Article last updated on August 20, 2021
I love to talk about marketing strategies because it is one of those things that can actually help you in growing your business and one of these strategies is definitely the Four P of marketing.
The Four Ps are an acronym for Product, Price, Place & Promotion.
So what does this ultimately mean?
It means that if we want our customers to buy from us then we need to be able to provide a product or service they will find valuable enough to pay for.
We also have to price it at a level where they won’t feel like they’re being ripped off.
And finally, we should promote ourselves in ways that get our message across effectively.
In contrast, here are three things I don’t think any company wants their customer to do:
- Pay too much – If you charge more than necessary, you’ll lose potential buyers because they’ll look elsewhere.
- Not use your services – You may not even know how good your products or services really are!
- Ignore your promotion efforts – It doesn’t matter how many times you try something new; if no-one knows about it, it didn’t work.
Therefore, let me show you why these four P’s are important and how you can start using them today.
So firstly, let’s define what is 4P in marketing and then break down each of the four Ps individually.
What Is The 4P In Marketing
Well, there are two main parts to the 4Ps.
The first part is ‘Product’ which refers to the actual thing you offer. This could be physical goods, digital content, events, experiences, etc.
Then there’s ‘Promotion’, which simply means getting the word out about your product or service. In other words, making sure others know about it i.e. marketing communications.
We could spend time talking about the process of customer decision making and how this relates to 4Ps, but let’s take a closer look at each of the four Ps separately because that will give you even better understanding for more focused marketing strategy.
1st P is Product
Just like the name suggests, Product refers to the actual thing you’re offering.
It can be anything from a physical item such as clothes to digital content such as an eBook or courses.
Products also come in all shapes and sizes too so it’s important you segment what you offer.
This will make it easier for you to market to different target markets and to boost your overall results.
What should be included in your product or service? In other words, what will people get from it?
Again, think practically and try to come up with a shortlist of 10-20 features or benefits explaining why someone would want your product or service.
For example: Now think about whether there are any additional services that could complement your offering.
List them out – 10 to 20 items.
On top of that, think about what you could give as a free gift to your potential clients.
This is relatively easy if you work in a service-oriented business, but even companies that manufacture and sell physical goods can consider giving away something of value for free.
The goal here is to create an overview of the entire product or service and then highlight everything it has to offer. What do customers get from purchasing it?
Here’s an example of a product with multiple layers:
Sometimes, it’s not possible to decide on which features you want to highlight right away.
In these cases, think about the quality of your marketing materials.
If they are flashy but basic, people may be more inclined to focus on just what they see on the surface rather than anything else that might be hidden inside.
That being said, I’d recommend creating something realistic for your first try.
It’s simpler and usually works better than coming up with something over-the-top at first.
2nd P is Price
I don’t need to tell you that this is of high importance because all organizations are concerned with price.
It’s an intrinsic part of any business. If people won’t pay for it, the business can’t survive!
If you’re selling a service or product then price is what your customer pays to own it.
And if you want to sell more of that service or product, you have to increase the price and so on and so forth.
You should also think about whether you want to charge based on value or the number of features.
In other words, are people really likely to buy something because it costs more (value-based pricing) or are they more likely to be interested in what you have to offer no matter how much it costs (feature-based pricing)?
That’s a tough question and there’s no one right answer.
On one hand, we all know that paying less is always good unless you’re talking about convenience or quality.
I mean, let’s face it – nobody wants a cheap haircut if it looks like someone butchered their hair with hedge clippers! So charging based on value might not work all the time.
On the other hand, there are people who will purchase an item no matter how much it costs just because they really need or want it.
It all depends on your budget and willingness to take a risk.
If you have a small capital investment, I’d recommend starting with value-based pricing since it’s easier to scale and can be more effective in the long run if executed properly.
If you’re going big, though, go straight for feature-based pricing and make sure that every penny is worth it!
The most important part of deciding on price is determining what you need to earn from each sale in order to achieve your goals.
For instance, let’s say you came up with 10 features and benefits that explain why someone should buy from you. Of course, your goal is to sell each product or service for the highest possible price!
But how much could you earn?
To make this decision easier, divide the total cost of creating your product by the number of features you have and then multiply that result by 100.
