-wrote the book Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach , further popularizing the idea.

At the time the concept was introduced, it helped companies breach the physical barriers that could hamper widespread product adoption. Today, the Internet has helped businesses to overcome some of these barriers.

People, process, and physical evidence are extensions of the original Four Ps and are relevant to current trends in marketing.

Any successful marketing strategy should be revisited from time to time. The marketing mix you create is not intended to be static. It needs to be adjusted and refined as your product grows and your customer base changes .

Creating a marketing campaign starts with an understanding of the product itself. Who needs it and why? What does it do that no competitor's product can do? Perhaps it's a new thing altogether and is so compelling in its design or function that consumers will have to have it when they see it.

The job of the marketer is to define the product and its qualities and introduce it to the consumer—the basic marketing of a product (or service).

Defining the product also is key to its distribution. Marketers need to understand the life cycle of a product , and business executives need to have a plan for dealing with products at every stage of the life cycle.

The type of product also dictates in part how much it will cost, where it should be placed, and how it should be promoted.

Many of the most successful products have been the first in their category. For example, Apple was the first to create a touchscreen smartphone that could play music, browse the internet, and make phone calls. Apple reported total sales of the iPhone for FY 2022 at $205.4 billion. In 2021, it hit the milestone of two billion iPhones sold.

Price is the amount that consumers will be willing to pay for a product. Marketers must link the price point to the product's real and perceived value, while also considering supply costs, seasonal discounts, competitors' prices, and retail markup.

In some cases, business decision-makers may raise the price of a product to give it the appearance of luxury or exclusivity. Or, they may lower the price so more consumers will try it.

Marketers also need to determine when and if discounting is appropriate. A discount can draw in more customers, but it can also give the impression that the product is less desirable than it was.

UNIQLO, headquartered in Japan, is a global manufacturer of casual wear. Like its competitors Gap and Zara, UNIQLO creates low-priced, fashion-forward garments for younger buyers.

What makes UNIQLO unique is that its products are innovative and high-quality. It accomplishes this by purchasing fabric in large volumes, continually seeking the highest-quality and lowest-cost materials in the world. The company also directly negotiates with its manufacturers and has built strategic partnerships with innovative Japanese manufacturers.

UNIQLO also outsources its production to partner factories. That gives it the flexibility to change production partners as its needs change.

Finally, the company employs a team of skilled textile artisans that it sends to its partner factories all over the world for quality control. Production managers visit factories once a week to resolve quality problems.

Place is the consideration of where the product should be available—in brick-and-mortar stores and online—and how it will be displayed.

The decision is key: The makers of a luxury cosmetic product would want to be displayed in Sephora and Neiman Marcus, not in Walmart or Family Dollar. The goal of business executives is always to get their products in front of the consumers who are the most likely to buy them.

That means placing a product only in certain stores and getting it displayed to the best advantage.

The term placement also refers to advertising the product in the right media to get the attention of its target audience of consumers.

For example, the 1995 movie GoldenEye was the 17th installment in the James Bond movie franchise and the first that did not feature an Aston Martin car. Instead, Bond actor Pierce Brosnan got into a BMW Z3. Although the Z3 was not released until months after the film had left theaters, BMW received 9,000 orders for the car the month after the movie opened.

The goal of promotion is to communicate to consumers that they need this product and that it is priced appropriately. Promotion encompasses advertising, public relations, and the overall media strategy for introducing a product.

Marketers tend to tie together promotion and placement elements to reach their core audiences. For example, in the digital age, the "place" and "promotion" factors are as much online as offline. Specifically, that means where a product appears on a company's web page or social media, as well as which types of search functions will trigger targeted ads for the product.

The Swedish vodka brand Absolut sold only 10,000 cases of its vodka in 1980. By 2000, the company had sold 4.5 million cases, thanks in part to its iconic advertising campaign. The images in the campaign featured the brand's signature bottle styled as a range of surreal images: a bottle with a halo, a bottle made of stone, or a bottle in the shape of the trees standing on a ski slope. To date, the Absolut campaign is one of the longest-running continuous campaigns of all time, from 1981 to 2005.

The four Ps provide a framework on which to build your marketing strategy. Think through each factor. And don't worry when the factors overlap. That's inevitable.

First, analyze the product you will be marketing. What are the characteristics that make it appealing? Consider similar products that are already on the market. Your product may be tougher, easier to use, more attractive, or longer-lasting. Its ingredients might be environmentally friendly or naturally sourced. Identify the qualities that will make it appealing to your target consumers.

Think through the appropriate price for the product. It's not simply the cost of production plus a profit margin. You may be positioning it as a premium or luxury product or as a bare-bones, lower-priced alternative.

Placement involves identifying the type of store, online and off, that stocks products like yours for consumers like yours.

Your promotion strategies can only be considered in the context of your target consumer. The product might be appealing to a hip younger crowd or to upscale professionals or to bargain hunters. Your media strategy needs to reach the right audience with the right message.

To put this into perspective, let's consider a fictional skincare company that produces organic skincare products. Here's how the four Ps might be utilized:

• Product : The company offers a range of organic skincare products, including cleansers, moisturizers, and serums. These products are formulated with natural ingredients, free from harsh chemicals, and designed to promote healthy and radiant skin.
• Price : The pricing strategy for these skincare products is positioned as premium, reflecting the high quality of ingredients and the company's commitment to sustainability and ethical sourcing.
• Place : The products are sold through multiple channels, including the company's website, select retail stores specializing in organic products, and high-end spas and salons. This distribution strategy ensures accessibility to environmentally conscious consumers seeking natural skincare solutions.
• Promotion : The company's promotional efforts focus on emphasizing the benefits of organic skincare, such as nourishment, hydration, and skin rejuvenation. This includes social media campaigns, influencer partnerships, and educational content highlighting the importance of using non-toxic products for skincare routines.

What's the Difference Between the 4 Ps and the 4 Cs of Marketing?

The 4 Ps of marketing are product, price, place, and promotion. The 4 Cs replace the Ps with consumer, cost, convenience, and communication. The 4 Cs are of more recent vintage, proposed as an alternative to the 4 Ps by Bob Lauterborn in an article in Advertising Age in 1990. The 4 Cs are designed to be a more consumer-focused model that places more emphasis on customer needs and experience.

To better understand the consumer (product), marketers develop detailed buyer personas of the ideal customer, with an eye toward improving communication and sales. Cost (price) is considered from the consumer point of view—what customers are able and willing to pay, including for "extras" such as taxes and shipping costs. Communication (promotion) shifts the focus from one-way advertising to engagements with customers, especially on social media. And convenience (place) is all about improving the accessibility of your products, making it easier for customers to buy them.

Now there is an even newer marketing mix known as the 4 Es: experience, exchange, evangelism, and everyplace. They give a nod to the importance of creating memorable experiences and emotional connections between consumers and brands.

How Does Apple Use the 4 Ps of Marketing?

Apple utilizes the four Ps of marketing by focusing on:

Product innovation : Evident in its continuous development of cutting-edge technology like the iPhone, MacBook, and Apple Watch.

Pricing strategy : Apple often positions its products as premium offerings, targeting a more affluent consumer base.

Place : Apple emphasizes distribution through its own retail stores, online platforms, and strategic partnerships with authorized resellers.

Promotional efforts : Apple emphasizes sleek design, user experience, and aspirational branding, creating a sense of exclusivity and desirability around its products.

How Do You Use the 4 Ps of Marketing?

The model of the 4Ps can be used when you are planning a new product launch, evaluating an existing product, or trying to optimize the sales of an existing product.

A careful analysis of these four factors—product, price, place, and promotion—helps a marketing professional devise a strategy that successfully introduces or reintroduces a product to the public.

When Did the 4 Ps Become the 7 Ps?

The focus on the four Ps—product, price, place, and promotion—has been a core tenet of marketing since the 1950s. Three newer Ps expand the marketing mix for the 21st century.

• People places the focus on the personalities who represent the product. In the current era, that means not only sales and customer service employees but social media influencers and viral media campaigns.
• Process is logistics. Consumers increasingly demand fast and efficient delivery of the things they want, when they want them.
• Physical evidence is perhaps the most thoroughly modern of the seven Ps. If you're selling diamond jewelry on a website, it must be immediately clear to the consumer that you are a legitimate established business that will deliver as promised. A professionally designed website with excellent functionality, an "About" section that lists the principals of the company and its physical address, professional packaging, and efficient delivery service are all critical to convincing the consumer that your product is not only good, it's real.

What Are Some Examples of the 4 Ps of Marketing?

• Place refers to where consumers buy your product, or where they discover it. Today's consumers may learn about products and buy them online, through a smartphone app, at retail locations, or through a sales professional.
• Price refers to the cost of the product or service. Properly determining product price includes an analysis of the competition, the demand, production costs, and what consumers are willing to spend. Various pricing models may be considered, such as choosing between one-time purchase and subscription models.
• The product a company provides depends on the type of company and what it does best. For example, McDonald's provides consistent fast food in a casual setting. The corporation may expand its offerings, but it wouldn't stray far from its core identity.
• Promotion refers to specific and thoughtful advertising that reaches the target market for the product. You might use an Instagram campaign, a public relations campaign, advertising placement, email marketing , or some combination of all of these to promote your products and reach the right audience in the right place.

The four Ps of marketing—product, price, place, promotion—are often referred to as the marketing mix. These are the key elements involved in planning and marketing a product or service, and they interact significantly with each other. Considering all of these elements is one way to approach a holistic marketing strategy .

Neil Borden. " The Concept of the Marketing Mix ."

E. Jerome McCarthy. "Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach." Richard D. Irwin, Inc., 1960.

Apple. " Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) Q4 2022 ," Page 1.

Apple Insider. " At 2 Billion iPhones Sold, Apple Continues to Redefine What Customers Want ."

Harvard Business School: Technology and Operations Management. " UNIQLO: What’s Behind the Low-Cost High-Quality Casual Wear? "

Smart Insights. " Campaign of the Week: The Longest Running Print Ad Marketing Campaign in History ."

Stevens & Tate Marketing. " Introducing the 4C Marketing Model and Why You Should Follow It ."

LinkedIn. " Marketing Evolution: 4P's to 4C's to 4E's ."

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1.2 The Marketing Mix and the 4Ps of Marketing

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• 1 Define and describe the marketing mix.
• 2 List and explain the 4Ps of marketing.

Marketing Mix Defined

Having a great product or service is just the first step in establishing a successful business or building a successful brand. The best product or service in the world won’t translate to profits unless people know about it. How do you reach customers and help them connect with your product? That’s the role of the marketing mix.

The marketing mix is commonly referred to as the tactics a company can use to promote its products or services in the market in order to influence consumers to buy. The marketing mix is also known as the 4Ps: product, price, place, and promotion (see Figure 1.4 ). Let’s look more closely.

• The product is the good or service that the company provides.
• The price is what the consumer pays in exchange for the product.
• The place is where the product is purchased.
• Promotion is comprised of advertising, sales, and other communication efforts the company utilizes to attract the customer.

The 4Ps of Marketing

To this point, we’ve been talking marketing in somewhat of an abstract manner. Instead of continuing with a theoretical discussion of the marketing mix and the 4Ps of marketing, we’re going to approach these topics using an example of a product you probably already own—a backpack. Let’s get started.

Remember: product refers to a good or service that a company offers to its customers. Let’s consider a product that many of you likely own as a college student: a backpack (see Figure 1.5 ).

In terms of the first of the 4Ps, marketing analyzes the needs of consumers who buy backpacks and decides if they want more and/or different bags. For example, marketing will analyze what features consumers want in the bag. Do they want a water bottle pocket, padded shoulder straps, reflective tape, a padded laptop sleeve, or organizer pockets? Think about your own bag for a moment: Why did you buy this particular product? What features did it have that made it appealing to you?

Armed with market research knowledge, marketing then attempts to predict what types of backpacks different consumers will want and which of these consumers they will try to satisfy. For example, are you selling bags to adults for their children’s use? Are you selling them to young adults who might want more (or different) graphics on the bag? Are you selling to adults who will use these bags for work or for school?

Marketing will then estimate how many of these consumers will purchase backpacks over the next several years and how many bags they’ll likely purchase. Marketing will also estimate how many competitors will be producing backpacks, how many they’ll produce, and what types.

Price is the amount consumers pay for a product or service. There’s a delicate balance here. On one hand, marketers must link the price to the product’s real or perceived benefits while at the same time taking into consideration factors like production costs, seasonal and distributor discounts, and pricing product lines and different models within the line.

Marketers attempt to estimate how much consumers are willing to pay for the backpack and—perhaps more importantly—if the company can make a profit selling at that price. Pricing products or services can be both an art and a science. In the case of our backpack example, the company wants to determine two things:

• What’s the minimum price that the company can charge for the backpack and still make a profit?
• What’s the maximum price that the company can charge for the backpack without losing customers?

The “correct” answer usually lies somewhere in between those points on the price continuum.

Promotion includes advertising, public relations, and many other promotional strategies, including television and print advertisements, internet and social media advertising, and trade shows. A company’s promotional efforts must increase awareness of the product and articulate the reasons why customers should purchase their product. Remember: the goal of any promotional activity is to reach the “right” consumers at the right time and the right place.

