Although the 7 Ps of marketing were originally just 4, the rise of the digital age means that understanding their impact has never been more important.
Once upon a time, marketing your business was as simple as doing a flyer drop, shelling out on a billboard or even advertising on television or the radio. Although the return on investment was rarely ever measurable, the aim of the game was to connect with as many people as possible and often hope that your attempts were going to generate some real results.
In today’s world, the internet has changed almost every aspect of our lives, including the way we advertise. In just ten short years, business owners are now bombarded with marketing methods linked to organic content, pay per click and even weaponising a humble email. Despite all that’s changed, there is one thing that has largely remained the same: the 7 Ps of marketing.
How The 7 Ps Of Marketing Still Apply Today
Anyone who has obtained a formal marketing qualification will have no doubt studied the original 4 Ps of marketing: product, price, promotion and place. Originally developed for product focused distribution, the 4 Ps eventually evolved into the 7 Ps of marketing as a means to accommodate the addition of people, process and physical evidence.
The 7 Ps marketing model was originally devised by E. Jerome McCarthy and published in 1960 in his book ‘Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach.’ Designed at a time when brands were far more likely to sell products as opposed to services, the early concepts arguably laid the framework of basic product marketing but didn’t factor in the importance of what customer service could do for brand development.
Over time, the ‘marketing mix’ fundamentals expanded to cover three additional components to reflect a changing economic landscape. Today, the 7 Ps of marketing lay the groundwork for just about any effective digital marketing strategy, so it’s important to understand how their value still rings true.
Product – If you have a lousy product or service, any attempts to push it will eventually fall flat. As such, the foundation for any marketing mix or strategy should highlight its core features, offerings, unique selling points and why a consumer would want to engage with it.
Promotion – Brands need to be present where your target audiences are active and engaged, and the promotion aspect is the activities that communicate the product’s features and benefits and persuade customers to purchase the product. Essentially, how do you plan to connect?
Price – While it sounds quite self explanatory, the pricing of a product has an enormous impact on its shot at success. Use this time to research what pricing tiers your competitors operate at, how and when to offer any discounts and what free ‘add ons’ or value adds you could use.
Place – Although this traditionally refers to the place where customers physically buy products and services, in the digital age, it’s where you’re going to engage with your customers both before and after a sale, such as Google, social media and even live chat.
People – As a newer addition to the 7 Ps of marketing, people actually refers to who is going to connect with audiences on behalf of your business, not the customers themselves. By recognising the importance of customer service, it also elevates the value of staff training.
Process – Your process is every step between your product and the consumer. As an example, this section should cover the process of an e-commerce website, which needs to address a web build, a digital marketing strategy, a logistics system, a refund and shipping policy, and more.
Physical Evidence – Online brand awareness across multiple channels is an excellent example of physical evidence in a digital setting. Although it would once include packaging and a physical storefront, it more closely relates to online reviews and testimonials these days.
Ultimately, the benefits of marketing decisions around product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical evidence are vast. Businesses that understand how to connect all the pieces can improve their competitiveness in the marketplace and give themselves an edge, but only if they have the time, energy, resources and experience to complete the process properly. If that doesn’t sound like you, then it might be time to enlist the help of the professionals.
The Key To Good Marketing Is Great Content
Here at Content Hive, producing top quality digital content is exactly what we do best. We have itemised a list of digital content services, and allocated credits next to each of these. This means that each month, you can use your credits with us to produce digital content such as blog articles, social media posts, videos and even animated Instagram stories. By using this model, we believe that it enables us to produce high quality content with faster delivery times.
If you aren’t quite sure where to start on your digital marketing journey and would like to speak to a professional, why not book in a free discovery call with us at Content Hive today to discuss how we can get your brand buzzing online.
