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What is marketing?
A common definition is: Putting the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time. Sounds simple, no? Well, not always.
There are so many factors you need to consider when marketing a product or service. And, if you get just one element wrong, it can be a disaster for your whole campaign. This is where the 4Ps of Marketing are useful. They stand for: "product," "place," "price," and "promotion."
To show you how effective they can be, let's imagine we want to market a new lamp. The lamp is special because it mimics the warmth and light of the sun.
We'd start by asking key questions about the first P – the product itself. One important thing to ask is, "What do our customers want?" The answer could be that they crave warm, natural light, especially on dark winter days. We could also ask how it differs from competing products. Our lamp is of higher quality, and its light is more like the sun than the others on the market.
So let's look at the next P, which is place. Where would buyers look for this lamp? Will it be stocked in a store, sold by sales reps, or advertised exclusively online?
The next P is price. Will people think that the lamp is good value? Is our target customer price sensitive? How will the cost of our lamp compare with the others on the market?
