The better you understand and target your market, the more effectively you can spend time and money to reach it. Focusing on the 5 Ps will also help you figure out what’s working and what’s not working when it comes to marketing your business.
Product
What products or services do you provide? Be specific. What are the physical attributes of the product or the details of the services you provide? Explain the features of your products and services and how they specifically benefit your market. It’s also important to identify how your products or services differ from what your competitors offer. Understanding how your product solves your market’s problem in a way that is different from your competition is crucial.
Price
What are you charging for your product or service? It needs to be enough to cover your expenses and make a profit. It also needs to fit with what the market is willing to pay. Do your research to find out what your competitors are charging and figure out where you’d like to fit in on that spectrum.
Place
Promotion
What methods are you going to use to let potential customers and clients know about your products and services? To do this, you need to understand your market, including where it can be found and how you can create marketing messages that it will respond to. Pointing out how your product will solve the market’s problem is a good starting point.
People
This is a newer addition to what was previously known as the four Ps of marketing. Who is helping you in your business? The people and services that you use in your business can impact your success. If your salespeople or virtual assistant is rude, you’ll lose customers and clients. Customers have a choice in who to do business with and they prefer companies that provide easy-to-use systems, offer customer service when needed, and are attentive and responsive to their needs. Happy customers will become repeat customers and will refer new business.
How To Effectively Use the 5 Ps
The five Ps will help you focus on what you need to do in marketing, and also, give you clues when things aren’t working. For example, if sales are sluggish, you can consider if your price is too high or perhaps your order system unclear. Like other aspects of your business and marketing plan, the five Ps aren’t static. They change and evolve with market needs. For example, technological advancements may require you to change how you promote your business, which we have seen in the growth of social media as a promotion method. Because the five Ps are dynamic, you’ll want to conduct activities that help you find out what’s working and what’s not. Some resources that can help you include studying your website stats and analytics, surveying your customers for feedback, and testing the continued efficiency and effectiveness of your sales and delivery systems.