In terms of our backpack example, marketing now needs to decide which kinds of promotional strategies should be used to tell potential customers about the company’s backpacks. For instance, should you use TV advertisements to make customers aware of the backpack? If so, you’ll want to run your commercials during programs that your target audience watches. For example, if you’re selling backpacks to children (or trying to entice them to badger their parents to purchase them), children’s cartoons may be the most cost-effective avenue to reach your target market. If your backpacks are designed for work or school, you’ll likely decide to advertise on television programs that target younger adults.

Link to Learning

Netflix, jansport, and stranger things.

A real-world promotional example is the recent brand partnership between Netflix and JanSport , the backpack company. These two companies collaborated on a Stranger Things –branded backpack with the launch of the fourth season of Stranger Things in 2022. This collaboration created five Hawkins-inspired backpacks centered on various Stranger Things themes. Read more about this promotion and see the backpacks here .

Perhaps you’ll decide to run magazine print ads. If so, you’ll need to decide in which magazines you’ll place the ads. Most magazines have a very specific readership demographic consisting of factors such as age, gender, and interests. If you’re going to advertise those backpacks with print ads, you’ll want to leverage readership demographics to ensure that your message is being seen by the right consumers—those who are most likely to buy your backpacks. 18

What about internet advertising? Internet advertising (sometimes known as online advertising or digital advertising) is a promotional strategy in which the company utilizes the internet as a medium to deliver its marketing messages. If you’re going to go the digital route, what types of internet advertising will you use? Search engine marketing? Email marketing? Social media ads? TikTok videos?

Place considerations focus on how and where to deliver the product to the consumer most likely to buy it. Where did you buy your backpack? Did you buy it in a big box store, online, in an office products store, or perhaps even the school bookstore? Once again, through market research, marketers determine where potential customers will be and how to get the company’s backpacks to them.

One important factor to note about the importance of place in the marketing mix is that it doesn’t refer to the location of the company itself but rather to the location of the customers or potential customers. Place deals with strategies the marketer can employ to get those backpacks from their present location—a warehouse, for example—to the location of the customers.

Knowledge Check

It’s time to check your knowledge on the concepts presented in this section. Refer to the Answer Key at the end of the book for feedback.

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• Authors: Dr. Maria Gomez Albrecht, Dr. Mark Green, Linda Hoffman
• Publisher/website: OpenStax
• Book title: Principles of Marketing
• Publication date: Jan 25, 2023
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/principles-marketing/pages/1-unit-introduction
• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/principles-marketing/pages/1-2-the-marketing-mix-and-the-4ps-of-marketing

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The 4 Ps Of Marketing

Updated: Jun 18, 2024, 8:52am

Table of Contents

What are the four ps of marketing, the first p: product, the second p: price, the third p: place, the fourth p: promotion, examples of the four ps in marketing, how to use the 4 ps of marketing, what’s the difference between the four ps and the seven ps, frequently asked questions (faqs).

The four Ps of marketing—product, price, place and promotion—serve as a framework for marketing success. Sometimes referred to as the marketing mix, the four Ps help guide businesses in the creation of winning business ideas that deliver what customers want, where and how they want it at a price that’s most appealing.

Building a solid marketing plan structured around the four Ps can help you increase awareness for your brand and its products or services, drive sales and achieve overall stronger bottom-line results.

The idea of a marketing mix was first popularized in the 1950s by Neil Bordon, a Professor of Advertising at Harvard. Drawing from Bordon’s work along with the work of other prominent marketing and business leaders, E. Jerome McCarthy introduced the four Ps of marketing in his book Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach .

You may recall from your Intro to Marketing college course that product, price, place and promotion are the four Ps of marketing. While the four Ps have been around for decades, the concept is just as relevant to businesses today as it was when the four Ps were first introduced.

The first P in the four Ps of marketing is product. A product can come in a variety of forms, such as a physical product, digital product, service, event or experience. The product is the actual item you are selling; the features or attributes you include or build into your products can help you differentiate your offerings from your competitors.

There are many dimensions that you must consider when deciding which products to develop and sell. Does your product solve a problem? Or does the product fulfill consumers’ wants and desires? Why would someone want to buy it? Product quality, design, packaging, variety, adaptability, sustainability, safety and production must all be considered.

Your marketing plan should outline the key features of your product, what makes it unique and who your target audience is for that product. This will help ensure you meet the needs and desires of your ideal audience.

The second P in the four Ps of marketing is price. Naturally, you need to price your products in a way that allows you to operate profitably. However, pricing is far more complex than calculating the cost of goods and adding on an additional amount that will let you meet your desired profit margin. How you price a product will convey its relative value and quality.

Walmart uses low-cost pricing to attract a broad audience of value-driven shoppers, while Saks Fifth Avenue sustains much higher prices, which is common among luxury goods sellers who target wealthy buyers. If you decide to serve different types of customers, you’ll need to develop a customer segmentation strategy , which will include pricing strategies for each segment you serve.

There’s also a psychological factor in product pricing, which is why products are often priced at $9.99 rather than $10. Products with prices ending in .99 seem cheaper than those that end in zero, and hence more shoppers are drawn to the $9.99 price tag.

The third P in the four Ps of marketing is place, which refers to the channels or locations where you sell your products and services.

You may want to sell products via a brick-and-mortar store or at less permanent physical locations, such as special events, fairs, pop-ups or temporary markets. Or, you may prefer to list your products for sale via an e-commerce software —by either building your own e-commerce website or by selling through popular online marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon or Etsy .

Where you sell your products will influence how you manage product inventory and product transportation or shipping. Location also influences the relative size of your reachable market. Some businesses find they can optimize sales by offering goods and services via multiple outlets.

The fourth P in the four Ps of marketing is promotion, which is how you get the word out about your products and what tactics you use to convert prospects into buyers. Your promotion strategy may include advertising, public relations, social media marketing, content marketing, direct marketing and influencer marketing, as well as the discounts and special offers you extend to generate sales.

Even the best product in the world doesn’t stand a chance if you don’t have a strong promotion strategy behind it. While there are some promotional tactics that can be done on a shoestring budget—such as do-it-yourself blogging and social media—others can be costly. It’s important to factor anticipated promotional costs into your product pricing strategy.

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Understanding the four Ps is the first step in creating a strong marketing mix. Knowing how to execute the four Ps correctly is key to achieving success. Let’s look at examples of how different organizations use the four Ps in different ways.

Examples of Product

The music industry offers many examples of how related products are sold in different formats––from physical products to digital downloads to digital streaming to live events.

While compact discs—a physical product—are no longer the norm, they are still available in some brick-and-mortar locations as well as in online marketplaces. Vinyl albums are making a comeback among certain audiophiles, which is a reminder to consider your audience’s specific interests when designing your product.

The popularity of various product formats can change as new technologies emerge. There was a time when you needed an Apple iPod or similar device (i.e., “product”) to listen to music online. Now you can use just about any internet-enabled device to purchase music via digital downloads, or you can subscribe to popular subscription-based audio streaming sites such as Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music, which grant you access to millions of songs.

Live performances are another popular music product—just ask any Taylor Swift mega-fan about the magic of scoring a ticket to one of her sold-out concerts. Of course, when you attend a live event, you will find there is plenty of physical music merchandise to purchase—from T-shirts to pins to caps and hats to collectible programs.

Examples of Price

You can buy a watch for under $100 or spend $100,000 or more; both watches will tell you the time. The price a person is willing to pay for a watch says a lot about their means, interests, style and quality preferences and what they value in a timepiece.

Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace and Armani all sell high-priced clothes, jewelry and accessories. Yet, what these brands are actually selling is a luxurious lifestyle. The premium prices these luxury brands charge reflect quality and exclusivity; their target audience has the means to purchase the products and the desire to live a rich life.

Old Navy, meanwhile, targets budget-conscious shoppers with its everyday modest prices and regular promotional discounts. Dollar Tree is an example of a brand that appeals to lower-income consumers and those seeking extreme values. Dollar Tree, which has had to raise average product prices up from $1.00 to $1.25, has seen profits surge in recent years.

No one magic price range will produce exceptional results for all product lines. When pricing your product, you must consider not only the cost to produce the item but who your ideal buyer is and what they’re currently spending on the products they purchase.

Examples of Place

Today’s businesses have more options and flexibility in places to sell their goods and services. The best point-of-sale (POS) systems and credit card readers let you accept payments from nearly anywhere.

You used to need a brick-and-mortar building to open a restaurant, and now budding restaurateurs and bakers can sell their edible creations via food trucks, pop-up events or shared kitchens.

Artists and crafters can sell their goods via their own galleries or display their works at others’ galleries. Artists also sell art online via their own websites or popular online marketplaces such as Creative Market, Etsy, Amazon Handmade and Fine Art America. Art and craft fairs are growing more popular, as are festivals and pop-up markets that invite artisans to showcase their work.

Many businesses start by selling their products online or via a retail location and then expand to other outlets once sales grow. A multi-location strategy is often the best way to boost your product sales.

Examples of Promotion

If you want your business to be successful, you must find ways to promote your business effectively. Some promotional efforts—such as national paid advertising—require a relatively large promotional budget, which is feasible for mega-brands like McDonald’s, Amazon and Toyota, but can be difficult for smaller businesses.

Examples of promotions that work for small businesses include creating a business website where you offer discount coupons and promote current sales. You can also ask customers for their email addresses and use email marketing software for ongoing business promotion. If you have a brick-and-mortar business, consider placing attention-grabbing banners, flags or a blow-up character in front of your business to draw the attention of those passing by.

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Other types of promotions can work for a wide array of businesses, such as customer loyalty programs. Kohl’s loyalty program, called Kohl’s Rewards, gives members cash back each month based on their spending. Since Kohl’s requires you to submit your contact information to join the program, the company can use that information to regularly email you to tell you about current sales and new products.

Think of the four Ps of marketing as your road map for introducing and launching successful products and services. Your marketing strategy should include extensive details on how you intend to approach each of the four Ps.

For example, when developing your product, consider what’s already available and what features you can embed in your product to serve a need or solve a problem better than any other available product. How will your product stand out in a crowded marketplace? Also, think about who your ideal audience is and what they value most.

When developing your pricing strategy, don’t just consider the price point where you make a sufficient margin. Be sure you understand your ideal customer’s sensitivity to pricing. Is this a luxury item? Then deliver the quality that appeals to high-end buyers at a price point that affirms luxury and exclusivity. Are you providing the best value on the market? Then use a value-based pricing model.

Placement is also key. Where does your target market already go to purchase similar products—online, in specialty retail stores, big-box stores, discount stores or elsewhere? It’s important to place your products where your ideal clients already shop, which may mean placing them in multiple sales channels.

Finally, give special attention to how you promote your products. Your promotion strategies must be compelling and give you maximum reach for your promotional dollars.

How and where you choose to promote your product needs to align with the type of customer you are pursuing. The promotional choices you’ll select for more traditional middle-aged suburbanites will be considerably different than those you’d use to appeal to members of Generation Z. Always make sure your advertising choices and messaging align with who you’re targeting.

While the four Ps came first, you may have also heard of the seven Ps of marketing, which rose in popularity in the 70s and 80s. The seven Ps include the original four Ps plus people, process and physical evidence.

The fifth P refers to the people within your organization who work together to create an exceptional experience for your customers. You can differentiate your business from competitors by creating a customer-centric culture that consistently delivers a memorable, high-quality customer experience.

If you are a service-based business, it’s vital that you pay close attention to the people you hire to interact with your customers. Bad reviews on Google Reviews or Yelp can put you out of business.

The sixth P, process, is how you get your product to the customer. Is it easy and seamless to purchase from you, or are there barriers that make the buying experience difficult or issues with your shipping or delivery system that negatively impact the experience?

For example, did you ship a product to an environmentally conscious customer via a styrofoam container—or did you use sustainable, eco-friendly shipping and packaging methods? Make sure the processes you use make sense for what you’re selling and who you’re selling to.

Physical Evidence

The seventh P, physical evidence, involves things that enhance or detract from the shopping or purchase experience. Physical evidence includes branding and packaging.

When a physical environment is involved—such as in a retail store, restaurant or service office—physical evidence includes the layout, ambiance and overall aesthetics of the physical location that contribute to the impression you make on prospects and customers.

What are the seven Ps of marketing?

The seven Ps of marketing—sometimes referred to as the marketing mix—include product, place, price, promotion, people, physical evidence and process.

Which of the four Ps of marketing is the most important?

Many consider the product to be the most important of the four Ps of marketing. That being said, even excellent products can only be successful if a business strategically deploys all vital aspects of the marketing mix, including the remaining three Ps: place, promotion and price.

What are the marketing four Ps and four Cs?

The four Ps of marketing are product, place, price and promotion. In an article in Advertising Age , Bob Lauterborn introduced the four Cs, which he stated was a more customer-centric marketing model. The four Cs are consumer, cost, convenience and communication.

What is the purpose of the four Ps of marketing?

The purpose of the four Ps of marketing is to help businesses create a viable, complete strategy for selling goods and services. The four Ps are essential pillars for success that can help you drive better results when launching any product or service.

What’s the difference between the four Ps and the seven Ps of marketing?

The seven Ps include the original four Ps—product, price, place and promotion—plus people, process and physical evidence.