For example: Let’s say it costs $1,000 to create a set of 4 pillows with different designs (colorful feather pillows will look good on our bed).
Each pillow has 1 feature (feathered edges). That means I need to charge at least $25 per pillow if I want my goal ($50,000) to be realistic.
Then, just add up all the expenses related to making each pillow and divide it by the total number of features.
The result will be the price for each feature (in this case, $5 per pillow). This is what people have to pay for your product or service.
Finally, add up all the prices for each feature and multiply it by 100 to find out what the end cost is.
Of course, you can always adjust these numbers later on depending on how much profit you want to make or how competitive your market is.
3rd P is Place
Place refers to where your products or services are available.
Once you’ve decided whom you want to sell them to (target market), it’s important that you let them know how and where they can get hold of what it is you’re offering.
What are some ways we can do this? Well, if you have a website with an online store then that is one place where they can get it. Or, in other words, on your site.
Think about it like this – if all else was equal but the place differed, which option is more favorable from a marketing efforts standpoint?
Think about your target audience, their preferences and buying habits.
Here’s an example of a business that has a lot of options for placement:
It can be offline or online. Even better – it can be both!
It might not make sense to do this at first, but if you’re planning ahead, then this is important information to keep in mind.
Alternatively, if you want to start out with something simple and relevant right away, think about advertising on websites that match your target audience’s demographics and interests based on publicly available data.
Also consider places where people are likely to look for products like yours (i.e., Google search results).
If you’re not sure what works best for your business just yet, try doing some research.
4th P is Promotion
This one is a biggie and encompasses all the ways you communicate your product or service to your customers.
Once you have a plan for yourself, it’s time to start promoting your business in the wild.
There are many different ways to go about this – email campaigns , social media marketing, content creation and sharing… The list goes on and on!
I’d recommend starting small with a few ideas you know will work and then expand from there once you’ve seen some results.
However, stay realistic – take into account any limits or obstacles that may keep you from being successful and adjust accordingly (by changing strategies or lowering your expectations).
New businesses can be particularly vulnerable to failure if they concentrate too much on promotion while neglecting other important areas such as product development.
Remember that people tend to be more attracted to what they already know or have experienced in the past.
In other words, it’s better to create something great (or at least very good) and promote your services instead of offering poor quality products / information that nobody really wants.
You may also want to consider keeping costs low by finding partners for joint promotion efforts.
Do you know any businesses that would be willing to promote your product if you did the same? When done correctly, this can save a lot of money while providing both parties with additional exposure.
Collaborating with another business doesn’t necessarily mean less work – quite the opposite – but it does provide meaningful results faster than promoting on your own.
Here’s an example of a new business owner who is doing pretty much everything right from a marketing standpoint:
She has created a simple, realistic plan.
She has gathered all the necessary data and done her research.
Her plan reflects her business’s greatest strengths and weaknesses.
She is promoting herself both online and offline – via email campaigns, social media ads etc.)
Finally, she is using marketing materials that are relevant to her target audience.
Once you’re able to incorporate these four P into your own business model, you’ll be well on your way towards successful long-term growth.
In summary, here are some tips for implementing the 4Ps into your marketing strategy:
- Product – Find your business’s greatest strength and match it to a product / service that meets the needs of your target audience. Keep in mind that you can always offer several different products or services, but they should all fit into your overall business model.
- Price – Decide on a price that’s fair to your customers. You can always raise prices later, but it’s much harder to lower them. Lastly, take advantage of alternative pricing schedules (such as “buy one get one free”) when appropriate.
- Place – Determine where you want to sell your products and services – offline or online? It’s important to do the proper market research before making a final decision.
- Promotion – Decide how you plan to promote your business – with or without an online presence? It’s also important to create realistic goals based on your resources (money, time etc.). A very small investment in promotion is often better than no effort at all.
And remember, the most important ‘P’ here is to be persistent; whatever you’re selling, follow-through and stay focused on your target market.
And of course, keep experimenting until you find what works for you!
Now that we have covered all 4P’s, I want to give you an example of combined 4P framework so you get even better understanding of each one of them.
