The Four P’s of Marketing

Guest post contributed by Heather Smith.

If you do not know what the four P’s of marketing are – you are not alone.

There are many people who do not understand the basic relationship that makes up successful marketing. The four P’s were originally created as a marketing mix. Having a marketing mix is often fundamental when forming a product or brand's unique selling point i.e. the unique quality that makes a product different from its competitors.

The term marketing mix was originally created in an article written by Neil Borden called “The Concept of the Marketing Mix.” He became aware of the term after he heard about if from an acquaintance, James Culliton, who in 1948 designated the role of the marketing manager as a mixer of ingredients.

Getting to the point, a proper marketing mix allows your product or brand to achieve the highest sales and recognition it possibly can. Like having a balanced meal makes you as healthy as possible, having a balanced marketing mix helps to make your product or brand as profitable as possible.

The four P's that make up the marketing mix are: price, product, promotion, and place.

1. Price

   The price is the amount of money a customer pays for the product or service. The price is very significant as it governs the company's profit and therefore existence. Modifying the price has an intense impact on the marketing strategy and, contingent on the price elasticity of the product, it will frequently affect the demand and sales as well. The price that the marketer sets should balance the other elements of the marketing mix.

2. Product

   The product is the simplest idea. It is an item or service that fulfills what a consumer needs or wants. Your product can literally be anything, even an idea. You must have a concrete grasp on what the product is, however, before you can successfully market it.

3. Promotion

   Promotion can be all of the methods of communication that a marketer may use to deliver information to various people about the product. Promotion is made up of things like: advertising, public relations, personal selling, viral and word-of-mouth, and sales promotion. Promotion is essentially how you get the word out about your product or service.

4. Place

   Place is all about providing the product at a location which is convenient for consumers to access. Today, that is frequently online. Place also has a lot to do with distribution, or getting the product to the customer. Several approaches such as intensive distribution, selective distribution, exclusive distribution and franchising can be applied by the marketer to match the other parts of the marketing mix.

The four P’s can help you become a better marketer by understanding the simplified balance of marketing products or services. Once you have a good understanding of these four aspects, you can have more success in marketing your products or services.