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Janette Novak is a freelance journalist and consultant who specializes in teaching online business and small business marketing. Previously, Janette owned a boutique marketing agency and served as a Chief Marketing Officer for a leading professional training services provider.

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The Four Ps of Marketing

You might have heard about the Four Ps of marketing in a textbook, in school, or from a fellow marketer. But the Four Ps of Marketing are more than just an abstract idea: they are a very important marketing concept that you can use to advertise your new business, optimize your sales, reach your target audience, or test your current marketing strategy. Learn how you can utilize the four Ps to help grow your business.

What Are the Four Ps of Marketing?

Marketing is the activity , set of institutions, or processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. The four Ps of marketing is a marketing concept that summarizes the four key factors of any marketing strategy. The four Ps are: product, price, place, and promotion.

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This course introduces marketing, the marketing mix (the Four Ps), the strategic importance of marketing, and customer values and satisfaction.

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With practice and a dash of curiosity, this course will reveal what’s needed to bring a brand to life using this formula: Brand Commitment + Brand Voice + Design + Implementation = Brand Strategy.

Modern Marketing: Strategy and Execution

The course focuses on providing practical, hands-on advice to entrepreneurs and small-business people, including video segments with analysis and commentary from industry-leading practitioners and subject matter experts.

The History of the Four Ps of Marketing

The four Ps were popularized by Neil Borden, an advertising professor at Harvard University , in the 1950s, as part of the overall marketing mix. The four Ps of marketing are still widely used today by marketers and companies to advertise their goods and services.

Understanding the Four Ps of Marketing

Now that you know what the four Ps of marketing are, let’s break down each one so you can utilize each in your own marketing strategy.

What is Product?

The product is what your company sells. For example, maybe it is smoothies from your juice bar or jewelry from your e-commerce store. Or, it can be a service, like yoga classes or therapy sessions. The product is what you make available to the consumer. Ideally, your product or service should fulfill an existing consumer demand. The type of product or service you offer helps you determine how much to charge for it, where it should be placed, and how it should be promoted. (The other three Ps of marketing!)

To capitalize on successfully marketing your product, you need to identify why it is different or special. So, what sets your product apart from other products like it on the market? How can it win over customers and beat the competition? The key to this P of marketing is determining what it is that makes your product unique or special.

Example of Product

Many successful products and services are the first in their category. For example, Apple was the first company to sell a touchscreen smartphone that had the ability to do much more than simply make phone calls.

What is Price?

Price is the amount of money you charge customers for the previously determined product or service. The right price drives up the most amount of sales and the most profit for your company. The price also must be related to the product’s real and perceived value.

Example of Price

There are several factors that can affect the cost of a product or service , like supply costs, seasonal discounts, and competitors’ prices. There are also other reasons to raise or lower prices. For example, some high-end businesses might raise the price of their products to give the appearance of being a luxury to appeal to an affluent audience. On the other hand, other businesses might lower the price of a newer product or offer a discount to entice more consumers into buying and trying the product.

What is Place?

The third P of marketing is place. This is the place where you should sell your product and how it should be delivered to the market.

Example of Place

For example, would it be better to sell your product from a brick-and-mortar store or an e-commerce website? Or, it can refer to where you place the product within your store’s display. Place can even refer to where you choose to advertise your product, like on TV, social media, or web pages. The ultimate goal of place is to determine the best place to get products in front of the customers who are most likely to purchase them.

While place might seem irrelevant if you have an e-commerce website , it actually is extremely relevant. For example, on which social media platforms are you promoting your e-commerce website? Place and promotion are tied closely together.

What is Promotion?

The final P of marketing is promotion. Promotion includes all of the advertising and public relations that make up your promotional strategy for your product. The goal of promoting your product is to show consumers why they need it, what problem it will solve for them, and why they should fork over their hard-earned money for it. What is the best way to reach your target market? It might be a social media platform, a PR campaign, or an SEO strategy.

Example of Promotion

There are so many ways to promote your business today and so many tools available to help you do it. The key is choosing the right method of promotion in order to reach your specific target audience. They might include online marketing, SEO, social media, Google Ads, social media advertising, affiliate marketing or influencer marketing , content marketing, or email marketing.

Marketing Strategy Examples

To create an excellent marketing strategy , here is an example:

Step 1: Product: Determine what it is that you sell, whether it is a product, service, consulting, etc.

Step 2: Price: Decide how much you will charge for your product or service that will both help you make a profit, but is realistic for your consumers.

Step 3: Place: Choose where you will sell your product or service.

Step 4: Promotion: Pick the best method of promoting your product or service.

Marketing Analysis Example

If your current marketing strategy doesn’t seem to be working, perform a marketing analysis by working your way through each of the four Ps of marketing to determine the issue. Maybe it lies within the product, price, place, or promotion. For example, maybe you have an excellent product, but the place you are selling it isn’t working.

The Four Ps are Essential for Marketers

If you want to stand out from your competitors, you need to leverage the four Ps of marketing. For more marketing tips, consider joining the American Marketing Association! We offer Digital Marketing Certifications and more to help you be the best possible marketer.

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What Are the 4 Ps of Marketing? The Marketing Mix Explained [Example]

Published: October 03, 2023

If you've been a marketing professional for years now, learning about the four Ps of marketing might seem like a throwback to you.

However, for those of us who work in the industry but didn't study marketing in college, it's entirely possible you haven't heard of the marketing mix.

Below, let's learn about the four Ps of marketing and how they're still relevant in today's marketing landscape.

What are the 4 Ps of marketing?

The four Ps of marketing are product, price, place, and promotion. These are the key factors that are involved in marketing a product or service. You take the four Ps into account when creating strategies for marketing, promoting, advertising, and positioning your product or brand.

The four Ps are meant to help marketers consider everything about a product or service when they're deciding how to market it for their business. Framing your marketing around the four Ps will help you learn what the competition is doing and what customers want from you.

How to Use the 4 Ps of Marketing

You can use the four Ps to answer questions about the product, price, place, and promotion of your product or service.

For example, you can ask yourself:

• 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?

Always consider the needs and preferences of your target audience. Ultimately, your product, its price, its place of distribution, and its promotional strategies should appeal to your customers the most.

Thinking about your marketing in terms of the four Ps will help you strategize how to reach your customers. The 4 Ps of Marketing are also known as your marketing mix — more on that below.

What is the marketing mix?

The marketing mix is also known as the four Ps of marketing. It refers to the four key elements of a marketing strategy: product, price, place, and promotion. These elements guide the marketing initiatives, wording, and positioning for a product or brand.

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To develop a marketing mix, you'll need to think about how you can uniquely position your brand amongst the competition. The most important part of thinking about the marketing mix — or the four Ps of marketing — is to understand the customer, the competition, and your company. You'll evaluate your product and how to promote it.

But getting started isn’t easy. That’s why we’ve created the ultimate collection of marketing mix templates you can use to visualize your marketing mix and share it with your employees or investors. Use the templates to organize your initiatives and activities by the right section.

Featured Resource: Marketing Mix Templates

Click here to download the templates for free .

Use the template to follow along with the 4 Ps of marketing below.

The 4 Ps of Marketing (Example)

1. the first p of marketing: product.

When you think about your product, consider exactly what you're selling. Is it a specific product? Or is it a service? Your product can be a physical product, an online app, or a service such as house cleaning. Really, anything that you're selling is the product.

Then, think of your brand messaging, the services you offer, and even packaging. When you define your product, think about what problem your product solves for your customers. Consider how your product is different from competing products. What features are unique to your product?

It's important to know your product intimately so you can market it.

Product Example

We’ll use Marketing Hub as an example.

What is it? “Marketing automation software to help you attract the right audience, convert more visitors into customers, and run complete inbound marketing campaigns at scale — all on one powerful, easy-to-use platform.”

Who is it for? Modern marketers who juggle too much data and who are stuck with impossible-to-use software solutions that make their job harder, not easier.

Which features does it have? Marketing Hub offers blogging, SEO, social media management, email marketing, and ad tracking tools in a single, intuitive platform.

What problem does it solve? Marketing Hub simplifies the marketing automation process for busy marketers by bringing all data and tools under one roof.

2. The Second P of Marketing: Price

When it comes to price, you have to consider how much you're going to charge customers for your products or services. Of course, you need to make a profit.

When coming up with your pricing strategy , you also need to think about what competitors are charging for the same product or service and how much customers are willing to pay. You can also think about what discounts or offers you can use in your marketing.

When you decide on a price, you want to think about perception. Do you want to be known as a cost-effective option in your industry? Or perhaps you're a luxury brand and the price is slightly higher than competition on the market. Keep in mind that pricing SaaS products is a little different than pricing physical products.

Either way, the language you use to market your product will be greatly impacted by the price of your product.

Download a sales pricing calculator for free .

Price Example

Marketing Hub is priced to grow with you as you grow.

We offer the following subscription tiers:

• $0/month (Free)
• $45/month (Starter)
• $800/month (Professional)
• $3,200/month (Enterprise)

3. The Third P of Marketing: Place

When it comes to place, this might mean the physical location of your company, but it could also be defined as anywhere you sell your product, which might be online.

The place is where you market and distribute your product.

Remember that not every place makes sense for every product. For example, if your target market is seniors, then it won't make sense to market on TikTok. It's important to choose the right places to market your product and meet your customers where they're at.

Think about possible distribution channels and outlets you could use to sell your product. Be sure to take into account whether your business is B2B or B2C .

At this point, you'll need to think about how to market your product on all the various channels that make sense for your company.

Place Example

As a provider of a SaaS product, we offer Marketing Hub directly on our website.

Marketers can sign up for Marketing Hub by creating an account directly on our platform. We’ve created a convenient sign-up page for free subscriptions — or they can request a demo from our friendly sales team.

4. The Fourth P of Marketing: Promotion

Promotion is the bread and butter of marketing. This is when you'll think about how to publicize and advertise your product.

Additionally, you'll discuss brand messaging, brand awareness, and lead generation strategies .

When it comes to promotion, keeping communication in mind is of the utmost importance. What messages will resonate with your target market? How can you best promote your product to them?

Think about where, when, and how you'll promote your brand.

Promotion Example

We want to be where marketers are. Most importantly, we want to help them grow in their careers — as well as grow their businesses.

Our inbound marketing strategy will focus primarily on organic acquisition. We’ll promote Marketing Hub over the following channels:

• The HubSpot Marketing Blog
• HubSpot Academy

The 4 Ps of Marketing Examples: Apple and e.l.f. Cosmetics

Let's break down the 4 Ps of marketing for Apple and e.l.f. Cosmetics.

( Image Source )

• Product: iPhones, Macs, iPads, Apple Watch, AirPods, Software, and Services (i.e., Apple Music, Apple TV, iTunes, etc.).
• Price: Apple products are often priced at the higher end of the market. The brand commands premium pricing due to its reputation for innovation, quality, and design.
• Place: Consumers can purchase products online and in retail stores. Apple products are sold worldwide and have a significant global market presence.
• Promotion: Apple places a strong emphasis on cultivating a dedicated and loyal consumer base. Their marketing campaigns reinforce the idea of being part of an "Apple ecosystem." Once users buy one product — like an iPhone – they're more likely to choose other Apple products like MacBooks, iPads, Apple Watches, and more. This ecosystem fosters a deep brand loyalty. This sense of loyalty is evident in their product launches, which are a must-see event in the tech industry.

e.l.f. Cosmetics

• Product: e.l.f. offers a comprehensive range of makeup and skincare products, brushes, and beauty tools.
• Price: One of e.l.f.'s main value propositions is its affordability. Many of their products have a low price point, making the brand accessible to a wide range of consumers. Its lower price point sets it apart from other brands in the beauty space.
• Place: e.l.f. products are widely available in drugstores and big-box retailers like Target and Walmart. It also has a a strong online presence, selling products directly through their website and other online retailers.
• Promotion: As a challenger brand in the beauty space, e.l.f. seeks to establish itself as a recognizable and reliable option at the drugstore and beyond. The brand is proactive across social media, including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, to engage with younger demographics. In addition, their campaigns often involve user-generated content to foster a sense of community with their audience. 

Back to You

Even though marketing has changed since the four Ps were developed, the foundational elements of the industry haven't. You can apply the concepts of the marketing mix to create winning marketing strategies that help you profitably launch and promote your company’s products.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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The 4 P’s of Marketing Mix and how to master it in today's world (updated with example and template)

This article addresses how to use one of the oldest marketing concepts in today's online world: "The Marketing Mix," which is based on the 4 P's: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

If you’re ready to take your marketing seriously, you’ll need to start with a marketing plan. A classic marketing concept called “The Marketing Mix” or “The 4 P’s” of Marketing is a perfect place to start.

The original concept of the 4 P's marketing mix

The original marketing mix, or 4 P's, as originally proposed by marketer and academic Jerome E. McCarthy , provides a framework for marketing decision-making. Effectively summing up the 4 pillars of the business cycle, McCarthy's marketing mix has since become one of the most enduring and widely accepted frameworks in business.

The essential base ingredients of the 4 P’s are: Product , Price , Place and Promotion . While this combination doesn’t appear to be rocket science, a company’s ability or lack thereof to embrace and implement the 4 P’s can make all the difference between thriving and failing as a business.