Marketing 4Ps Example
| First example of 4Ps | Second example of 4Ps | |
| Product | Business Services | Direct to Customer Product |
| Price | $10/month | $60+ |
| Place | Online only | Online Only |
| Promotion | Social Media Ads | Content Marketing, Ads and Email Marketing Campaigns |
The first example
Product
The first example shows us that a business has an existing product that they are offering.
The business also offers other products and services in addition to this one, but the first is being used as a primary example.
Price
The business is offering $10 worth of service for the month, which would be equivalent to $120 if purchased continually without stopping.
Place
The place of purchase is online only and there will not be any offline delivery.
One key factor that may reduce the amount of profits made from this particular product would be its exclusivity.
It appears that only one individual or group could use it at a time, which makes it difficult to market on a larger scale when you need more customers than that.
Promotion
However, because this production happens almost entirely online, costs can easily go down by cutting out traditional advertising methods.
Traditional forms of advertisement such as televisions, newspapers and radio usually cost a lot to maintain each month.
The content for these advertisements are also created at the same time which means that multiple people are needed to create them.
Digital marketing is much more efficient in terms of money spent on advertisement.
With Facebook, these ads can be carefully targeted based on demographics and other useful information about the audience being advertised towards.
The place of this business’s product is almost entirely online.
This means that no additional physical infrastructure needs to be built by order to fulfill the demand for customers who would use it outside of their home/office computers.
The second example
Product
The second example shows us that the business produces a product that can be delivered directly to customers for a price.
The service being provided is also unique in that it can only be purchased from one location, unlike common products such as food/drinks and electronics which have multiple stocked warehouses across the country.
Price
Since this product is not something your typical customer would use on a daily basis, there are no additional costs involved other than the initial purchase cost.
There are plans to offer more services like this in the future but they will work independently of this set up so it does not affect profit margins or cash flow.
The place of this business’s product is both online and offline, however this one offers a service for the price of $60+.
Place
If it was sold in physical stores, which are usually more expensive to run than their online counterparts, then average consumers would not be able to purchase the products regularly because they would have less money left after paying for rent/utilities and other living costs.
When a customer purchases this product, it also comes with access to the service provider which means that traditional advertising methods are not necessarily required.
Promotion
It is believed that most sales come through people visiting and reading information posted by this company on social media websites such as Facebook and Instagram.
This type of business has its customer service section separated into individual stores or businesses that are a part of the overall brand and image.
If traditional advertising was used then it would be very costly to advertise on such a large scale so it is not believed that this method is currently being used (if at all).
The main marketing tool for this company may involve social media instead.
In addition to that, this business has a website as well which may be visited by customers in order to learn more about the product.
They have integrated themselves into the online community in order to market their product and service offerings on a global scale.
Many people have heard of this brand or company before so it is not necessary for them to market themselves as heavily since they already have a certain amount of recognition among potential customers.
Marketing through social media has proven itself as an effective method for promoting information on a large scale so it’s possible that most new customers are attracted to buy from them based on what they see online rather than recommendations from other customers.
After having a positive experience with their product, many customers may recommend them to others through word of mouth which is considered to be the most effective way for businesses to attract new customers.
As stated previously, since there are no costs involved in running this business aside from paying for advertising, they can scale faster.
In conclusion, marketing should be focused on helping others achieve success.
The four Ps framework helps us identify which parts of our businesses require improvement.
By using these tools, we can improve our own personal performance while simultaneously improving the quality of our service offerings.
Marketing 4P Mix
Marketing mix is often associated with the 4 Ps of marketing, but it’s not strictly limited to those four elements.
For example, in addition to the 4Ps, there’s also a fifth element that’s important for businesses – Product Life Cycle (PLC).
But also there can be even more elements to a marketing mix, like 6Ps or 7Ps. This is known as the extended marketing mix.
Of course each element must be matched with specific consumers’ needs and preferences.
Ideally the buyer’s decision making process can be divided into five stages:
- Problem recognition
- Information search
- Evaluation of alternatives
- Purchase decision
- Post‐purchase behavior
The customer buys a product at one stage in the process, while he/she may consider other options at different stages.
Problem recognition and information search are the first two stages in the decision making process.
