The 4 Ps of the digital world that will remodel your digital marketing strategy

Most of the industries experienced their methods and practices been turned upside-down by the internet.

One of them is marketing which has arguably experienced and enjoyed major changes.

Marketing has become so good with its newest tools like customer profiling, response analysis, transactional messaging, recommendation engines.

But have you ever imagined how much the new technology has altered the basics of marketing? The truth is basics always remain the same, though there are a few advancements.

Even when the fundamentals remain the same, it does not necessarily mean that we can still use and apply them in the same way as we use to do previously. Some of the old established truths are certainly broken down as e-commerce took over.

So, it is a good idea to pause and reflect on what we have learned about marketing through the technology lens.

However, with the availability of marketing technology platforms and new data sets that offer myriad possibilities for connecting with consumers, you must also concentrate on using technology to promote personalized practices.

A recent study stated that 81% of the shoppers have researched online before stepping inside a store and 74% of the customers are frustrated because of getting irrelevant messages and offers.

If you are looking to build meaningful connections with audiences across digital channels, customer relationship management (CRM) is an imperative part of a flourishing marketing strategy.

Each discussion in Marketing starts with the 4Ps of Marketing. CRM along with the new 4Ps followed at Thrillax – process, philosophy, positioning, and promotion offer distinct approaches to meet customer needs and customize messaging for audiences that expect personalization. We call our business model as the Comprehend and Conquer approach.

Before we enter into the details of 4Ps of marketing, let’s know a little about the good old 1950s.

The term “marketing mix” was created by Neil H. Borden who was an American Marketing Association president in 1953. And since then we have been using it in different forms.

In 1960 E. Jerome McCarthy formed the 4 Ps in Marketing and since then, they

have been connected to the Marketing Mix. The marketing mix or now the 4Ps explain the bunch of activities, or strategies applied by various organizations to promote their product or service. The 4Ps in the marketing mix are Product, price, promotion, and place.

Definition of 4P’s of Marketing:

The 4Ps of marketing represent the strategies which an organization uses to promote its brand or product in the market. In a layman’s language, the 4Ps of marketing means building the product as per the demand of the customer which fulfills customer’s request and is easily available to the customer at the right price.

Following the 4P strategy can help to increase organic search traffic on your website also.

Embellishing these 4Ps:

Product: Product determines the service or item which is up for selling for the buyers. A product can either be a physical item or a service.

Price: Price explains the value of the product. The buyer pays a price to the seller in exchange for the product or service used. Normally, the price or the value of the product depends on a variety of internal and external factors.

Place: Place indicates a distribution pipeline of sales for the product. Place implies – making the product available easily to potential buyers. The success of the product majorly depends on the right placement of the product.

Promotion: Usually, promotion involves any activity or action taken in order to sell or advertise the product. The activities like advertising, events, customer incentive schemes, marketing are all included in the promotion of the product.

The 4 Ps redefined

With the years of practice and experiences, the 4Ps of digital marketing were redefined to enhance the competency of their marketing strategy. The Comprehend and Conquer approach has reanalyzed the 4Ps as – Philosophy, Process, Positioning and Promotion.

Philosophy

The solution to communication in this world of digitalization is personalization. People need to feel special. The customers need assurance that they will get preference over 1000 others if they buy from you.

A study portrayed that the chances increase by 80% for a customer to make a purchase when a brand offers a personalized experience. As there is more demand for personalization, the people internally and externally who market your product becomes the bridge between the traditional Ps and the new Ps.

Process

In the past few years, the marketing leaders are under a lot of pressure to perform regarding organizational strategy and brand engagement. They are also accountable for the critical operational processes and marketing technology stack to sustain revenue purposes and various other business objectives.

The marketers juggle the strategies and internal processes while regulating technologies to profitably accomplish and prove ROI. However, the truth is that many marketers simply appear unprepared for these hurdles.

A survey by Deloitte (Click to view PDF) has lately found that 32.2% of CMOs feel they lack sufficient tools and processes to measure success.