Each of the 4 P’s build upon and interact with one another, and are governed by both internal and external factors within the business itself, and our ever-changing marketplace. The 4 P’s of marketing primary purpose is to help us take into consideration potential roadblocks to widespread product adaptation and ongoing success.

So let’s get to them, shall we?

4 P's of marketing in simple and familiar terms:

A PRODUCT is a service or good offered to meet consumer interest or demand. It could come in the form of occupational therapy or a fidget spinner - choices are only limited to the imagination, BUT, are highly dependent on marketplace curiosity or need.

PRICE is the cost people pay for a product. This includes base costs (materials, manufacturing, and shipping) plus expenses (rent, office supplies, healthcare, etc.). While you should always look to the competition, a smart business will tap into what people will actually pay for it. That's the only thing that counts. If you can't rise above your bottom line and make your target profit, then it’s a losing proposition.

PLACE is the “home” where the product resides, and that “home” can live in many different channels, such as a physical store display, a newspaper, radio or TV ad, or a website or blog spotlight. Really, a place is anywhere you can get your product in front of your target customers that compliments your budget, including the price point.

PROMOTION is product exposure and public relations efforts via advertising (through the channels mentioned above) as well as word of mouth, direct mail, email marketing and social media. Promotion is a communication tool that encapsulates the first 3 P’s by putting the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time, with the goal of it being irresistible to customers.

The 4 P's example and template for a service business

The Marketing Mix of “HVAC Plumber” reflects a real life example of how a service company covers the 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) in their marketing strategy.

“HVAC plumber” (a fictitious company) provides heating and cooling services in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.

HVAC Plumber marketing mix elements strategy and example:

HVAC Plumber offers industry standard services, but also innovates to provide more value to our customers and captures more of the market. We are insured, licensed and provide warranties for our work. Our high quality services and focus on a pleasant customer experience helps us get repeat clients, referrals, and builds our reputation. Also, our motto is: “Leave the place cleaner than we found it” - so you’ll always see us with a broom in our hands before we leave.

At present, the following are the main categories of HVAC Plumber products:

• Furnace installation and repair
• Water heater maintenance, installation and repair
• Air conditioning installation, maintenance and repair
• Complete plumbing system design and installation
• Drain, sink and toilet unclogging and jet rodding and repairs

Our extra value added products:

• Emergency services
• Indoor air quality testing services
• Air duct and dryer vent cleaning services
• Warranty services
• Equipment sales

Our reputation and successful marketing generates more demand than we can handle, so it allows us to charge premium for our services. We train our service technicians to upsell our other services. We also have a customer loyalty program in place to reward our long-term clients with better rates and provide coupons to first time clients. We also seek partnerships with organizations such as: homeowner associations, insurance companies, builders and general contractors, and offer exclusive pricing options based on quantity.

The company has offices in downtown Chicago, but walk-in customers are unusual. We are physically represented by our company vans, uniforms and warranty stickers. We consistently attend industry trade shows, and belong to the Chicago Chamber of Commerce.

We nurture partnerships with our equipment vendors, participate in their trainings, and have certifications, which allow us to be listed “licensed technicians” on their websites. We serve the Chicagoland Area, which is about a 30 mile radius from our warehouse, but we do make travel exceptions for long-term clients and bigger projects.

Our company website is the most important communication tool, and is a place where our clients learn about our services and make initial contact. We invest a great deal of money and time to keep it updated and useful to our audience. We plan to expand our website to include ecommerce and make some of the package services, equipment and accessories available for purchase online. None of our competitors are doing this at the moment, so we’ll take advantage of being pioneers in this regard.

Most new business comes through our website and we focus all of our promotion efforts to drive more traffic to it. Our promotional mix is as follows:

• Search engine optimization
• Paid traffic
• Social media marketing
• Content marketing
• Email marketing

Our value proposition statement

HVAC Plumber is an industry-leading HVAC and plumbing service provider serving the Chicago area since 1999. We specialize in new installations, repairs, and 24 hour emergency services.

Start with 4 P's of marketing template

Check out our 4 P's of marketing template to help you work through your first few ideas.

But why stop there?

The 7 P’s of marketing mix

Since the inception of the original 4 P’s of marketing, marketing experts have expounded upon the mix to include three additional P’s to enhance brand exposure and sales performance.

These additional P’s include: People , Process and Physical evidence .

PEOPLE have always been at the epicenter of the business world. Whether it’s the company visionaries, the movers and shakers, or the daily doers, unless (or until) commerce is fully automated, you’re only as good as the people who keep the business operational and flowing. And believe you me, customers are quick to notice when there’s a glitch in the matrix.

PROCESSES ensure consistent service delivery to every customer, at any time of day, on any given day. And, a successful business incorporates scenarios where customer preferences can be accommodated to provide them a unique experience.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE – Almost all services include physical proof of a transaction, even if the bulk of what the consumer bought isn’t tangible. It’s something the customer can hold onto and recall about working with you. Physical evidence also describes consistent branding across communication channels.

How can you actually use this?

How the 4 P’s apply in today’s online marketing

The how’s and why’s of how we approach marketing have become much more dynamic since the inception of the internet. However, the driving factor is still and should always remain: PEOPLE. Actually, it’s more about people than ever before. Having an honest marketing approach has never been more important and is both emotionally and financially rewarding if you do it right.

PRODUCT and how it lives online versus the shelf

It seems like not much has changed as far as the product or services goes, right? Wrong. No matter what type of product you offer, the landscape shifted majorly to the consumer benefit. The majority of customers now prefer to shop online, and perform in-depth research before making their buying decisions.

Besides the original, product-related marketing factors such as: product quality and design, branding, packaging, returns and guarantees, in your marketing plan, you should also consider NEW factors.

User-centric customer support - your product now has a digital voice. And it must talk to your audience and be both personalized and timely. Not only across all the common channels such as phone or email, but also should be proactively involved in social media. Resource: Social media customer service 101: the beginner's guide

New PRICING models to consider

Pricing your product or service is never an easy task. It sure helps if you can find a unique product positioning on the market, otherwise you fall into price comparison wars with your competition. And, to compare prices has never been easier than today. The original Marketing Mix suggests considering pricing strategy and tactics, discount structure, payment terms and options for both customers and distributors.

Competition pricing research - this is an in-depth review of the pricing models of your direct competitors. In comparing products, you should focus worldwide. With local services, of course, should compare within your own service area. Remember that you don’t have to anchor your pricing based on competition, but it helps to know the market.

Shipping and handling strategy - it’s not an obvious, but very important factor in online sales conversions no matter the item price. Offering free shipping is one of the most effective purchase incentives. Resource: How to offer free shipping and still make money

"9 out of 10 online shoppers consider free shipping as one of the main reasons why they shop at a particular online store. To offer free shipping is not a new thing, thanks to Amazon it became essential running an online store. The main question now is how to make it profitable. It looks impossible, but with the right approach - offering it most, not all, of the time, setting a flat shipping or order threshold, it is possible."

Diana Bukevicius - Scube Marketing

Product positioning - I know I’m repeating myself, but I have to. Positioning is strongly engraved into each pillar of The Marketing Mix. As far as pricing goes, having strong niche positioning eliminates the number of competitors that your product or service can be compared with and it opens up an opportunity to go for value pricing . Resource: Everything you need to know about pricing

Upsell strategy - this is an underestimated source of cash flow. It’s always easier to sell to the people that already bought something from you and were happy with the product. It can be an additional items or warranties, maintenance or a product upgrade.

PLACE for marketing is now on the mobile screens

Back in the 1940’s “place” was all about brick and mortar. Location, distribution, and logistics are still part of the process, but it heavily shifted from the marketing department to operations. No doubt you’ll boost sales if your product gets featured in physical Walmart stores, but you also can sell at Walmart Marketplace online with way less effort for the approval process. Same goes for Amazon. Online selling has undoubtedly taken over as the place to peddle your wares. Resource: How to sell on Walmart marketplace in 7 easy steps

Website - this is by far your most important marketing piece. It’s your 24/7 storefront and your sales rep that never sleeps. Any marketing efforts that you take will end up on your website. I mentioned 3rd party sources like Walmart Marketplace or Amazon, but I still highly recommend you focus on your own website first and use other sources as secondary. Why? Because you own it and you control it.

Any 3rd party retailer could change their policies tomorrow and you might be out of business. Plus, websites grow more powerful over time if supported by thoughtful and consistent marketing decisions. When you build your website, the decisions on design, structure and content should be made based on your promotional strategies.

3rd party platforms - Your audience is on or a few of these platforms already. Identify those platforms and utilize them. It can take the form of direct eCommerce platforms like Amazon, or it can be social channels like LinkedIn or Facebook etc.

PROMOTION is in your inbox

Search engine optimization (SEO), social media, email marketing and paid search. I hear that Super Bowl ads are worth their weight in gold, but if you can afford a Superbowl ad, you are on the wrong blog!

Jokes aside, make sure your marketing strategy is built around driving traffic to your website and converting it to leads or sales.

Traffic generation - getting targeted visitors to come to your website is the ultimate #1 goal. There are numerous ways you can achieve that, and they’re all worth considering:

Search engine optimization (SEO) - is the practice driving traffic to your website through organic search engine results by optimizing (making relevant) your website for targeted keyphrases. SEO is an ongoing process that requires patience and consistent efforts.

Paid search - in other words - “bought traffic.” Platforms like Google AdWords, Bing Ads or Facebook Ads allows you to buy highly targeted traffic in an auction-type of fashion. It’s typically based on “per click” pricing, where each visitors cost you x amount of dollars.

Social media marketing - is the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites. If you sell to people then it’s a great idea to invest time and effort (and sometimes money) into one or several social media sites. That’s where the people hang-out these days. Resource: Welcome to the beginner's guide to social media!

Email marketing - is the modern equivalent of oldschool direct mail, I believe. Even if one more email in our inbox is the last thing we want or need - email is still one of the best performing marketing tools. Resource: A beginner’s guide to successful email marketing Resource: A comprehensive guide to email marketing platforms

Conversion rate optimization - converting website visitors into leads is the ultimate goal #2 to achieve. Firstly, to be able to calculate conversions you need to have Google Analytics or other tracking system integrated to your website. Conversion rate optimization are an ongoing process where you optimize your website and measure the outcome looking for the optimal version of each page. Resource: Conversion optimization made simple: a step-by-step guide Resource: Learn Google Analytics with free online courses

2 extra P’s from Angle180

The team at Angle180 takes the “4 P's of marketing (Plus 3)” two steps further, to include Positioning and Positive Reviews.

Positioning - again and again. Positioning is a fundamental piece of your marketing plan and your overall business success. Essentially, if you answer all the questions related to each P you’ll arrive to your business positioning statement.

Positioning is how you differentiate your product or service from your competitors in your niche market.

A good positioning statement is the first thing people read when they visit your website. Typically, it’s a 7-10 word sentence on your Home Page that succinctly answers:

There’s a science behind positioning, and it’s wise to research how others in your field describe themselves.

Positive reviews - positive online reviews are pretty self explanatory, but I recommend creating a strategy for collecting positive reviews, as well as dealing with negative ones.

Unfortunately, it’s human nature to take positive experiences for granted and feel revengeful about the negative ones.

Reviews definitely affect local search rankings and customer buying decisions.

Local consumer review survey by BrightLocal reveals the importance of reviews:

97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses in 2017

85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations

49% of consumers need at least a four-star rating before they choose to use a business

Responding to reviews is more important than ever, with 30% naming this as key when judging local businesses

4 P's of Marketing Mix in a slideshow presentation (PPT) and downloadable PDF

Here is a PDF version of 4 P's of marketing presentation.

Our conclusion? The original 4 P’s of the marketing mix withstand the test of time

There is one common trait to all classic things - they never get old or obsolete. So, even with all the changes that technology has brought us, the 80 year concept of The 4 P’s of marketing mix are still relevant and applicable today. Marketing platforms and tools have certainly changed, but the foundation is rock solid. And, let’s hope it always remains personalized and people-driven.

I'm Sarunas Budrikas, CEO of Angle180, a B2B marketing company delivering results through high performance web design and traffic generation.

You can also find me on LinkedIn and Twitter .

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Module 14: Marketing Mix

Assignment: i can see the four ps of marketing.

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4 P’s of Marketing

Product, Price, Promotion, Place

What are the 4 P’s of Marketing?

The “4 P’s of Marketing” refer to the four key elements comprising the process of marketing a product or service. They involve the marketing mix, which is a set of tools that a company uses to influence consumers into buying its product. The marketing mix addresses factors such as:

• Understanding the needs or desires of consumers
• Identifying the cause of the failure of the current product offering
• Finding ways to solve said problems and change public perception of the product/service
• Creating distinguishing characteristics to increase competitive advantage
• Understanding how the product interacts with consumers and vice versa

History of the 4 P’s of Marketing

The individual who conceptualized the 4 P’s of Marketing was a Harvard University professor named Neil Borden. In 1964, Borden introduced the idea in one of his published articles called “The Concept of the Marketing Mix.” he mentioned that many companies could use the framework to increase the likelihood of their success when advertising their products.

Marketing Mix

A product is any good or service that fulfills consumer needs or desires. It can also be defined as a bundle of utilities that comes with physical aspects such as design, volume, brand name, etc. The type of product impacts its perceived value, which allows companies to price it profitably. It also affects other aspects such as product placement and advertisements.

