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What Are the 4 Ps of Marketing?

• Understanding the 4 Ps

4. Promotion

How to use the 4 ps of marketing in your marketing strategy, the bottom line.

• Business Essentials

4 Ps of Marketing: What They Are & How to Use Them Successfully

Product, price, place, and promotion are the four Ps in a winning "marketing mix"

The four Ps of marketing are:

These are the key factors that are involved in introducing a product or service to the public. Often referred to as a marketing mix , they provide a framework that companies can use to successfully market a product or service to consumers. Since the four Ps were introduced in the 1950s, more Ps have been added to the mix, including people, process, and physical evidence.

Key Takeaways

• The four Ps are the four essential factors involved in marketing a product or service to the public.
• The four Ps are product, price, place, and promotion.
• The concept of the four Ps has been around since the 1950s. As the marketing industry has evolved, other Ps have been identified: people, process, and physical evidence.

Investopedia / Julie Bang

Understanding the 4 Ps of Marketing

Neil Borden, an advertising professor at Harvard, popularized the idea of the marketing mix—and the concepts that would later be known primarily as the four Ps—in the 1950s. His 1964 article "The Concept of the Marketing Mix" demonstrated the ways that companies could use advertising tactics to engage their consumers.

Decades later, the concepts that Borden popularized are still being used by companies to advertise their goods and services.

Borden's ideas were developed and refined over a number of years by other key players in the industry. E. Jerome McCarthy, a marketing professor at Michigan State University, refined the concepts in Borden's article and named them the "four Ps" of marketing. McCarthy co-wrote the book Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach , further popularizing the idea.

At the time the concept was introduced, it helped companies breach the physical barriers that could hamper widespread product adoption. Today, the Internet has helped businesses to overcome some of these barriers.

People, process, and physical evidence are extensions of the original Four Ps and are relevant to current trends in marketing.

Any successful marketing strategy should be revisited from time to time. The marketing mix you create is not intended to be static. It needs to be adjusted and refined as your product grows and your customer base changes .

Creating a marketing campaign starts with an understanding of the product itself. Who needs it, and why? What does it do that no competitor's product can do? Perhaps it's a new thing altogether and is so compelling in its design or function that consumers will have to have it when they see it.

The job of the marketer is to define the product and its qualities and introduce it to the consumer.

Defining the product also is key to its distribution. Marketers need to understand the life cycle of a product , and business executives need to have a plan for dealing with products at every stage of the life cycle.

The type of product also dictates in part how much it will cost, where it should be placed, and how it should be promoted.

Many of the most successful products have been the first in their category. For example, Apple was the first to create a touchscreen smartphone that could play music, browse the internet, and make phone calls. Apple reported total sales of the iPhone for FY 2022 at $205.4 billion. In 2021, it hit the milestone of 2 billion iPhones sold.

Price is the amount that consumers will be willing to pay for a product. Marketers must link the price to the product's real and perceived value, while also considering supply costs, seasonal discounts, competitors' prices, and retail markup.

In some cases, business decision-makers may raise the price of a product to give it the appearance of luxury or exclusivity. Or, they may lower the price so more consumers will try it.

Marketers also need to determine when and if discounting is appropriate. A discount can draw in more customers, but it can also give the impression that the product is less desirable than it was.

UNIQLO, headquartered in Japan, is a global manufacturer of casual wear. Like its competitors Gap and Zara, UNIQLO creates low-priced, fashion-forward garments for younger buyers.

What makes UNIQLO unique is that its products are innovative and high-quality. It accomplishes this by purchasing fabric in large volumes, continually seeking the highest-quality and lowest-cost materials in the world. The company also directly negotiates with its manufacturers and has built strategic partnerships with innovative Japanese manufacturers.

UNIQLO also outsources its production to partner factories. That gives it the flexibility to change production partners as its needs change.

Finally, the company employs a team of skilled textile artisans that it sends to its partner factories all over the world for quality control. Production managers visit factories once a week to resolve quality problems.