This is where marketing campaigns can be targeted to create awareness about a product and to make potential buyers aware of its benefits.
Next comes the evaluation of alternatives , which means evaluating different brands and their products.
This is where the competitive successful marketing strategy comes into play.
Buyers can be influenced by internal and external information that surround him/her during all stages in this process, but especially at evaluation of alternatives.
When consumers are presented with two or more choices, they will try to estimate their relative worth by comparing different attributes of each option.
In other words, the marketing mix plays a huge role for each key element.
In order to be able to influence consumers, marketers must first know their needs and wants in advance.
As mentioned earlier, the traditional marketing mix (4Ps of marketing) are considered to be: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
Other elements can include more or less factors that affect the overall marketing performance.
Information about competition is also important when evaluating potential market opportunities and threats.
For example, if your product isn’t differentiated from others it’s much harder to sell it as compared to other products with different (or additional) features.
If you’re starting a new business in an existing market where there’s lots of competition – without being aware of competitors’ strategies etc., you may end up trying to sell a product nobody needs.
If this happens, you can always adjust your marketing strategy by making minor or major changes in the 4Ps.
For instance, changing prices might help you gain some customers who were previously unwilling to buy because of high prices.
This would potentially improve customer experience especially if pricing decisions were a main friction point.
However, if you don’t have any idea what kind of pricing strategy would work best for your particular situation, then you should probably start off with something simple.
You could offer free samples, discounts on certain items, special offers, etc.
These tactics won’t cost anything upfront, so you’ll get immediate feedback on how effective these approaches are.
All in all, the most successful businesses tend to focus on providing great value to their target audience and they do this through offering unique solutions to problems, creating useful content, building trust, delivering superior service, etc.
Remember: The goal isn’t necessarily to spend money; rather, it’s to generate leads and increase conversions.
Once you know what type of lead generation works best for your business, you can decide which channel to invest time and resources into.
4P in marketing plan
I want to show you how you can incorporate 4P in your marketing plan. This especially works well for digital 4P integration.
Let’s say that you already have a business, you are profitable, but you want to grow even more. You also realize that there is still room for improvement.
In order to achieve this, you should start by analyzing where you stand today.
What does your current situation look like? How much revenue did you earn last year? Did you lose any customers during the past 12 months? If yes, then you probably didn’t improve enough over the years.
If not, congratulations! Your business is doing fine right now.
However, you might be missing some opportunities to expand further.
To figure out what could help you grow faster, you must analyze all aspects of your business.
For instance, do you sell products directly through eCommerce websites? Or do you offer free samples? Do you provide customer support via phone calls or email messages? Are you using social media platforms to promote your product?
If so, great job! Now you’re ready to move forward.
Now we came to the part on how to implement the 4 Ps strategy successfully…
Here are some tips from personal experience developing growth strategies for my clients.
I recommend starting small by creating a simple landing page. Then test different variations of content and calls-to-action.
You may also consider using split testing software like Optimizely or Google Analytics so you can easily compare results across multiple versions of pages.
When you’ve found something that converts better, keep improving it! And always stay true to yourself and your brand.
Here’s quick recap:
- Start With Your Audience First – Before you do anything else, ask yourself these questions:
- Who am I targeting?
- What problems do they face?
- How can I help them solve their problem?
- Focus On One Goal At Once – It might seem tempting to try to tackle several issues simultaneously, but this approach usually ends up being counterproductive. Instead, focus on one thing at once. If you want to grow your email list, then make sure all other aspects of your campaign revolve around building subscribers.
- Be Consistent – It is important to stick to your guns and not deviate too far from your original vision. Otherwise, people won’t trust you anymore. They will expect you to change direction every now and again. So, if you want to build long term relationships with your audience, you need to show them that you mean business.
- Don’t Forget To Measure Results – The most effective way to measure success is through data. Make sure you track everything – including clicks, impressions, bounces, form submissions etc. It doesn’t matter whether you use tools such as Google Analytics or Hubspot. Just make sure you collect enough information to see trends over time.
- Keep Improving – Don’t stop improving your user experience and conversion rate just because things are working well. Always strive to improve upon what’s already been done. The more effort you put into making changes, the faster you’ll reach your goals.