Companies can change the packaging, after-sales service, warranties, and price range, or expand to new markets to meet their objectives. Marketers must understand the product life cycle and come up with strategies for every stage in the life cycle, i.e., introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.

The price of a product directly influences sales volume and, consequently, business profits. Demand, cost, pricing trends among competitors, and government regulations are crucial factors that determine pricing. Price usually reflects the product’s perceived value rather than its real value. This means that pricing can be increased to promote exclusivity or reduced to create access.

Thus, pricing involves making decisions in terms of the basic price, discounts, price alteration, credit terms, freight payments , etc. It is also important to analyze when and if techniques like discounting are required or appropriate.

3. Promotion

Promotion involves decisions related to advertising, salesforce, direct marketing, public relations, advertising budgets, etc. The primary aim of promotion is to spread awareness about the product and services offered by a company. It helps in persuading consumers to choose a particular product over others in the market. Promotional efforts include the following:

• Advertising : A means of selling a product, service, or idea through communicating a sponsored, non-personal message about the product.
• Public relations : Involves management and control of the flow and matter of information from one’s organization to the general public or other institutions.
• Marketing strategy : Involves identifying the right target market and using tools such as advertising to penetrate the said market. Promotion also includes online factors such as determining the class of search functions on Google that may trigger corresponding or targeted ads for the product, the design and layout of a company’s webpage, or the content posted on social media handles such as Twitter and Instagram.

4. Place (or Distribution)

Place involves choosing the place where products are to be made available for sale. The primary motive of managing trade channels is to ensure that the product is readily available to the customer at the right time and place. It also involves decisions regarding the placing and pricing of wholesale and retail outlets.

Distribution channels such as outsourcing or company transport fleets are decided upon after cost-benefit analysis. Small details such as shelf space committed to the product by department stores are also included.

Extensions to the 4 P’s of Marketing

New marketers recommend expanding the 4 P’s of Marketing to include services as well. They include:

• People : Servicing involves a direct interaction of service providers and consumers, which increases the scope for subjectivity. Appearances, communication, discretion, consumer interaction, behavior, and attitude of service are important aspects.
• Physical Evidence : Atmosphere, layout, and design of the workplace can largely impact the brand image of a product.
• Process : Standardized procedures are usually adopted in cases of policy, procedures, systems, and consumer involvement to create continuity while delivering services.

More Resources

Thank you for reading CFI’S guide to the 4 P’s of Marketing. To keep learning and advancing your career, the following CFI resources will be helpful:

• Guerrilla Marketing
• Omni-channel
• Walmart Marketing Mix
• See all management & strategy resources

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4 P's of marketing: How to achieve the perfect marketing mix

The 4 P’s of marketing are price, promotion, place, and product—the four key factors every marketer should use to guide their campaign strategy. Our guide covers the 4 P’s of marketing and gives a breakdown of each step involved.

The 4 P's approach works for any industry, and can be applied to any business, from solopreneurs to enterprise organizations. In our guide, we'll cover what the 4 P’s of marketing are, then break down exactly how to incorporate them in your next marketing campaign.

What are the 4 P’s of marketing?

The 4 P's stand for product, price, place, and promotion, the four primary factors that marketers need to consider when designing a campaign strategy.

A marketing strategy should:

Communicate what the product will provide the customer

Demonstrate why the product's value fits its price

Appear in the places the company's target audience will encounter them

Use effective promotion strategies to reach potential customers

Keep these four objectives in mind as you craft your marketing strategy. The 4 P's should influence your product positioning, marketing channel selection, advertising decisions, promotional strategy, and copy choices throughout the campaign.

How do the 4 P’s work?

Knowing what the 4 P’s are isn't very helpful unless you also know how to implement them in your marketing strategy . Below, we'll break down each P to help you better understand what they are, why they're important to your marketing efforts, and how you can incorporate them into future campaigns.

The first P: Product

In the marketing mix, "product" is shorthand for whatever it is that you're selling, whether it's a physical product or a service. A strong marketing campaign starts with a clear and detailed understanding of the product and how it appeals to the target customer.

For example, a car advertisement that only highlights details like what the car looks like and how much it costs isn't very compelling. Guided by a complete understanding of the product they're selling, a more skilled marketer might pitch an SUV crossover advertisement that emphasizes unique safety features in order to specifically target parents of small children. 

Example product questions

What problem is your product solving? Consider what challenges your target customers encounter and what impacts those challenges have.

Who is your target customer? Think about what type of person is most likely to find value in your product.

How does your product address your target customer’s needs? Home in on how specific features of your product address specific customer demands.

What does your product offer that competitors' products do not? Determine how your product solves customers' needs more quickly, effectively, or affordably than competing products.

Put yourself in your target customer's shoes to more thoroughly understand what your product has to offer. With a better understanding of the specific ways in which your product offers value to the customer, you'll be able to market that product more effectively.

The second P: Price

The second P of marketing stands for “price.” This is how much you should charge for your product in order to make a profit. When creating your pricing strategy, a good place to start is by looking at your competitors. 

Checking how much your competitors charge gives you a good sense of how much potential customers are willing to pay for similar products. Combine that with the perceived value of your product—in other words, what you want your price to imply about your product. Are you a luxury, standard, or budget option?

You can use your marketing messaging to focus on these different price points. Don’t forget to also think about coupons, discounts, offers, and bundles that are popular in your marketplace.

Example price questions

What do competing products cost? This is a great starting point for market research and gauging your product’s price range.

How much are your customers willing to spend? Thinking about how much your potential customers are willing to spend will help give you a price cap.

Can your product have multiple price points? Looking at the potential to have several price points for different levels of subscriptions or products can open you up to a larger demographic.

What does your product cost to create? Understanding how much it will cost you to make a product or provide a service will help you determine your profit margins.

If you've priced your product correctly, you should be selling it at a cost that's affordable for your target customer and still brings in a profit.

The third P: Place

The third P of marketing stands for “place.” This encompasses where you are in relation to where your customer is, as well as where you need to place your advertising in order to reach your target audience.

It doesn't take a master strategist to know that a physical product or service needs to be available where potential customers live, shop, and work. However, place will impact your marketing strategy, too.

If you operate a physical store, it's unlikely that customers will come from far away to buy your product. Generalized marketing methods will always be effective, but you may get a greater return on investments in local SEO, advertising in town newspapers, and co-sponsoring community events.

The same principle applies to locating your target audience online. For example, if you're targeting Gen Z social media influencers, you'll probably be wasting valuable budget by advertising on platforms that cater to older audiences like Facebook or LinkedIn.

Example place questions

Where does your target customer purchase similar products? Think about whether your potential buyers will purchase your product in a store, conference, online, etc., in order to determine the best place to sell your product.

Where is your customer located? Knowing where your customer lives or spends their time shopping is an important aspect of developing a marketing strategy.

Are you business or consumer-focused? Deciding whether you are selling directly to individuals or businesses will help you determine where to sell your new product.

Where are your competitors selling their products or services? Use your successful competitors as a guide on where to sell your products. They are great indicators of which place(s) will be most successful.

The fourth P: Promotion

The last P of marketing stands for “promotion.” If product is what you're selling, price is how much you're selling it for, and place is where you're selling it, then promotion is how you're promoting the sale. 

In designing your promotion strategy , think through how you want your messaging to be received. Is your brand fun and clever, upscale and luxurious, or serious and intellectual? Nail down your brand voice and then keep it consistent across all of your marketing.

It's also important to determine what messages will perform well on different platforms. A multiple-paragraph post will be ignored on Facebook or Instagram, but might make an excellent SEO opportunity for your blog. You might be targeting audiences that use both LinkedIn and TikTok, and you may even be promoting the same message across channels, but you'll need to tailor the format of your content to match each platform.

Example promotion questions

Who is your target audience? Understand who you're speaking to so you can decide what voice and tone will resonate the most.

How do you want your brand to be perceived? Think about what brand personality makes sense for your product and industry.

What distribution channels does our target audience use to consume information? Don't sabotage your message by promoting it in the wrong place.

How are competitors promoting their products? Using your competitors as your guinea pigs for promotion experiments is a great way to find out what works and learn from their mistakes.

Can you capitalize on seasonality? If your target audience's behavior changes drastically from summer to winter, create different marketing strategies for different times of the year.

4 P’s vs. 7 P’s of marketing: What’s the difference?

The 4 P's first appeared in a book called Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach that was published in 1960. Though the 4 P's are still just as applicable today, the original marketing mix didn't account for modern factors like the specific challenges of online marketing or the massive variety of products available today. 

That's why some marketers like to use an expanded list that contains an additional three P's: people, physical evidence, and process.

The 7 P's of marketing

The 7 P's of marketing include the original four (product, price, place, and promotion) plus three people, physical evidence, and process.

People represent a company’s internal team and staff members that provide a service or sell the product. Impressing potential clients with great customer service is important because many people can’t separate their feelings toward a  product from their buying experience.

Physical evidence is "proof" that the claims and statements you're making in your marketing and advertising materials are true. This proof can include customer reviews, case studies, and testimonials that show your target audience that your existing customers are satisfied with your product.

Process pertains to the transportation and delivery of your product. Word-of-mouth is one of the most effective forms of advertising there is, so investments in safe and speedy delivery, pleasant purchasing interactions, and effective customer support are really investments in marketing.

Use the 4 P's to start your marketing campaigns on the right foot

The 4 P's aren't something you can implement as an afterthought. To utilize the 4 P's effectively, incorporate them into every step of your marketing campaign. 

From your initial organizing stages all the way through to campaign launch, the presence of the 4 P's should be evident in your marketing strategy every step of the way.

Related resources

How Asana streamlines strategic planning with work management

Write better AI prompts: A 4-sentence framework

What is content marketing? A complete guide

Smooth product launches are simpler than you think

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The 4 Ps of Marketing: How to Apply Them to Your Business

May 17, 2024

What are the 4 Ps of marketing? 

How do the 4 ps of marketing work  , how to grow your business using the 4 ps of marketing .

Marketing a business goes beyond advertising. 

While advertising is important,  you need to consider various other factors to convince prospects that your product or service is exactly what they need.

The 4 Ps of marketing - product, price, place, and promotion - also known as the marketing mix, is a popular marketing concept essential to ensure any business’ success.

This idea dates back to the 1940s, when Neil H. Borden , Professor of Advertising at the Harvard  Graduate School of Business Administration, coined the term “marketing mix”.

Borden identified the 12 components of the marketing mix:

• Product planning
• Channels of distribution
• Personal selling
• Advertising
• Physical handling
• Fact-finding and analysis

Later, in 1960, Edmund Jerome McCarthy , an American professor and author, developed the concept of the 4Ps of marketing in his book "Basic Marketing: A Marketing Strategy Planning Approach".

He summarized the 4 Ps as follows:

• Product: A good or service
• Price: The amount a customer or consumer pays for a good or service
• Place: The location where you market a good or service
• Promotion: How you advertise a good or service

McCarthy published his book 50 years ago, but many marketers today rely on his approach to grow their businesses and train their teams.

The first P of marketing: product

A product is a value your company creates and what people pay you for. It can be tangible (like goods) or intangible (like consulting services).

A product is the most important part of the marketing mix. Without it, you have nothing to sell. Consumers today have countless options to choose from. So if your product isn’t noticed, it’ll most likely lose to another competitor.

The 4 Ps of marketing emphasize creating a unique product. This allows you to stand out against competitors and get customers to trust you.

What does it take to build an amazing product?

If you want people to use your product, create something they love, and stand a better chance of competing.

So, how do you build a great product?

Former Evernote CEO Phil Libin highlighted two characteristics of great products.

• Great products have a point of view. They aren’t neutral. So, the creators have a specific perspective of how the world should work through this product.
• Great products don’t rely on the user to do anything. They should reduce or eliminate the amount of work a user needs to get things done.

Apple, the first publicly-traded company to reach $1 trillion , is an example of a great product. 

One of the things that made their product stand out was that the company's founders, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, set out to make computers user-friendly. This vision was and still is at the company’s heart and has distinguished it despite the intense competition in the technology industry.

How would you know if the market wants your product?

Building a great product is good. Guess what’s better? A product that the market actually wants. 

Simply put, if no one’s interested in your product, it won’t stand the test of time, no matter how great it is.

This is why performing in-depth market or user research before building any product is important. Proper preparations help you know what people want and don’t want.

If you want to go after a specific market, you can create an online survey to see if your target audience is interested in your product. This will help you identify pain points and know if the product you have in mind will solve them.

Let's say you want to build a team collaboration software for B2B offshore development agencies. Instead of directly building the minimum viable product (MVP), create a survey targeting your ideal audience. You can ask them various questions to confirm if you should proceed with a specific idea.

Another way to know if your product is in demand is to look at how it’s trending online. Here’s how a free tool like Google Trends can help you.

As you can see, searches related to remote work have been growing steadily in the last five years. This shows that a remote-work product will most likely perform well in the market.

The second P of marketing: price

The price can be defined as how you capture your product’s value. This is simply the amount your product or service is worth and what the market is willing to pay for it.