Place is the consideration of where the product should be available—in brick-and-mortar stores and online—and how it will be displayed.

The decision is key: The makers of a luxury cosmetic product would want to be displayed in Sephora and Neiman Marcus, not in Walmart or Family Dollar. The goal of business executives is always to get their products in front of the consumers who are the most likely to buy them.

That means placing a product only in certain stores and getting it displayed to the best advantage.

The term placement also refers to advertising the product in the right media to get the attention of target consumers.

For example, the 1995 movie GoldenEye was the 17th installment in the James Bond movie franchise and the first that did not feature an Aston Martin car. Instead, Bond actor Pierce Brosnan got into a BMW Z3. Although the Z3 was not released until months after the film had left theaters, BMW received 9,000 orders for the car the month after the movie opened.

The goal of promotion is to communicate to consumers that they need this product and that it is priced appropriately. Promotion encompasses advertising, public relations, and the overall media strategy for introducing a product.

Marketers tend to tie together promotion and placement elements to reach their core audiences. For example, In the digital age, the "place" and "promotion" factors are as much online as offline. Specifically, where a product appears on a company's web page or social media, as well as which types of search functions will trigger targeted ads for the product.

The Swedish vodka brand Absolut sold only 10,000 cases of its vodka in 1980. By 2000, the company had sold 4.5 million cases, thanks in part to its iconic advertising campaign. The images in the campaign featured the brand's signature bottle styled as a range of surreal images: a bottle with a halo, a bottle made of stone, or a bottle in the shape of the trees standing on a ski slope. To date, the Absolut campaign is one of the longest-running continuous campaigns of all time, from 1981 to 2005.

The four Ps provide a framework on which to build your marketing strategy. Think through each factor. And don't worry when the factors overlap. That's inevitable.

First, analyze the product you will be marketing. What are the characteristics that make it appealing? Consider similar products that are already on the market. Your product may be tougher, easier to use, more attractive, or longer-lasting. Its ingredients might be environmentally friendly or naturally sourced. Identify the qualities that will make it appealing to your target consumers.

Think through the appropriate price for the product. It's not simply the cost of production plus a profit margin. You may be positioning it as a premium or luxury product or as a bare-bones, lower-priced alternative.

Placement involves identifying the type of store, online and off, that stocks products like yours for consumers like yours.

Promotion can only be considered in the context of your target consumer. The product might be appealing to a hip younger crowd or to upscale professionals or to bargain hunters. Your media strategy needs to reach the right audience with the right message.

When Did the 4 Ps Become the 7 Ps?

The focus on the four Ps—product, price, place, and promotion—has been a core tenet of marketing since the 1950s. Three newer Ps expand the marketing mix for the 21st century.

• People places the focus on the personalities who represent the product. In the current era, that means not only sales and customer service employees but social media influencers and viral media campaigns.
• Process is logistics. Consumers increasingly demand fast and efficient delivery of the things they want, when they want them.
• Physical evidence is perhaps the most thoroughly modern of the seven Ps. If you're selling diamond jewelry on a website, it must be immediately clear to the consumer that you are a legitimate established business that will deliver as promised. A professionally designed website with excellent functionality, an "About" section that lists the principals of the company and its physical address, professional packaging, and efficient delivery service are all critical to convincing the consumer that your product is not only good, it's real.

What Are Some Examples of the 4 Ps of Marketing?

• Place refers to where consumers buy your product, or where they discover it. Today's consumers may learn about products and buy them online, through a smartphone app, at retail locations, or through a sales professional.
• Price refers to the cost of the product or service. Properly determining product price includes an analysis of the competition, the demand, production costs, and what consumers are willing to spend. Various pricing models may be considering, such as choosing between one-time purchase and subscription models.
• The product a company provides depends on the type of company and what they do best. For example, McDonald's provides consistent fast food in a casual setting. They may expand their offerings, but they wouldn't stray far from their core identity.
• Promotion refers to specific and thoughtful advertising that reaches the target market for the product. A company might use an Instagram campaign, a public relations campaign, advertising placement, an email campaign , or some combination of all of these to reach the right audience in the right place.