Questions About The Four Ps
Can I have a successful marketing plan without 4Ps?
Yes, of course! But it will be much more difficult and time consuming than with the help of these four Ps.
So, don’t worry about having an “all in one package” solution.
You should start with whatever works best for you.
And remember – there is no right answer here. Every company has its own unique needs and challenges.
Do I need to have a marketing team and marketing process to use 4Ps?
No, not at all! You can do it yourself with the help of these two things:
- A good sales funnel. This allows you to segment your leads based on where they came from and how many times they visited your site before submitting contact info.
- An autoresponder service. These allow you to send automated emails to your contacts after they sign up for your newsletter.
These two things alone will get you started.
Then, add some analytics, social media management and content creation.
This way you will have an insight into what works to polish your 4Ps and improve your marketing process.
Is there some other marketing model besides 4P that I should be aware of?
The four Ps are a good starting place, but they’re not the only way to think about your business and its customers.
There are plenty of different models out there.
Don’t obsess over these things for long because you should pay attention to three main KPIs and your marketing model will be a secondary priority.
These three KPIs are:
- NPS: This metric measures customer loyalty by asking questions like “How likely would you recommend our product/service?” and “What percentage of your total revenue did we generate?”.
- CAC: This is basically the cost required to acquire each new customer. For example, let’s say you spend $100 per lead generated. If this number is high then you might consider lowering your price points. On the contrary, if it’s low then maybe you could increase your prices.
- LTV: This is calculated by multiplying the average lifetime value of a customer by their retention rate. In simple terms, it means how much money does your current customer bring in compared to the amount spent acquiring him.
Will 4Ps marketing reduce costs for my marketing budget?
Yes it will and it does that by reducing time wasted on ineffective activities.
You’ll save lots of time and effort which you can use to focus more on growing your company instead of wasting resources on unproductive tasks.
Which of the 4P of marketing is most important?
I think it’s all about your target audience and their needs, right? So, I would say 1st P i.e. Product and combine it with your ideal customer.
Let me give you a few examples on why: If you sell software products, you probably know who your ideal customer is.
- But do you really understand them?
- Are they looking for something specific?
- What problems do they face when buying from you?
- How can you help them solve those issues?
That’s where you start!
You don’t need to go deep into psychology here.
Just ask yourself: Who am I trying to reach? Why do they need my solution? And what problem do they face while searching for solutions online?
Then try to find out what kind of content they’re interested in reading.
Now you have an idea of what type of blog posts you should write next.
If you sell services, you may also identify your ideal client but you won’t get as many opportunities to talk directly to them.
Instead, you’ll have to rely on indirect ways such as surveys, case studies, testimonials, etc.
To overcome this challenge, you can still apply the same principle.
Find out what people like about your service and offer similar features in your product.
For example, if you provide web design services, you can include freebies like templates, icons, fonts, etc.
If you sell physical goods, you can simply look at your competitors’ catalogues and see what types of items they carry.
Or even better, visit local stores and observe what kinds of things people actually purchase.
This way you can figure out what exactly your potential clients are looking for.
So, how much money did you spend on advertising last year? Did you notice anything different after spending so much money? Probably not because you didn’t take enough actionable data before making decisions.
Conclusion
All in all, these four Ps in marketing are very powerful tools that every entrepreneur should use to their advantage.
They help us understand our customer base and give us insight into who exactly we need to reach out to.
It helps us create relevant messages that resonate well with our customers.
We can then tailor our message accordingly based on their interests and preferences.
It allows us to make informed choices regarding our business strategy and ultimately leads to higher conversion rates.
In short, the Four Ps of marketing are extremely useful tools that any business owner must master.
- Product- Ideal Customer: A persona is a fictional character used to represent one or more real individuals. In marketing terms, it’s someone who represents a group of consumers.
- Price-Value Proposition: Price is only part of the value proposition. Value includes quality, delivery time, reliability, support, brand name, etc.
- Place-Geography: Place refers to the location of your target audience. Geographical targeting involves selecting geographic areas which match certain criteria.
- Promotion-Channel: Promotion channel is where you advertise your products.
Hopefully now after reading this article you have a complete understanding of 4Ps of marketing. I wish you good luck!
