I’ll have a P please, Bob! How to use the marketing mix for your business

Without getting bogged down in the theory of it all, there are some little gems of thinking about marketing that still resonate today, even if they date back over half a century now.

One such golden nugget goes by the name of ‘The Four Ps’. If your business hasn’t heard of it yet, it needs to.

So, what are the Four Ps and why are they so important?

In a nutshell, the Four Ps: product, price, place and promotion make up what has become known as ‘The Marketing Mix’. Essentially, if you get the mix right, you’ll be well on the way to marketing your business successfully. At the very least, you’ll have laid down the foundations on which you can build.

And if you are launching a new product, a completely new business, or freshening things up with a rebrand, the marketing mix works just as well all the same.

The First P: Product

Whether you are a go-getting entrepreneur plotting global domination, an ethical small business, or even a charity; all businesses, essentially, have a product to sell. From everyday essentials to the exclusive – or the tangible to the intangible - you need to have a clear grip on and grasp of what your product is and what it does for your customers.

It doesn’t matter if you are selling rolls of toilet paper or rejuvenating spa treatments, you need to understand what makes your product unique and what its selling points are before you can have any hope of marketing it successfully.

The Second P: Price

Once your understanding of the product is crystal clear and concrete, pricing decisions can be made. Of course, a product and its price are inextricably linked. The former informs the latter. So, the price you charge has to cover the cost of production – be that in terms of the actual cost of materials, or the cost of labour and time spent – and what you put on top are your profit margins.

There are a lot of factors that can impact those profit margins: supply, demand and your overall business plan and marketing strategy. And although it would be easy to dazzle here with various flowcharts, theories, methods and models, the bottom line is this:

At the end of the day – at some point – your business needs to make a profit. It has to be worth your while.

The price has to be right. Price too high and you could price yourself out of the market. Price too low and you sell yourself short and potentially cheapen and devalue your brand.

But remember…

Yes, the price has to be worth your while.

But, more importantly, it needs to be worth their while too.

Their meaning your customers.

Just as product influences price, the price is also closely linked to the next two Ps.

The Third P: Place

Place is an interesting one because it can mean so many different things (especially these days).

Success is about having the right product, at the right price, at the right place, at the right time. And think of ‘place’ as both the location and space in time.

Firstly, there’s the physical place you are selling your product in. If it’s a shop on the High Street or an out-of-town shopping centre, is there enough footfall? Are enough people actually going to see your product?

Then there’s the wider location to consider. The price of a pint in London is the same as one and a half pints in the North. For the price of one house in the South East, you could buy three or four in the North East.

Supply and demand and the location you’re in (the place) impacts on price:

You buy a coffee at a service station and it’ll cost you way more than on the High Street. The very same coffee.

Think about airports, festivals, amusement parks – the prices of food and drink are higher than you’d usually expect to because businesses know they have a captive audience. Customers can’t shop around in the way they normally would.

Similarly, look at these prices for a 2-bedroom Executive Lodge for a 4 night break at Centre Parcs:

Monday 21 October - £549

Monday 28 October - £1099

Monday 4 November - £399

The same lodge. The same facilities. The same holiday.

Would you like to take a wild stab in the dark as to which week is the school holidays?

Think Place, Think Digital Space

These days, the digital space is the place that most businesses need to be.

It’s important then, to appreciate which digital locations, spaces or places your business should be in. From your website to your social media presence, it’s worth remembering that even if an actual sale doesn’t happen on the internet, the initial place most prospects will first become engaged with your brand and your product is online.

You need to be in the right digital places to convert those potential customers into real customers.

The Fourth P: Promotion

Last, and definitely not least, is the final P: promotion. Once you have a product and a price, you need to promote it in the right place(s). ‘Promotion’ is a catch-all term that encompasses everything from advertising and email marketing to social media marketing, public relations and more.

Each element is a touch point for potential customers. The actual packaging and presentation of a product itself is, of course, vital. However, the wider promotion of a brand and the way that everythingto do with how your business is presented and packaged and positioned in front of customers is even more important.

Typically, it’s not uncommon for businesses to struggle once the first 2 Ps (product and price) have been established. Even if your brand has nailed product and price, the marketing mix is such that you need to get place and promotion on the money too.

Get in touch if you’d like Mark Richards Writes to help you to promote your business in all the right ways in all the right places.