Creating a product or service is not enough. How will people come to know about the product and the service that you have started? The answer lies in marketing. With efficient marketing, one can ensure that the product or service becomes a well-known brand. Marketing is not an easy job, it’s tough because marketing depends on a wide number of things. For instance, what is the product or service, what it serves and the target audience? When it comes to marketing, the 4Ps introduced by E.J. McCarthy is important. The 4Ps of marketing are product, place, price and promotion. Let’s dive deeper into their meaning.
1. Product
Here, product refers to both products and services. What is the purpose of the product or the service that you have introduced? For instance, a courier company like Shree Tirupati will satisfy the parcel services while a coffee mug will serve the purpose of keeping the coffee hot without any leakage.
One needs to address questions like what is the purpose of it, what pain point will it solve. How, when and where the customers will use the product and will it provide satisfactory customer service. Also, is the product and service brand. If yes, what is the name of the brand? What is the unique selling point of your product and service?
2. Place
The next question that needs to be asked is where is the product available, where the customer will be looking for it? For example, the services of Professional Couriers cannot be showcased in a retail store, whereas an earphone brand can display its products in retail stores. Will the product or service be available online, offline or in both? If it is marketed online, will it have a dedicated website or will it be listed on third-party websites? What is the distribution channel of the product?
If it is showcased in a retail store, where exactly will be the product available? If it is available online, which category are you selecting for it? Will the customer be able to notice it there?
3. Price
The third question that a marketer needs to question is the price. Does the product have competitive pricing? If not, why is the item priced higher or lower than the products of the competitor? Also, one needs to ask whether the market of the product lies in a customer price sensitive zone. What is the profit margin of the product? Can the price be reduced? Does the price of the product or service align with the brand?
4. Promotion
The next thing that needs to be figured out is where the target audience is present and which market needs to be targeted to ensure that you are able to reach the target audience. Will you be targeting both online and offline marketing or will it narrow down to one and if yes, why? What is the budget for promoting the product or service?
There are plenty of ways of marketing the product or service. For instance, one can do it by advertising on television, radio, billboards, influencer or PR. In addition to that, a marketer should also know the right time to promote the product and service. Will the seasonality impacts the time of promotion of the product and service. The best way of understanding this is by researching how the competitors are marketing their products and services.
When a product or service is marketed, one needs to take into account all the four Ps. The 4Ps of marketing is considered a marketing mix because it takes into account almost all the marketing factors. However, external and internal factors can impact all the different parameters in different amounts. By integrating the 4Ps, companies can ensure that their product and service is visible to the audience.
It helps in taking a holistic approach to marketing. One needs to go through different case studies to ensure that they know how different companies have used the 4Ps to expand the business and build a brand. If you are facing trouble in marketing, create a tick mark for all these four aspects and try to answer as many questions as possible to find the best way to market your product and service.