How Do You Use the 4 Ps of Marketing?

The model of the 4Ps can be used when you are planning a new product launch, evaluating an existing product, or trying to optimize the sales of an existing product.

A careful analysis of these four factors—product, price, place, and promotion—helps a marketing professional devise a strategy that successfully introduces or reintroduces a product to the public.

The four Ps of marketing—product, price, place, promotion—are often referred to as the marketing mix. These are the key elements involved in planning and marketing a product or service, and they interact significantly with each other. Considering all of these elements is one way to approach a holistic marketing strategy .

Neil Borden. " The Concept of the Marketing Mix ."

E. Jerome McCarthy. "Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach." Richard D. Irwin, Inc., 1960.

Apple. " Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) Q4 2022 ," Page 1.

Apple Insider. " At 2 Billion iPhones Sold, Apple Continues to Redefine What Customers Want ."

Harvard Business School: Technology and Operations Management. " UNIQLO: What’s Behind the Low-Cost High-Quality Casual Wear? "

Smart Insights. " Campaign of the Week: The Longest Running Print Ad Marketing Campaign in History ."

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What Are the 4 Ps of Marketing? The Marketing Mix Explained [Example]

Published: October 03, 2023

If you've been a marketing professional for years now, learning about the four Ps of marketing might seem like a throwback to you.

However, for those of us who work in the industry but didn't study marketing in college, it's entirely possible you haven't heard of the marketing mix.

Below, let's learn about the four Ps of marketing and how they're still relevant in today's marketing landscape.

What are the 4 Ps of marketing?

The four Ps of marketing are product, price, place, and promotion. These are the key factors that are involved in marketing a product or service. You take the four Ps into account when creating strategies for marketing, promoting, advertising, and positioning your product or brand.

The four Ps are meant to help marketers consider everything about a product or service when they're deciding how to market it for their business. Framing your marketing around the four Ps will help you learn what the competition is doing and what customers want from you.

How to Use the 4 Ps of Marketing

You can use the four Ps to answer questions about the product, price, place, and promotion of your product or service.

For example, you can ask yourself:

• Product : How does your product meet your customer's needs? What problem(s) does it solve? What unique value or features does it offer?
• Price : What is the value of your product? What are my competitors charging?
• Place : Where are customers looking for your product?
• Promotion : How can you differentiate your product from competitors? Where can you reach your audience?

Always consider the needs and preferences of your target audience. Ultimately, your product, its price, its place of distribution, and its promotional strategies should appeal to your customers the most.

Thinking about your marketing in terms of the four Ps will help you strategize how to reach your customers. The 4 Ps of Marketing are also known as your marketing mix — more on that below.

What is the marketing mix?

The marketing mix is also known as the four Ps of marketing. It refers to the four key elements of a marketing strategy: product, price, place, and promotion. These elements guide the marketing initiatives, wording, and positioning for a product or brand.

Free Marketing Mix Templates

Map out your marketing mix with these free templates

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

To develop a marketing mix, you'll need to think about how you can uniquely position your brand amongst the competition. The most important part of thinking about the marketing mix — or the four Ps of marketing — is to understand the customer, the competition, and your company. You'll evaluate your product and how to promote it.

But getting started isn’t easy. That’s why we’ve created the ultimate collection of marketing mix templates you can use to visualize your marketing mix and share it with your employees or investors. Use the templates to organize your initiatives and activities by the right section.

Featured Resource: Marketing Mix Templates

Click here to download the templates for free .

Use the template to follow along with the 4 Ps of marketing below.

The 4 Ps of Marketing (Example)

1. the first p of marketing: product.

When you think about your product, consider exactly what you're selling. Is it a specific product? Or is it a service? Your product can be a physical product, an online app, or a service such as house cleaning. Really, anything that you're selling is the product.

Then, think of your brand messaging, the services you offer, and even packaging. When you define your product, think about what problem your product solves for your customers. Consider how your product is different from competing products. What features are unique to your product?

