Utilizing the Four P’s to Market Your Business

Happy New Year and welcome to my blog article for assisting small businesses! The New Year is a time for reflection and doing things beyond your prior year accomplishments. In this article, I discuss ways to do something different for your business if you have not tried this before. If you are the type of small business owner that thinks placing an advertisement about your special offers to customers is all that is necessary to bring them to your place of business then I have news for you; an advertisement is only a small part of the marketing mix, which is necessary to help bring attention to your business. For marketing to occur there must be a need between two or more persons for something the other has. Your business has a product or service to offer and your customers have cash to exchange for the product or service. To be successful your business must stand out among your competitors to ensure you are maximizing on your abilities to sell your product or service. The marketing mix consists of what is known as, the four P’s, which is product, price, promotion, and place. Each of these separate parts of the marketing mix has a unique role in maximizing your sales. Neglecting any of the four P’s in the marketing mix can result in your coming up short in meeting your sales goals.

Let us now look at each part of the marketing mix. Your product is what you are trying to sell to customers and in doing so; you must be able to distinguish why your product or service is better than your competitors who are selling the same item. In other words, what would make a customer want to purchase your product over a competitor? Your product must have some unique point of difference that attracts the attention of customers. The next portion of the marketing mix is price, and this is the amount of money a customer is willing to exchange in order to receive your product or service. In determining your price, you must be able to assign value in the minds of the customers so they are willing to pay the asking price. Placing a price too low may infer inferior quality, while placing a price too high will drive your customers to the competition if they can find comparable value at a lower price. One other note about pricing your product or service is that it is easier to lower the price than it is to raise the price so be careful you are placing a price representative of the value you are trying to position in your customers’ minds.

The third portion of the marketing mix is promotion, which is how you communicate information about your product or service. You can accomplish this using radio, television, or visual advertisements in other means of communication such as magazines, Internet ads, or social media. The means by which you communicate your product or service will depend on what type of customers you are trying to sell to, which is the market segment or demographic you are trying to reach because not all customers use the same communication networks to learn about new products. The fact that your product will not appeal to all customers it is important you know your customers in that regard and choose the promotion medium wisely so that you can attract the maximum amount of customers. The final portion of the marketing mix is place, which is how you will get the product from its origination point to the point of consumption by the customer so they can make the actual purchase. In choosing the place, choose a location that is at the convenience of the customers and not at the convenience of the business owner. If you have a great product, which displays a price that instills value and is widely known by your customers but is inconvenient for them to come and purchase the product you will fall short in making your sales. The place should be a safe location easily accessible by your customers with the least amount of resistance in getting to the final destination point for them to make the purchase.

As you can now see, placing an advertisement is only a small part in selling your product or service. Neglecting any of the four P’s in the marketing mix will not only reduce or minimize your exposure to your customers but will also tie up cash in the form of unsold inventory, which is a completely new challenge for your business. Therefore, the next time you are ready to place your product or service in the minds of your customers, be sure you are utilizing the four P’s effectively to have a better chance of standing out among your competitors and ensuring repeat sales. Until next time, I am Dr. Anthony Spivey; have a productive new year and keep thinking Big!