Streamlining your process in order to improve consumer relations is an essential part of the second P of marketing.

There are a few questions that you need to ask yourself while planning a strategy:

• Is your brand equipped for today’s marketing situation?
• What tools would help you reach and market to the correct customers, stay related, personalize messaging at an elevated scale, and respond to interest quickly?
• How can you interpret your company’s requirements and aims into an operational marketing strategy?
• Can you justify the funds and estimate returns?

Expertly preparing your marketing strategy with the right CRM can go a long way in order to solve many modern-day marketing pains.

Positioning

In the context of 4Ps positioning means the placement in major search engines. Most of the online businesses invest in SEO, which becomes the most important deciding factor for planning your marketing strategy.

Broadcasting through advertising display, using media publicity and banners as promotional stuff can also be remarkably productive if they are correctly prepared and executed.

There are a lot of the old marketing theories which are useful even in the age of the internet. But at the same time, a number of innovations have changed the panorama for eMarketers.

In the last few years, companies like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have transformed the online advertising market. They are offering services for local advertising and communications even for small and medium business.

Profit on investment has grown immensely while costs became lower. This type of marketing has become the basis of modern economics. It allows anyone who has an idea of product or service to reach global customers, unmindful of how functional their market is.

Promotion

Promotion is where the Internet certainly comes into its own.

Search-engine optimization (SEO) is necessary to have for all online businesses. The pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is also a very pocket-friendly tool. The social media and emails cannot be denied to be called as a great way to make your product known.

Nonetheless, keep up-to-date on the newest social network trends. The social network is a rewarding resource but at the same time treading its path can be dangerous.

The trick is to let the network members promote your products for you. For that, you need to create profiles in all relevant social media resources and become involved in their activities. But in such cases, you are not in complete control regarding how your products are exhibited and addressed.

Last important P

Productivity and Quality: The P is to keep a tab of what you offer your customers is a good deal or not. This is much more about how your company provides services to your customers than it is about your business improving your own productivity.

Example: marketing-mix is doing wonders for IBM

IBM is a public company of American origins. It is associated with the IT industry since it was founded in 1911 by Charles Ranlett Flint. It is an international company headquartered in New York.

According to a report in Fortune, IBM was ranked the second-largest for employees, fourth-largest for market capitalization, nineteenth-largest for revenues and ninth-largest for most profitable in the year 2012.

Here is how the 4Ps work for IBM:

>> Product in the Marketing mix of IBM

IBM deals with consulting services and technology. It is also a manufacturer of computer middleware, hardware, and software. The company offers infrastructure hosting from nanotechnology to mainframe computers.

Following a continuous path of evolvement, it has kept its focus on higher-value products and effective markets. It also includes green solutions, virtualizations, cloud computing, security, business continuity, data analytics, and business intelligence.

>> Place in the Marketing mix of IBM

IBM believes in increased globalization and has utilized this concept to create different branches and offices in the international market.

>> Price in the Marketing mix of IBM

Customers are more intelligent, aware and demanding. They need the best product at the minimum possible cost and hence IBM has tried to select right actions that would offer maximized value to customers and would also help in generating good revenues.

>> Promotion in the Marketing mix of IBM

IBM has a powerful brand name and even an influential global presence. The company has been going for full-scale marketing activities in order to maintain its huge client base. IBM uses various tools at its disposition for meeting customer demands triumphantly.

The promotional team has put their heads together to bring innovative ideas. The ads are engaging and informative at the same time to deliver a clear concept of the products to the customers. These ads are displayed all over television networks and social networking sites to create positive brand awareness.

Well, the Ps are not just working in the IT industry. They are paving way for various other industries like the hotel industry, the real estate, B2C, B2B, manufacturing and a lot more.

The technology has evolved since the original 4Ps were introduced. But the customers’ needs are the same even today. They want to feel valued and buy products that add value. So, accepting the new 4Ps of digital are bridging the gap between the original 4Ps and modern marketing.

We would love to hear your thoughts on 4Ps of digital marketing in the below comment section.