While pricing seems simple on the surface, it’s difficult to estimate. As a marketer, you want to choose a price that’s attractive to your consumers, generates sales, and ensures your business is profitable.

Conduct audience analysis . The demographics and your audience's perception of your product also affect pricing. For example, if you run B2C software for college students, you’ll likely charge a lower price. Alternatively, if you offer B2B software for enterprise companies, you set a premium price for it.

If you charge college students a higher price, chances are they won’t go for it. They may not take you seriously if you charge enterprises a cheaper price.

How to determine the right pricing for your product

When pricing your product, you don’t want to underprice yourself and end up with less profit. Also, you don’t want to overprice your product and chase customers away. 

Here are some things to keep in mind so that your pricing best suits the product.

Know your niche 

Before setting a price, you need to learn more about your industry. Check your competitors' prices and how they change over time. You should also understand what your target audience thinks about your product.

Set the goal for your pricing

You need to reason out before you price your product. Are you looking to penetrate a competitive market or establish yourself as an industry leader? 

If you’re new to an industry, starting with a low-pricing strategy might make more sense. However, if you’re selling a premium product, a higher price might appeal more to your target audience.

Conduct in-depth audience research

Some products serve one single audience persona; others work for different audiences. If you can create different audience segments , that could help you create pricing that resonates with each of them.

Calculate costs 

You incur direct and indirect costs when creating a product. Before determining your price, make sure that it covers these costs. That way, you won’t run at a loss. 

Let's say you run a web development agency, and it costs you around $499 to design a WordPress website from scratch. This includes the hosting fee , development costs, hiring costs, etc. To break even, your pricing must be above $499. Else, you would be running your agency at a loss.

Think about other factors 

Aside from the direct and indirect costs, other factors might affect your pricing as well. For example, paying a value-added tax (VAT) for the end product will influence your pricing.

Pricing strategies that work for different products

Confused about the pricing strategy for your product?

Here are different pricing strategies available and how to use them for different types of business.

The third P of marketing: place

If no one knows about your product, they won’t use or recommend it to others. This is where place, the third p of marketing, comes into play. The place is the location where you deliver value to your target audience. It’s also where your target audience hangs out.

If you’re a local business serving people who live in a particular city, your local marketing will be limited to that city alone. So, a local radio station that most people in your city listen to might work well for you in this case.

With the internet, a lot of activities have gone online. So, the best way to find your target audience is online.

How to identify the right place to sell your product/service

The first thing you need to do is determine your target audience. That's because if they're not where you're looking, it might be difficult to sell to them. The best way to find out is to reach out to your new and existing customers to get the information from them.

Here are some questions you can ask them to help unravel these locations:

• Where do you go for advice and information regarding the {x} industry?
• What are some of the top industry blogs you read?
• Which publications, newspapers, or magazines do you read weekly or monthly?
• What online communities, Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups are you a member of?

The different places you can leverage for any type of business

Depending on your type of business, here are a few places to convey the value of your product to your audience.

Social media platforms

Social media continues to grow every day. There are now around 4.55 billion social media users in the world . This means that social media is a great place to reach your target audience faster.

When using social media, you should understand the demographics and behavior of your target audience. If you want to target C-level B2B executives, LinkedIn might make more sense than Instagram. If your audience is mostly Gen Z who are still in college, Tiktok might work better for them.

Online communities and forums

Online communities and forums are great, too, depending on the type of business you run. Take Reddit as an example. The gaming subreddit has around 31 million members, while the technology subreddit has more than 11 million members. 

If you have a technology-related product or service, these are great places to turn to. That's because most of the people on these subreddits are also interested in learning from others and discussing these topics.

Other online communities to leverage are Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, Slack communities, Quora spaces, and so on.

Review websites

Most users want to read other people's experiences about a product or service before purchasing. For this reason, review websites are a great way to convey your product’s value to your target audience.

If you're a local business owner, you can create a profile on Yelp to showcase your business to your audience. If you have a software or services company, you can use the power of G2 to show prospects what customers think of your product.

Apart from helping you collect reviews and testimonials from existing customers, review websites also make your product or service discoverable in the search engines.

The fourth P of marketing: promotion

The final and most popular marketing mix is ​​promotion. This is simply how you communicate the value of your product or service to your target audience.

Promoting your value is important because your audience’s perception determines whether or not they want to use your product or service. One of the most effective ways to communicate this is by talking about your product. 

While many business owners are afraid to promote their products because they don't want to sound salesy. However, if you have a great product and aren't actively promoting it to your target audience, you're doing them a disservice.

Here’s a quick example. 

Let's say you're a software company competing in a crowded niche. One of the ways to help your audience discover your product is to use a pain-point content marketing strategy .

This way, you can show your target group why they should use your product over other options. You can do this by creating a comparison post, alternative page, best {X} products page, and more. And you have a better chance of converting people who stumble across these pages into user sign-ups and paying customers for your SaaS.

That means if you don't tell anyone about your product or show them why it's better than other competitors, they won't find or use it.

How you should approach promotion for any business

The best way to promote your business is to understand your audience's pain points and create content that helps solve these problems.

For example, if your target audience is CMOs who want their marketing teams to be more productive, creating a content piece that shows them tips and tools for improved productivity works wonders. And if you have a relevant service or product to solve this problem, you can mention that as well.

The truth is, when you help people and add value to their lives, they pay attention to you and are likely to pay you to solve their problems.

Promotion strategies that work and how different companies use them

Below are some promotion strategies you can leverage for your business.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

One of the most reliable and proven ways to promote a business online is SEO . It allows you to optimize certain web pages to rank in search engines, especially Google.

SEO determines how your page or website appears when someone searches for keywords relevant to your product or service. This is effective as many people search on Google every day. In fact, Google processes over 4 billion searches per day .

The downside of SEO is that it usually takes a long time to deliver results that amplify over time. A good example of a company leveraging SEO to promote its business over the years is HubSpot. HubSpot's blog receives about 8 million visitors from organic traffic each month and ranks for about 3 million keywords.

Hosting webinars is an effective way to promote your business online. This works really well because it involves interacting live with prospects and customers.

Seventy-six percent of businesses believe hosting webinars helps them reach more leads, and 69% believe it has helped them scale their marketing efforts.

The disadvantage of webinars is that it takes a lot of resources and time to create one. If you're not good with videos, it might not work well for you. The advantage over other advertising channels is that it leads to more conversions. For example, if someone attends a webinar for 45 to 60 minutes, they’re more likely to be convinced to use your product or service.

One company that has harnessed the power of webinar tools to boost its business is Monday. They have a daily webinar hub on their website. You can register for a live and on-demand webinar from the company. They also have webinars in other languages ​​to cater to their non-English speaking audience.

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business ), is another effective promotional strategy for business owners. This is highly beneficial for local businesses serving a specific audience in a city, state, or county.

Anyone with a Gmail account can easily create a Google listing. Once you create and optimize this profile, your business shows up on Google when someone searches for it near you.

With this tool, you can know how customers found your business and what actions they took before contacting you. You can also interact with them, share images of your products, and easily get reviews.

The benefit of using this free tool is that it's easy to set up. However, if you're in a location with a lot of small businesses, it can be difficult to get a foothold quickly.

Paid advertising

Paid advertising is another great way to promote a business online. When you advertise, you reach your audience right where they are and convince them to use your product or service.

You can use various advertising channels to promote a business, including:

• Paid search: Bidding on keywords that your audience is searching for on Google. In this case, your website shows up in the search engines when someone searches for the keyword you bid on.
• Paid social: Run ads on various social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Paid social helps your ads reach a specific audience based on your selected targeting options when creating the ads.
• Podcast sponsorship: Reach out to popular and relevant podcasts in your niche to sponsor them. Once sponsored, the Podcast host mentions your product or service before, during, or after the Podcast’s episode.
• Newsletter sponsorship or advertising: Sponsoring a newsletter in your niche to reach readers. The newsletter can mention your product or service before the body or within the newsletter, depending on the agreement.

With paid advertising, you can reach your target audience quickly and, in most cases, see ROI immediately. However, these don’t add up. Once you stop promoting, you stop getting results.

Newsletters

About 4.3 billion people around the world use email. This shows that email is a huge promotional channel any business can use. It's a personal communication channel for most people, so they check it regularly.

You may see excellent results by creating valuable and helpful content for your audience and delivering it via email. 

Other promotion channels include:

• Virtual events
• Medium publications
• Community marketing

When the 4 Ps of marketing work together, it becomes easier to deliver predictable results for your business. You need to be consistent with your marketing across the board. Otherwise, you risk losing your audience’s trust.

For example, if you sell a high-quality B2B product, promoting it on TikTok can bring poor results. This is because a B2B audience may not even know a platform like TikTok exists, so they don't go there.

Also, if you’re just starting in an industry, you may need to spend more time promoting your products or services. This may not be the case if you are a market leader in your niche.

The illustration below shows how to apply the 4 Ps of marketing in any business.

To grow a business successfully, you need the 4 Ps of marketing. First, you should have a clear idea of ​​what you’re selling and why it’s different from anything else out there.

Here are some fundamental questions to ask:

• Who is the target audience?
• What do you want to sell to them?
• What is your market size?
• What exactly is the market looking for?
• What gap in the market does your product fulfill?
• How is your product different from others?

Second, you need to set the prices for your product. This must match the type of product you’re selling.

At this stage, answer the following questions:

• How important is the product’s pricing to your target audience?
• Will the pricing be enough for you to make profits?
• What are your competitors currently charging for this product?
• Will your target audience have any problems paying the price? 
• What is the lowest amount you’re willing to accept for this product?

Additionally, determine where to find your target audience and convey your message and value proposition via those channels.

• What online habits do your prospects and customers have?
• Where are competitors currently selling their products?
• How much does it cost to reach your customers in a specific channel?
• What kind of support do the customers need before purchasing the product?
• How seamless is the buying experience?

Finally, promote your product to your target audience.

• Who exactly do you want to sell to?
• What channels will you use to reach them?
• What content marketing strategy would you like to focus on?
• How are competitors currently promoting their products/services?
• What resources do you need to do this successfully?
• What does the buyer journey look like?

More than just the 4Ps

Building a business from scratch is difficult. You need to create a great product that can successfully compete in your niche, set a price point that resonates with your target audience, and grow your business. Additionally, you should also identify places where your target audience hangs out and deliver the expected value.

Leverage advanced marketing strategies to predictably and successfully develop a business in any niche.

AbdulGaniy Shehu runs Your Content Mart , a results-driven content marketing agency that helps B2B SaaS companies generate qualified traffic and increase user sign-ups. His work has been featured on Entrepreneur, Moz, Smart Insights, Hackernoon, and more.

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4Ps of Marketing (Marketing Mix with Examples) The 4Ps of Marketing or the Marketing Mix is one of the most basic concepts taught in Marketing. At the same time, it makes up for an extremely large part of a successful marketing plan. The fact is, the 4Ps of Marketing are really important because they, together, form the marketing strategy of your company. Let me tell you more about it.

Marketing mix - the 4Ps of marketing can never be overestimated when it comes to determining the success or failure of a marketing campaign.

In this article, I will explain to you what is marketing mix and also each of the 4Ps of marketing mix. Not just that, I will share with you four examples of how each of these elements of marketing mix makes a lot of difference in marketing.

Before that, let’s ponder over something basic. And also let me tell you what all I will be covering in this detailed article on the 4Ps of Marketing.

Let me begin by telling you, what exactly is Marketing Mix all about?

What is Marketing Mix? 

Marketing Mix is ideally a brilliantly coordinated combination of Product, Price, Place and Promotion strategies.

I wrote about marketing it in detail in my blog post titled ‘But really, what is Marketing?’. In simple terms, you could say marketing is about “ putting the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time”.

That is what it really is.

That one statement defines everything, from what is marketing to what is marketing mix to how to create and deliver an amazing marketing campaign.

Source: thefinancialbrand . com

If you’re in marketing, you have some basic ingredients that you would use to create some magic out of your marketing plan, these ingredients are called the 4Ps of Marketing or the Marketing Mix.

What is Marketing Mix? Marketing Mix is a set of elements, the 4Ps, that are the four decision-making areas in Marketing . Again, getting any of these elements wrong may destroy the rest of the factors you got right.

This is true because, the 4Ps factors are interdependent and rely on one another for an effective strategy. And if you begin to think, any marketing decision that you take essentially lies in any one of these areas.

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What is the purpose of the 4Ps of Marketing Mix?

Its purpose is to ensure the creation and execution of a successful marketing strategy ; the attempt is to satisfy both the customer and the seller. You will often come across your managers telling you to create marketing plans.

And this is what a marketing plan predominantly covers. The purpose is to ensure that every marketing initiative that you take is brilliantly coordinated with each other.

Marketing incorporates all these physical and non-physical, real and perceptual attributes into four elements of the marketing mix.

The 4Ps is basically about asking relevant questions that will help you to define your marketing mix.

Let me explain to you each of the elements of the Marketing mix , or the 4Ps of Marketing here. Stay tuned for the later part of the article where I will share with you the examples for each of the 4Ps.

Product  

First, it is important to understand the problems your product is trying to solve, because without it, you don’t have a place in the market, and you certainly can’t sell or advertise something that doesn’t exist or doesn’t have any demand.

The key to get this element of the marketing mix correct is by writing down a product definition .

