6 P’s of Marketing to Grow Your Business

Companies spent about 10% of revenue on their marketing budgets in 2019, according to Deloitte’s CMO survey. Considering that most of a company’s budget is wrapped up in operating expenses such as materials, manufacturing, salaries, and utilities for growing a business.

For any business, whether a global enterprise or small company, a comprehensive plan that outlines every way to attract customers’ attention is vital. The building blocks of an effective marketing strategy include the 6 P’s of marketing: product, price, place, promotion, people, and presentation.

Integration of the 6 Ps of marketing can serve as the foundation for an effective growth strategy. The 6 P’s enable businesses to achieve the following:

• Create a desirable product or service that offers value.
• Sell the product or service at a price that is attractive to customers.
• Determine the best place to sell the product or service.
• Optimize the success of attention-grabbing promotions.
• Identify the right people to improve marketing success.
• Attract customers by creating an appealing presentation.

What Are the 6 P’s of Marketing, and How Can They Benefit Sales?

The traditional 4 Ps of marketing — product, price, place, and promotion — have their origins as far back as the 1950s. The 4 P’s gained increasing popularity and adoption after Harvard University advertising professor Neil Borden wrote about the framework’s benefits for successful product marketing in his 1964 article “The Concept of the Marketing Mix.”

The 4 P’s of marketing have proven to be time-tested principles still relevant and used by leading global companies and small businesses alike. Today, they remain a critical component of a successful marketing strategy. However, digitization has transformed the traditional marketing mix to include 2 additional P’s: people and presentation.

What are the 6 P’s of marketing and how does each help sales?

1. Product Marketing

The product is what is being sold. Fulfilling a market opportunity with a timely product that meets customers’ needs will help boost sales.

Related: How PR fits into the marketing mix?

2. Price

The price is the cost the customer pays to acquire the An effective pricing strategy ensures that customers are willing to buy the product, generating sales for the company.

3. Place

The place is where customers can buy the product. Whether a brick-and-mortar store, website, or app, proper placement of products creates sales opportunities.

Related: 13 Best Digital Marketing Strategies for Resorts and Vacation Rentals That’ll Increase Bookings

4. Promotion

The promotion includes all the tactics used to communicate a product’s value. The goal of promotion is to attract a customer’s attention. Also to foster interest in learning more about — and eventually buying — the product.

5. People

The people are the individuals involved in the marketing process on both sides. Employees such as salespeople and customer service representatives influence how customers view a business or product. Customers provide feedback to improve the product. This interaction between internal and external people helps determine success.

Related: Influencer Marketing is the New Wave

6. Presentation

The presentation is how the product appears in the market. Customers’ opinions of how a product is presented (for example, through packaging and messaging) can impact their buying decisions.

[RESORT TRADES: While most readers are familiar with the four P’s of Product, Price, Place, and Promotion; strategies #5 and #6 may need additional explanation.]

People in Marketing

The fifth P in the marketing mix is people. Businesses regularly deal with people outside their organization such as customers and partners. Individuals working in marketing are focused on external audiences to generate revenues for their company.

A company’s internal people — production workers, managers, customer service representatives, salespeople, and support staff — are vital to the success of the marketing mix. These people set the tone for a company culture that either attracts or repels business. First impressions count, and everyone involved in a product or service, from customer-facing employees to those working in production, distribution, and delivery, has both a direct and indirect impact on sales and customer satisfaction.

People strategies involve recruiting and hiring individuals who can contribute to a business’s success. To find the right candidates, businesses use marketing strategies — selling the company itself — to attract top talent. Hiring effective staff can optimize the impact of marketing strategy and activities, and bolster a business’s reputation.

Marketing Presentation

Even when a product or service is superior to the competition, selling it depends on effective presentation. This sixth P of marketing focuses on the product’s appearance and accurately represents the business’s image. Designers, creatives, and other professionals involved in presenting products should identify the type of customers the business wants to attract, and tailor a presentation to appeal to that target audience.

Important elements of the presentation include:

• Packaging: The package determines the product’s impression at first glance. On retail store shelves, a product is competing with hundreds of others. Effective packaging can help your product stand out to consumers.
• Messaging: Messaging focuses on what a company wants to communicate to customers about the company, brand, and product or service. Messaging highlights a product’s primary selling points, but it can also express company values.
• Branding: What effect does your brand have on consumers? What thoughts and feelings are associated with your brand? A positive perception of a brand can drive business.
• Resources: Presenting Product in Marketing Strategy

Presentation of a product or service matters. The following resources offer perspective on the role of presenting products in relation to marketing strategy:

• Forbes, “The Importance of Branding in Business”: The key role presentation and branding play in how people perceive a business by building trust and creating loyal customers
• SAP Community, “The Importance of Presentation in Product Marketing”: The value of presentation in improving image and sales

Different versions of the marketing mix model may incorporate others P’s, such as process and positioning. Process describes the start-to-finish effort involved in building and marketing a product, from conception and production to sales and final delivery. Positioning describes how a customer understands the product, its brand, and its benefits.

Tailoring the 6 P’s in Marketing Strategy for Your Business

A lot has changed since the introduction of the original 4 Ps of marketing. Digital innovation keeps changing how products are developed, presented, sold, and delivered. No cookie-cutter marketing strategy fits the needs of every business. Each company has to assess its brand’s and product’s value and identify the best strategies, tactics, and vehicles to grab the customers’ attention. This requires understanding the needs of the market.

When creating a marketing strategy, businesses should first understand all elements of the 6 Ps of marketing. With this knowledge, they can develop effective strategies tailored to the unique needs of their business that highlight the benefits of their products or services to customers.

Reprint courtesy of Maryville University’s Online Bachelors in Marketing program: https://online.maryville.edu/online-bachelors-degrees/marketing/

Excerpts from Maryville University blog: https://online.maryville.edu/blog/6-ps-of-marketing