Before designing a product, a company must conform to the 4 Ps of marking. During the testing phase of a product, these 4 Ps of marketing must be certain. Firms explain 4 Ps of marketing with examples for better sales forecasting.
The 4 Ps help companies develop a product that: (A) Is wanted and consumed in the market and (B) Competes favorably with existing products.
Explain 4 Ps of Marketing with Examples
1. Product
A product, in this case, is not necessarily a tangible good. Under the content of the product in this ‘P,’ it can be either good or service. Before commencing development and production, a company must assess whether such a product exists.
A company must know how to create customers’ needs for a new product for successful market entry. This is best informed by forces of demand and supply of other closely related products. It would be unwise to produce a product that would not solve people’s real problems.
Example of product
A VPN subscription is an example of a product for our use case. Different VPN service providers often differ based on bandwidth, the number of maximum devices, and the number of servers. Let us compare ExpressVPN and Surfshark VPN and how they distinguish their products.
ExpressVPN supports a maximum of 5 devices, has unlimited bandwidth, and over 3,000 servers worldwide. On the other hand, Surfshark VPN allows connecting unlimited devices, has unlimited bandwidth, and over 3,200 servers across the globe.
2. Price
A company must factor in all the costs incurred in producing a product. Companies use markup pricing to declare their prices and compare them with the market average. This is to avoid producing expensive products or very cheap products.
A company must do a tradeoff between quality and price charged for a finished product. This is to assess if the product will be able to stand stiff competition posed by existing products. A company must have a strategy for advancing its pricing strategies for market penetration and profitability.
Example of price
A 1-yer plan of ExpressVPN would cost you $8.32/mo. ExpressVPN gives customers three months free if they buy a 1-year VPN subscription plan to attract more customers. If you were to settle for Surfshark VPN, a 1-year plan would cost you $2.30/mo. Surfshak VPN, on the other hand, lets their customers enjoy 82% off plus two months free on some of their packages.
This huge difference in price shows how the same service can be differently priced in the market.
3. Place
Selling final products happens at different places based on the nature and location of the final consumer. A company must know where potential customers will likely be found for the product. This knowledge aids in making strategic decisions in distribution. Furthermore, it helps select ideal supply channels and selling points to make buying easier for customers.
For instance, a company producing academic material must learn where to find most learners. Furthermore, it must know how to sell to these learners through physical or e-commerce stores.
Example of place
VPN is a virtual service, and it is sold virtually. Websites with landing places are the basic place where buyers of a VPN would choose their subscription plan. In other cases, some VPN service providers publish ad campaigns on search engines like Google. To reach potential customers, these VPN service providers have also established a solid social media footprint.
4. Promotion
This is an important ‘P’ for consideration for all businesses. It is essential at the launching phase and later in marketing. It involved assessing the key features that make a product desirable to customers.
Promotion is about how to market a product to a target market niche. A company should answer a few questions to assess how a product should be marketed and lure potential buyers into making actual purchases. For instance:
- Does a product have new and better features than what exists in the market?
- How interactive is a product in terms of ease of use?
- Are the maintenance costs of such a product too high to afford?
- Has the product been tested on its score to withstand breakdown?
Example of promotion
VPN service providers often target people who want to hide their online activity. These people do not want their activity over the web tracked by prying eyes. They also target people wanting to access certain services limited by their geo-locations.