This should include what is your product , what is your target market and most importantly why is your product different from the alternatives out there.

A product can be a physical object, an intangible service, an idea, a campaign or even a personality.

Also, the Unique Selling Proposition of the product must be determined as well as the potential buyers of the product.

There are questions you need to ask when you want to determine the kind of product you should have. They include:

• What problems can this product solve for customers?
• What features are included in the products to meet this need?
• What will differentiate it from the competitor’s own if any?
• How is it supposed to be used by the customer?

Let me know take you through the second P of the 4Ps of marketing - which is Price .

Price  

The price of a product should reflect its value to the customer. This also entails the relative price versus quality level that the product maintains against the competitors.

The marketer’s challenge is to come up with a price that is attractive to consumers while still turning an acceptable profit for the company.

The price of a product will directly affect how it sells . This must be determined by what value the customers attach to the product rather than the objective cost of the product.

If the product is priced higher or lower than its perceived value, then it will be difficult to make sales. Simply put, the value of the product in the eyes of the consumer determines the price.

I have written a series of articles on how to price a product and those articles shall help you with this particular element of the 4Ps of the Marketing mix . Here are some of those posts:

• How to Price your Product – The Fundamentals
• How to Price your Product better in 8 Steps (Part 1 of 2)
• How to Price your Product better in 8 Steps (Part 2 of 2)

Hence, if the value is low or negative , the product may need to be under priced to make sales.

The questions to ask here are:

• What is the perceived value of the product to the buyer?
• What is the market fixed price for this kind of product?  
• How much is your price when compared with the competitor’s?  

Moving on to the third element of the marketing mix and the 4Ps of Marketing - the Place .

Place  

There is a way how the product will be provided to the customer , this is the “Place” factor. Once the place has been decided, the marketing channel to reach the customer is chosen.

The place refers to where the product is to be sold (distribution) .

In the past, this meant how visible your product was in the physical marketplace. In today’s modern world: where your product appears on the Internet is even more important because your reach online can be global whilst as your reach in the physical marketplace is limited by physical space.

You can determine this by answering questions like:

• Where is the first place buyers check when looking for your kind of product. Is it a store, or a boutique, or maybe they check a catalogue?
• How can you determine the best distribution channels?
• Do you need to take a multi-channel approach? If yes, then which channels?

And finally, let me tell you about the 4th element of the marketing mix - Promotion .

Promotion  

Promotion refers to the marketing communication methods used to inform, persuade, and remind the target market of the product or services , basically any interaction that your company has with the consumer regarding your product.

This may include advertising, sales, promotions, special offers, and public relations.  Promotion is quite different from marketing, because promotion is the communication aspect of the entire marketing function.

The marketing mix is a crucial tool to help understand what the product or service can offer and how to plan for a successful product offering. 

• What are the promotion methods of your competitors?
• Which digital channels does your target market use often?
• What is the return-on-investment from each of the promotion channels?

After a brief explanation of the Marketing Mix and the 4Ps of Marketing , I am going to talk about them in a more direct and practical way. I explain elements of marketing mix with examples to show you how simple (and impact driven) the Marketing Mix can be.

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4Ps of Marketing - Video Explanation

Here is a decent video that I found on the 4Ps of Marketing. Purely Branded, explains in brief what the 4Ps of Marketing are all about and how to use them. For all of you who like to watch videos, I suggest you to have a look at it.

4Ps of Marketing - How to develop the Marketing Mix?

If you were to ask me the steps to determine the 4Ps of Marketing Mix , I would suggest to you the following 4 steps.

As you use these four steps in your marketing projects at your college or your work, you will realize that these are the exact steps that will help you bring out the best and the most coherent marketing plans.

4 Steps to Develop the 4Ps of Marketing Mix

• Identify the product to be analyzed. 
• Answer the 4Ps questions surrounding this product. 
• After getting a well-defined marketing mix for the 4Ps, try relating them with the 4Cs (i.e. from the customer's perceptive).      a. Product - Consumer Value      b. Price - Cost      c. Promotion - Communication      d. Place - Convenience
• Review your marketing mix regularly, because things can change.

4Ps of Marketing - Key Features

I had to write this out as a separate section because of how important it is for you to understand the nuances attached with the 4Ps of Marketing.

Let me share with you the 4 points, the 4 features that will make a lot of difference in your understanding of the marketing mix.

They are Interdependent variables. That is, they have different functions, but they must work together. One can hardly do without the other.

The 4Ps of marketing are flexible in such a way that, you can always play around with each of the variables. See the the 4Ps of Marketing as the four lever that you as a Marketing Manager will have with you to pull and do different things with.

Constant monitoring is required to make sure that the elements in the marketing mix stays relevant and updated. Again, as I mentioned, they are lever you can play around with.

The focal point of the marketing mix activity are the customers . Therefore, as I mentioned in one of the paragraphs above, you should at all times evaluate the 4Ps of the Marketing Mix from the 4Cs stand-point, i.e. the standpoint of the customers.

Elements of Marketing Mix with Examples

In this part of the article, my aim is to give you a feel of the four elements of the marketing mix through relevant real-world examples of the 4Ps of marketing . 

In each of these examples, I will take you through those examples that caught my attention and will help you understand the concepts better.

Product: Coca-Cola Life  

When you come to know that there is a Coca-Cola with the Green Label somewhere in the world and that it is still not sold worldwide you probably think

“What-The-H...?”.

Most people still find it weird but after years of dominating the market with the product and powerful advertising campaign, Coca-Cola found itself in a world where everyone wanted to feel more sustainable and healthier.

So, after 5 years of research, they came up with the Coca-Cola Life , with less sugar and stevia, a natural sweetener.

After a Market test in Chile and Argentina, the product was launched in different countries of the world.

What does this teach about the first P of the marketing mix?

Well, that products must always respond to the needs of the market .

No matter how strong your starting position is, no matter how strong your marketing is (so strong that in the case of Coca-Cola they influenced the way the Western World sees Christmas), there are moments where you have to start from a product.

Seth Godin said: Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.  

Price: Organic Apples aren’t Cheap  

Pricing doesn’t just mean: go as lower as you can to attack the market.

The Book “Ecological Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman talks of how producers and sellers of organic products must raise prices otherwise none will believe it’s REALLY organic!

This is the concept of Price Positioning on which I happen to have done a blog post some weeks back. 

Same happens with Apple: considering the hardware and the competition they can be defined unreasonably overpriced but if Apple will launch a new iPhone for 200$ the strong Apple fan base most probably will not react in a positive way.

So, choosing one price instead of another can automatically identify your product to your customers. 

Also Read:  Edible Cutlery won't sell until you do this

Place: Don’t tell everyone what you did last Friday  

Another mistake that most people do is trying to get through as many channels as possible . A lot of “improvised” entrepreneurs without any education in that make this mistake to multiply their distribution channels. 

The problem is that people will also judge not just what you sell and how much you charge for it, but also where they see you.

Imagine that in your city there is a club that is famous for being a place where illegal activities happen.

Now imagine you end up there on a wild Friday night and your partner’s dad finds out: won’t he get a really bad impression of you?

At the same time, your friends will think you are a real bad-ass. 

So, the place where you are seen can give you a certain identity according to your target. You want your friends to know where you were Friday night but not your in-laws.

 This is the same reason certain brands decide to only sell in their own stores, others don’t sell online and some only sell online: you have to select your sales channels carefully. 

Promotion: Loud Enough doesn’t mean Louder  

This point can get into thousands of pages without saying anything. With the concept of promotion, you talk about marketing, advertising, sales strategy and a lot more. 

What people hardly understand at the beginning is that in a crowded market like our World, being loud enough to be heard in the constant buzz doesn’t mean being louder than everyone.

So, the promotion has nothing to do with exaggerated claims, fake claims, obsessive  advertising and all these old-school-tricks .

Yes, they still work for others in certain cases, but they don’t give long-lasting positive fame and sooner or later it will ruin your business.

These old tricks work when you didn’t work on the marketing mix for real (maybe because you don’t have anything valuable to sell) so you have to work all with the promotion.

We tend to think that the 4th P is the most important but this is just because it is the tip of the Iceberg. Promotion is what you see more but there is a lot more than you don’t see. 

Conclusion  

At the end of the day if you want to succeed in business you have to be looking to create long-lasting relationships with your customers. 

The four elements must be in harmony and none most portray conflicting messages. The marketing mix must be customer-centric, that is why the 4Cs must be used alongside the 4Ps while determining answers to the variables.

• The price must be a cost the customer can afford
• The promotion must solely be based on communicating with the customers
• The product must offer a solution to the problem of the customer
• The place must be one that is convenient for the customers to reach  

And, just as in your personal life, you don’t create any long-lasting relationships by shouting loud, showing off and lying.

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The 4Ps of Marketing

In this article:

The 4Ps of Marketing, also known as the marketing mix, is a tool that can help you offer the right product in the right place, at the right time, and at the right price.

Unfortunately, it’s rarely this simple. Being product-focused in this way is a mistake that many people make. To be successful in the market, you need to be laser-focused on creating what your customers want, and the 4Ps of Marketing can help you do this.

The 4Ps are:

As you can see, the 4Ps of Marketing is essentially a set of questions you have to answer to give your product or service the best chance of being successful in the marketplace.

Let’s examine each of the 4Ps of Marketing in more detail.

Creating a successful Marketing Mix begins with creating a product or service that fulfills a significant customer need. 

Good marketers understand these needs and create and position products to cater to these needs. To understand your customer’s needs, it is essential to interact with real or potential customers and get their feedback and input.

The definition of a product not only refers to the actual good or service that you offer, but it also refers to how you package your product. The packaging of your product includes, amongst other things, the features of your product, its unique selling proposition, its branding, its packaging, any guarantee or warranty you offer, and your after-sales service. 

Place refers to how and where people will buy your products. You want to make sure that your products are available when and where customers want your products to be available.

Place also means making sure that your product is available in the right quantity to ensure that you’re able to satisfy the demand for your product.

Other questions to answer in this element include, what form of transportation will you use to get your product to where you’re selling it, and how will you manage inventories?

Note that it is called multi-channel distribution when you sell your product via more than one distribution channel.

Price is the easiest element of the 4Ps to manipulate. You can change your price overnight and immediately see an impact on your revenue.

Determining a price for your product can be complex. Typically, you’ll want to consider three variables:

4. Promotion

Once you’ve finalized the other three Ps, it’s time to promote your product. Promotion aims to persuade customers to buy your product.

Promotion is concerned with where, when, and how you’ll advertise your products and services. Examples of promotional channels include:

Promotion is broader than just advertising, as it includes public relations outreach and any discounting strategies you use. 

How to Use the 4Ps of Marketing

If you want a product to be successful in the market, then here is a six-step process you can use to develop your own marketing mix.

1. Align your product to serve specific customer needs

Your product should clearly meet your customer’s needs. You’ll need to perform customer research to ensure you give customers what they want.

2. Find out where your target audience hangs out/shops

Now that you know your ideal customers, you need to figure out where they hang out or shop. This might be online, such as in a special interest forum, or a physical location, such as an airport.

3. Determine a price for your product

4. determine your messaging and channels.

In this step, you determine the messages you’ll use to communicate the benefits of your product to your potential customers. 

You also need to determine which marketing and distribution channels you’ll use to reach your ideal customers. For example, you might choose to use a combination of Facebook advertising and working with affiliates.

5. Check all the pieces fit together

In this way, you can sanity-check your decisions so far before proceeding to the next step. Testing in this way can help you answer some important questions:

6. Revisit your marketing mix over time

Thus, the 4Ps of Marketing are not static, and you should adjust them regularly.

4Ps of Marketing Template

4ps of marketing example.

To bring everything we’ve covered together, let’s work through an example of using the 4Ps of Marketing in practice.

There are hundreds of other Spanish courses in existence, so why should someone choose yours?

One way to think about this problem is that right now, your potential customers are living unhappily on an island where they don’t speak Spanish, and what they want to do is get to the island where they do speak fluent Spanish.

Unfortunately, there are many bridges available to them to get to the speaking Spanish island, so why should they choose yours? Crafting your unique selling proposition (USP) is all about giving potential customers a reason to cross your bridge rather than a competitor’s.

Assuming you have done this, then a few examples of how you might uniquely craft a Spanish course are:

This step is all about examining the place element in the 4Ps of Marketing model. In what places might you sell your course? Well, if this were 1995, you’d have more limited choices than you have today:

These days you have more options available to you, including:

Suppose your USP was: watch your way to Spanish fluency. You might decide to keep this as your messaging but add some additional messages to complement it, such as:

In this step, you also decide that your primary channels to attract new customers will be Facebook and Instagram advertising.

Now it’s time to sanity check that everything makes sense.

In this example, you’re going to do this by running test ads using Facebook. The point of these tests is to determine if people are engaging with your messaging and, therefore, if they are interested in what you have to offer.

You haven’t launched yet, so this step isn’t relevant to you right now, but you make a note to revisit the 4Ps of Marketing regularly after launch.

Advantages and Disadvantages

There are several advantages and disadvantages associated with the 4Ps of Marketing model.

Disadvantages

Cite this article.

