- Whether you've been using the four Ps of marketing,
AKA the marketing mix, your entire career
or you're just hearing about them for the first time,
one thing is for sure:
this framework is way more than a textbook concept.
The four Ps are at the core of marketing,
any product or service in any sector.
So what are they?
Product, price, place, and promotion.
And the fifth P, if you're feeling lucky, might be pizza.
These four elements can inform everything:
from the best channels for your marketing
right through to the positioning of your overall brand.
So let's unpack those four Ps
and give you everything you need to know
to take your marketing to the next level this year.
Introducing P number one: product.
This might sound simple,
but when you're marketing a product,
you really need to think about that product
and what makes it so special.
When I say product,
I mean anything you're taking to market and trying to sell.
It can be a physical product or a service, for example.
Once you interrogate that product,
all kinds of things can come into focus.
You'll be able to identify the problem it solves,
the strengths,
what kind of audience would find it most valuable,
and what differentiates it
from other products on the market.
For example, if you know your product
is the go-to, trustworthy option,
that will inform your marketing,
or at the very least, it certainly should.
And that approach should be very different
to another business
with a disruptive new kid on the block product.
Knowing your product is the cornerstone
of marketing success.
The second P is a really big one.
It's price.
First thing's first,
price is not just about how much money you wanna make.
But equally, your product needs to be profitable
after costs, marketing, and sales are taken into account.
So how can you strike the right balance?
Well, here are four strategies that can help:
cost plus pricing, competitive pricing, value-based pricing,
and penetration pricing.
Let's talk about cost plus pricing.
Cost plus pricing, AKA markup pricing,
is a method where businesses add a fixed percentage
on top of the cost it takes them
to produce one unit of their product.
Simply put, you work out the cost
and then you add the plus bit.
The number you end up with
is the selling price of the product.
This can be really useful for businesses
that want a quick and simple way to price their product
without getting bogged down with complex calculations.
Cost plus pricing is also easier for customers to understand
which if use right, can aid transparency,
which boosts customer trust.
All good things.
But as you'll see in some situations,
a more detailed pricing strategy is way more useful.
So next up is competitive pricing.
This strategy focuses on the existing market rate,
sometimes called the going rate
for the product or service you sell.
Rather than basing your pricing
on the cost it takes to make your product
or the customer demand for it,
competition-based pricing uses your rivals as a benchmark.
Most likely, your business will then price itself
in one of three ways:
slightly less than, the same as,
or slightly more than your competitors.
What's the best approach?
Well, depends on your product.
Say you're in the distribution sector
and you you offer delivery services
for low cost, non-perishable goods to retail stores.
Pricing yourself just below your competitors
could make your business super attractive to customers.
But what if your distribution company
delivers luxury seafood ingredients
to Michelin star restaurants?
In that scenario, pricing yourself just above competitors
could be more attractive
as it signifies a more trustworthy or elite service.
Then we have value-based pricing.
With this strategy,
a company prices its products or services
based on what the customer is willing to pay.
So even if the company could charge more for a product,
it establishes its price
based on customer interest and data.
Value-based pricing
can boost customer sentiment and loyalty
because it's reflective of their needs.
The caveat here is that you need to stay up to date
with those needs and how they develop,
like a beautiful butterfly.
Otherwise, you can quickly lose sight
of how valuable your product is to your customers
and your pricing will reflect that.
Finally, we have penetration pricing.
This is where the company enters the market
with a super low price to try and draw attention
and revenue away from higher price competitors.
Remember that new kid on the block product
we mentioned earlier?
This could be a great strategy for that
because it's best suited
for breaking into an existing competitive market.
However, penetration pricing isn't suitable in the long run
because you need your product to be profitable
at some point, right?
So this is a short-term strategy
that will often be used in conjunction
with one of the other strategies we've outlined.
And if you want to find out more
about any of those strategies,
check out our video on that very topic.
Now it's time to take a look at P number three: place.
In the old school days of marketing,
place used to be all about physical locations:
billboards, subway ads, print ads, et cetera.
And while those are also part of the conversation,
place is now a much more complex topic
'cause it includes a host of digital channels too.
Finding the right place for your marketing
involves getting forensic
on your customer habits, preferences, and needs.
For example, say your product mainly appeals
to a millennial audience.
Instagram ads would get you way more of a return
than TikTok ads
because TikTok appeals to a younger audience.
And as millennials have been dubbed generation mute,
going to their reluctance to speak on the phone,
who wants to be doing that these days?
Your sales enablement should probably lean
towards chatbots and a self-serve website
rather than to call representatives.
But all of that's going to be a complete different story
if your target market is Gen Z.
31% of whom say they prefer to shop in-app
or directly through social media
rather than using a traditional website.
Remember, place isn't just about where you want people
to see your products.
It's about where your customers want to see them.
And just like that,
it's time to talk about the final P: promotion.
Promotion is where your marketing actually comes alive.
It's where you think about how to publicize
and advertise your product.
And that involves all the fun brand-building stuff
like messaging, brand awareness,
and lead generation strategies.
Once again, how well you know your product
and your target audience will determine your success.
That new kid on the block product we've been talking about
suits a very different kind of messaging
to that tried and tested alternative.
And then you have to match it to your target audience.
In fact, take a moment
and picture a key buyer of your product.
What sort of message is going to appeal to that person?
What's likely to put them off?
And how can you articulate the obstacle they're facing
in a way that actually feels genuine?
Getting detailed in your promotion strategy
is how you can turn your marketing from meh to my, my.
And that's it.
If you want to take your marketing to the next level,
get yourself acquainted with the four Ps:
product, price, place, and promotion.
And the first step that I would take,
well, I'd probably check out
our marketing mix/four Ps template
using the link down on the description below.
Wanna see more videos on this topic
or share how you've been making moves with the four Ps?
Let us know down the comments below.
And of course, don't forget to subscribe
and like this video.
Now if you'll excuse me,
I'm gonna be looking for that fifth P.
You know what I'm saying?
I think I got some in the oven.
I'll see you next time.
- I can find this client info.
- Have you heard of HubSpot?
HubSpot is a CRM platform
so it shares its data across every application.
Every team can stay aligned.
No out-of-sync spreadsheets or dueling databases.
HubSpot.
Grow better.
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