The Marketing Mix, also known as the 4 P's of marketing might be some obscure thing you know about, but have been using for years. Or it might be a concept that's completely new to you.
In either case, they're a useful resource for marketing your products so let's take a look at hat they are.
What are the 4 P's of marketing?
Simply put, the 4 P's are Product, Price, Place and Promotion, and these are the key factors involved in marketing a product or service.
They are meant to help you consider everything about a product or service, as well as helping you learn what the competition is doing and what customers want from you.
For example, you can ask yourself:
- How does my product meet the needs of my customers?
- Where are my customers looking for my product?
- What is the value of my product?
- How is my product different from that of my competitors?
Knowing the answers to these questions can help you to develop a strategy to reach your customers.
So, let's look at these 4 P's in more detail
1. Product
When thinking about your product, you need to consider exactly what you're selling. Is it something specific? Is it more of a service? Can it be sold in a physical shop, or is it solely online, such as a website or an app?
Next, think about your brand messaging and packaging. Why did you develop your product? Was it to solve a specific problem for your customers? Then, consider what makes you different from your competitors, why are you unique?
When you know your product intimately, you can effectively market it to the right people at the right time.
2. Price
You need to know how much you're going to be charging your customers for your product. But you need to make sure you're able to make a profit while still being competitive. Also, think about how much your customers are going to be willing to pay for your product.
Next, you need to think about whether you're going to be offering any discounts or promotions that can be used within your marketing campaigns.
Your pricing can be tricky to work out because it can affect how your product is perceived. Are you known as cost-effective in your industry? Or are you the luxury product in your market? Either way, the language you use to sell your product will be impacted by the price of your product.
3. Place
When you're thinking about place, this can mean two different things. It can mean the physical location of your company, but it can also mean where your product is being marketed and sold online.
When considering your place, you need to remember your target market. For example, you wouldn't advertise to the older generation through TikTok. Just like the younger generation might be wary of pop-up ads. You really need to be focusing your marketing where your audience are.
You also need to be considering whether your product is B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to customer) as this can have an effect on where your optimal marketing channels are.
4. Promotion
Now you know everything about your product and where best to market it, it's time to actually do some marketing.
You need to think about your brand messaging, brand awareness, how you're going to generate leads and revenue.
Since you now know your target audience, what messages will resonate with them? What marketing methods will work best?
Summing up the 4 P's
Once you've gotten to know your product, brand and where you should be marketing, you can start to think about the actual marketing you will be doing.
The 4 P's can be used to guide you through what you should be thinking about and when you should be thinking about it. But remember, these are just a guide, if you've found another method that works better for you, let us know on social media.
