Editor
Marketing is a hard task, especially in today’s world. Without a proper marketing plan in place, your business may suffer and eventually fail. The main ingredients for a successful marketing campaign are the four Ps.
What are the 4Ps ?
These essential marketing elements are (1) Product, (2) Price, (3) Placement, and (4) Promotion, and in order to provide a positive experience for your customers, you need to ensure that each P works are considered and included into your plan.
Talking about the Product, it really takes a lot of work and effort to determine what customers want and need, as well as identifying their shopping pattern. The goal is to continuously adapt your products or services to reflect any changes in clients habits.
This first step need to be constantly reviewed, so you can find the right price point, and promote it. And most important, the four Ps must be taken together to make sure that your process is properly optimized.
Let’s explore the four Ps of marketing, and determine how they work together.
Product
Your physical or digital product, is the heart of your business. It’s the result of your idea, and if you’ve properly analyzed your competitors, it’s something that is unique to your niche.
A unique product, or a product with unique elements, helps you to stand out from the rest of the competition. The challenge with any product, however, is to keep a good ratio between uniqueness and quality.
And another important aspect, is that you need to gather a solid understanding of what customers are looking for in regards to benefits and features.
It’s also essential that you learn how your clients will use your product, so it can fit their wants and needs. If the product doesn’t fulfill a need, you can be sure that customers will purchase it. Perform a periodical research to have a good idea of what the market already offers, what it’s currently working well, and what can be improved.
Read also: Getting Started with the Hourglass Marketing Funnel
Price
Your product can be the best one in the world, but you will sell it only if you set the appropriate price point.
Proper price is determined by two key metrics: production costs and projected fulfillment. Make sure you are conveying the quality of your product to customers when considering the initial amount of your product. At the same time, keep in mind how the price you select, along with costs of manufacturing and production, will have an impact on your product in the long-term.
When setting up your price point, spend some time to research how competitors are placed in the market.
Placement
In today’s market, placement is no longer simply about identifying the appropriate retailers or best locations.
There are now many other channels to consider when you think about your product placement. For example, if we consider an offline business (a physical shop), you should ask yourself some questions like: is the area with the highest foot traffic? Which retailer is showing growth and expansion?
And another crucial factor is about strategy: try to find some businesses that make sense to establish a partnership with. Success is also given by synergies and team work.
Talking about the digital aspect of marketing, you may consider to start a social media campaign and ensure that your product is in a spot which will gain traction and attention in the market.
Promotion
With the continued growth and immersion of our lives into social media, it surely makes sense to promote and market your product online.
If you don’t have much time yourself to promote it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, you can think to hire a virtual assistant that will help you to setup your internet marketing campaigns.
Nowadays, people want to see the product first-hand. They want to interact, ask questions, get answers, and learn more about it, all from the comfort of their laptop or smartphone. This is where your blog or website comes convenient: your pages can host high-quality videos, FAQs, and articles to your prospect, so they are fully informed and convinced to become your customers.
If you want to learn more about how to successfully interact with your audience, have a look at this article about interactive content, and this other article about gamification.
In conclusion, a successful marketing campaign is the results of a good interaction between each of the four Ps. Have a strategy for each ingredient, and focus on fixing the defects that may disrupt a successful product.
Every time you want to promote your business, pay close attention to the four Ps of marketing. But also consider other marketing resources which can accentuate and highlight your product. You can find more strategies and tips by joining our online training.