Minute Tools Content Team, The 4Ps of Marketing, Minute Tools, Mar, 2022 https://expertprogrammanagement.com/2022/03/4ps-of-marketing/

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The Marketing Mix and the 4Ps of Marketing

Understanding how to position your market offering.

Marketing is all about putting the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time.

Sounds simple! You just need to create a product that a particular group of people want, put it on sale some place that those same people visit regularly, and price it at a level which matches the value they feel they get out of it; and do all that at a time they want to buy.

To achieve this effectively, however, a lot of hard work needs to go into finding out what customers want, and identifying where they do their shopping. Then you need to figure out how to produce the item at a price that represents value to them, and get it all to come together at the critical time.

But if you get just one element wrong, it can spell disaster. You could be left promoting a car with amazing fuel economy in a country where fuel is very cheap, or publishing a textbook after the start of the new school year, or selling an item at a price that's too high – or too low – to attract the people you're targeting.

The marketing mix and the 4Ps of marketing are great tools can help you to avoid these kinds of mistakes. In this article and in the video, below, we'll discover more about how you can use them to develop a successful marketing strategy.

Click here   to view a transcript of this video.

What Are the 4Ps of Marketing?

The 4Ps of marketing is a model for enhancing the components of your "marketing mix" – the way in which you take a new product or service to market. It helps you to define your marketing options in terms of price, product, promotion, and place so that your offering meets a specific customer need or demand.

The marketing mix and the 4Ps of marketing are often used as synonyms for one another. In fact, they are not necessarily the same thing.

"Marketing mix" is a general phrase used to describe the different kinds of choices organizations have to make during the process of bringing a product or service to market. The 4Ps is one way – probably the best-known way – of defining the marketing mix, and was first expressed in 1960 by E. J. McCarthy in his book, "Basic Marketing – A Managerial Approach." [1]

The 4Ps are:

• Product (or Service).

A good way to understand the 4Ps is by the questions that you need to ask to define your marketing mix. Here are some questions that will help you understand and define each of the four elements:

Product/Service

• What does the customer want from the product   /service? What needs does it satisfy?
• What features does it have to meet these needs? Are there any features you've missed out? Are you including costly features that the customer won't actually use?
• How and where will the customer use it?
• What does it look like? How will customers experience it?
• What size(s), color(s), and so on, should it be?
• What is it to be called?
• How is it branded?
• How is it different from products by your competitors?
• What is the most it can cost to provide and still be sold sufficiently profitably? (See also Price, below.)
• Where do buyers look for your product or service?
• If they look in a store, what kind? A specialist boutique or in a supermarket, or both? Online? Or direct, via a catalog?
• How can you access the right distribution channels?
• Do you need to use a sales force? Or attend trade fairs? Or make online submissions? Or send samples to catalog companies?
• What do your competitors   do, and how can you learn from that and/or differentiate?
• What is the value of the product or service to the buyer?
• Are there established price points   for products or services in this area?
• Is the customer price sensitive? Will a small decrease in price gain you extra market share? Or will a small increase be indiscernible, and so gain you extra profit margin?
• What discounts should be offered to trade customers, or to other specific segments   of your market?
• How will your price compare with your competitors?
• Where and when can you get your marketing messages across to your target market?
• Will you reach your audience by advertising online, in the press, on TV, on radio, or on billboards? By using direct marketing mailshots? Through PR? On the internet?
• When is the best time to promote? Is there seasonality in the market? Are there any wider environmental issues that suggest or dictate the timing of your market launch or subsequent promotions?
• How do your competitors do their promotions? And how does that influence your choice of promotional activity?

As the four Ps all need to be considered in relation to one another, it doesn't really matter in what order you define them. This is why you may find them quoted in a different order from the one used above. In particular, they're often referred to in the order "place, price, product, promotion."

Alternative Marketing Models

The 4Ps of marketing is just one of many lists that have been developed over the years. And, whilst the questions we have listed above are key, they are just a subset of the detailed probing that may be required to optimize your marketing mix.

Amongst the other models that have been developed over the years is Boom and Bitner's 7Ps, sometimes called the extended marketing mix, which include the first 4Ps, plus people, processes and physical layout decisions.

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Another approach is Lauterborn's 4Cs, which presents the elements of the marketing mix from the buyer's, rather than the seller's, perspective. It is made up of:

• Customer needs and wants (the equivalent of product).
• Cost (price).
• Convenience (place).
• Communication (promotion).

In this article, we focus on the 4Ps model as it is the most well-recognized, and contains the core elements of a good marketing mix.

Using the 4Ps of Marketing

The model can be used to help you to decide how to take a new offer to market. It can also be used to test your existing marketing strategy   . Whether you are considering a new or existing offer, follow the steps below to help you to define and improve your marketing mix.

• Start by identifying the product or service that you want to analyze.
• Now go through and answer the 4Ps questions – as defined in detail above.

Check through your answers to make sure that they are based on sound knowledge and facts. If there are doubts about your assumptions   , identify any market research   , or facts and figures that you may need to gather.

• Does it meet their needs? (Product.)
• Will they find it where they shop? (Place.)
• Will they think that it's priced favorably? (Price.)
• Will the marketing communications reach them? (Promotion.)
• Keep on asking questions and making changes to your mix until you are satisfied that you have optimized your marketing mix, given the information and facts and figures you have available.
• Review your marketing mix regularly, as some elements will need to change as the product or service and its market grow, mature and adapt in an ever-changing competitive environment.

The marketing mix helps you define the marketing elements for successfully positioning your market offer.

One of the best-known models is the 4Ps of Marketing, which helps you define your marketing options in terms of:

Use the model when you are planning a new venture, or evaluating an existing offer, to optimize the impact with your target market.

Further Resources

Learn more about marketing with these resources in the Mind Tools Club:

• Developing Your Marketing Strategy
• Marketing Essentials   : Bite-Sized Training™
• Free Marketing   : Book Insight

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Comments (46)

• Over a month ago BillT wrote Hi Betatester, Welcome to the Club! I agree with you that the two resources complement each other well. Thank you for the positive feedback. BillT Mind Tools Team
• Over a month ago Betatester wrote very interesting topic i find it compatible with this other wiepoint of the subject: marketing mix article and i think they both fit in todays marketing enviroment.
• Over a month ago Michele wrote Hi Robertmoore, You are most welcome and we hope that you are able to apply what you have learned in your workplace. Michele Mind Tools Team

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How To Consider The 4 Ps Of Marketing In Ecommerce & Paid Media

Master the 4Ps of ecommerce paid media. Learn how to leverage product, price, place, and promotion for a successful online business.

The 4 Ps of marketing. Marketing mix. Marketing fundamentals.

Whatever you call them, these elements determine your luck at the high-stakes table of e-commerce:

Get these right, and you’ll create a loyal fanbase that you can count on for repeat orders, high lifetime value , and customer advocacy.

Neglect or miscalculate them, and they’ll derail your entire process, have an adverse effect on revenue and margin, and allow competitors to overtake you.

Here’s how to consider each of these principles in the context of ecommerce and paid media .

As in every business, your product is fundamental to ecommerce success. Even the most amazing marketing campaigns can’t compensate for a broken product or lack of product-market fit.

Think of brands that cycle through many advertising agencies over the course of a year.

Chances are they tend to blame poor planning, subpar campaign execution, or some other deficiency common to all those agencies. The most likely solution is that their product just doesn’t resonate with consumers .

Statistically, it’s extremely unlikely for a brand to go through multiple agencies and for all of them to be poor at their craft. When this does happen, it’s usually the agency evaluation process that needs work.

There’s a reason marketers talk about product-market fit over and over.

A product that solves a problem and marketing that puts it in front of the right people are core fundamentals and work like gears in a complex system. Take one out, and the whole process will grind to a halt.

Pricing is such an intrinsic part of ecommerce and paid media in general.

If you think people who see your ad aren’t also searching for competitors and doing comparison shopping, your performance numbers will confirm otherwise.

So before you start chasing clicks or even setting budgets, your merchandising play needs to be as accurate as possible.

Consider both absolute pricing and competitiveness to make sure that your product is positioned where you want it to be while still capable of being profitable against your manufacturing and procurement processes.

Google Merchant Center has a price benchmarks feature. It looks at your product feed and shows you how your products compare to other products, brands, and categories of similar natures.

This is highly useful data that can help determine if you’ve priced your products correctly or whether they even fit in the market.

The last thing you want to do is spend thousands on ads only to realize that you got too ambitious or too conservative with your margin.

Additionally, once you’ve started running a campaign in Google Ads, auction insights allow you to see which brands are coming up against you in Search and Shopping auctions.

Use this data to see how your pricing compares to theirs, fine-tune accordingly, and run tactical promotions.

Starting an ecommerce business is not easy – but for those who are able to fund and find initial product-market fit, digital advertising allows brands to bypass the limitations of traditional distribution.

Geography and access to certain distributors become irrelevant when you can sell and ship directly to consumers.

However, this also presents several new challenges:

• Platform Management : Ecommerce advertisers have a wealth of options when deciding where they want to advertise . This includes traditional networks like Google, Meta, and Amazon, as well as emerging and niche platforms like TikTok and YouTube. However, choosing the wrong platforms or overextending yourself before you’re ready can cause more harm than good.
• Media Mix : Advertising on multiple channels can be advantageous if you have the budget and expertise to do so, even though some brands are predisposed to putting most of their budget in a primary platform. But doing all this when you’re just starting means you’ll have less to spend on campaigns, spreading your efforts too thin and limiting how much data you can acquire. You’ll also need additional people or agencies with expertise managing those different channels in order to get the best returns for your spend.
• Performance Measurement : Brick-and-mortar commerce was comparatively straightforward, and advertising and in-store promotions skewed more toward non-linear measurement. Online advertising has made us crave the need to track every dollar spent and every product sold, and draw a line back through each performance metric. But even good conversion tracking is never perfect, and ad platforms are prone to fluctuation and error as they grow more automated.
• Attribution Measurement : Knowing which platforms are driving sales is critical to making sure you’re investing in the right places. This is more challenging when you have multiple platforms in your media mix , none of which freely and fully share data with other platforms. Attribution will only get worse over time as the ability to track degrades due to privacy concerns. This imperfection doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have some form of attribution, but treat it as a reference point instead of a source of truth.

While good marketing can’t fix a bad product, a good product can make marketing better, easier, and less expensive.

For ecommerce that relies heavily on paid media for promotion, there are two aspects to consider.

Account Management

With paid media, the ad account is the third gear that supports product and marketing.

Decisions like which campaign types to run, how to structure your ad account, running good ad copy and creatives, and using audiences and first-party data to target the right people will all affect your revenue and margin.

Too many brands make the mistake of trying to fix their ad accounts and campaign metrics before their product, pricing, placements, and customer journey.

If you do that in the right order, your challenges around the ad account should largely be limited to ad platform issues, like disapprovals and automation.

• Read more : How To Make Sure Google’s Automation Settings Aren’t Working Against You

Customer Journey

I think of ads as just one component in a wider marketing system – one ingredient in a successful recipe.

You need all the pieces to achieve success, and if you’re neglecting everything that happens before and after the ad click, no hook or campaign is going to save you.

• The bulk of ecommerce shopping happens over mobile, which, as of 2023, was valued at $2.2 trillion . If your pages aren’t easy to navigate on smartphones, there’s a good chance you’re not getting all the conversions you could. Are your pages mobile-optimized? Do they load quickly? Do they deliver good experiences during checkout, upsales, cross-sales, etc? If not, fix this.
• Trust is a major objection to overcome in any sale, and reviews do a great deal to show why people should trust you. In addition to proving the value of your product with certifications and ratings, use reviews to seal buyer confidence. Your social proof should reflect your target audience, so they feel like others like them have benefited from your product.
• With fraud and scams on the rise, online shoppers are becoming more guarded with their payment details. You’ll have to prove that you can be trusted if you want to earn their money. Security validation and third-party payment logos (like PayPal and Apple Pay) go a long way in establishing that you are a real business with good intentions.
• The journey begins long before the ad click and continues long after. User-generated content shows people using your product and positions them as the hero, which means prospective customers are more likely to feel the same way. Email marketing can address abandoned carts, communicate shipping status, and make the rest of the journey pleasant.
• Does your ad copy tell people what problems you solve creatively? Instead of features like “x milligrams of caffeine,” you might focus on outcomes like “the energy burst you need to be productive until late afternoon.” Be imaginative and help people picture their life after they buy your product.

The Future Of Ecommerce Requires Full-funnel Thinking

Ecommerce might be glamorous and often lucrative, but it’s not easy.

The period when low-cost manufacturing and a frictionless global supply chain made it possible to start a direct-to-consumer brand with minimal investment and hassle is gone.

Between ad platforms becoming increasingly automated and reducing the amount of campaign management required, brands need to focus more on fundamentals and the pre-click and post-click experiences to stay profitable.

The only part that’s getting easier is Shopify !

It’s important to stop thinking about paid media as the entire package and instead focus on its actual position as one part of a wider marketing strategy.

More resources: 

• 7 Mistakes Ecommerce Retailers Make When Advertising With Google Shopping
• PPC Trends 2024
• Ecommerce Marketing: The Definitive Guide

Featured Image: Aree_S/Shutterstock

Menachem Ani is the founder of JXT Group, a US-based agency specializing in multi-channel online advertising. A digital and search ...