It's important to know your product intimately so you can market it.

Product Example

We’ll use Marketing Hub as an example.

What is it? “Marketing automation software to help you attract the right audience, convert more visitors into customers, and run complete inbound marketing campaigns at scale — all on one powerful, easy-to-use platform.”

Who is it for? Modern marketers who juggle too much data and who are stuck with impossible-to-use software solutions that make their job harder, not easier.

Which features does it have? Marketing Hub offers blogging, SEO, social media management, email marketing, and ad tracking tools in a single, intuitive platform.

What problem does it solve? Marketing Hub simplifies the marketing automation process for busy marketers by bringing all data and tools under one roof.

2. The Second P of Marketing: Price

When it comes to price, you have to consider how much you're going to charge customers for your products or services. Of course, you need to make a profit.

When coming up with your pricing strategy , you also need to think about what competitors are charging for the same product or service and how much customers are willing to pay. You can also think about what discounts or offers you can use in your marketing.

When you decide on a price, you want to think about perception. Do you want to be known as a cost-effective option in your industry? Or perhaps you're a luxury brand and the price is slightly higher than competition on the market. Keep in mind that pricing SaaS products is a little different than pricing physical products.

Either way, the language you use to market your product will be greatly impacted by the price of your product.

Download a sales pricing calculator for free .

Price Example

Marketing Hub is priced to grow with you as you grow.

We offer the following subscription tiers:

• $0/month (Free)
• $45/month (Starter)
• $800/month (Professional)
• $3,200/month (Enterprise)

3. The Third P of Marketing: Place

When it comes to place, this might mean the physical location of your company, but it could also be defined as anywhere you sell your product, which might be online.

The place is where you market and distribute your product.

Remember that not every place makes sense for every product. For example, if your target market is seniors, then it won't make sense to market on TikTok. It's important to choose the right places to market your product and meet your customers where they're at.

Think about possible distribution channels and outlets you could use to sell your product. Be sure to take into account whether your business is B2B or B2C .

At this point, you'll need to think about how to market your product on all the various channels that make sense for your company.

Place Example

As a provider of a SaaS product, we offer Marketing Hub directly on our website.

Marketers can sign up for Marketing Hub by creating an account directly on our platform. We’ve created a convenient sign-up page for free subscriptions — or they can request a demo from our friendly sales team.

4. The Fourth P of Marketing: Promotion

Promotion is the bread and butter of marketing. This is when you'll think about how to publicize and advertise your product.

Additionally, you'll discuss brand messaging, brand awareness, and lead generation strategies .

When it comes to promotion, keeping communication in mind is of the utmost importance. What messages will resonate with your target market? How can you best promote your product to them?

Think about where, when, and how you'll promote your brand.

Promotion Example

We want to be where marketers are. Most importantly, we want to help them grow in their careers — as well as grow their businesses.

Our inbound marketing strategy will focus primarily on organic acquisition. We’ll promote Marketing Hub over the following channels:

• The HubSpot Marketing Blog
• HubSpot Academy

The 4 Ps of Marketing Examples: Apple and e.l.f. Cosmetics

Let's break down the 4 Ps of marketing for Apple and e.l.f. Cosmetics.

( Image Source )

• Product: iPhones, Macs, iPads, Apple Watch, AirPods, Software, and Services (i.e., Apple Music, Apple TV, iTunes, etc.).
• Price: Apple products are often priced at the higher end of the market. The brand commands premium pricing due to its reputation for innovation, quality, and design.
• Place: Consumers can purchase products online and in retail stores. Apple products are sold worldwide and have a significant global market presence.
• Promotion: Apple places a strong emphasis on cultivating a dedicated and loyal consumer base. Their marketing campaigns reinforce the idea of being part of an "Apple ecosystem." Once users buy one product — like an iPhone – they're more likely to choose other Apple products like MacBooks, iPads, Apple Watches, and more. This ecosystem fosters a deep brand loyalty. This sense of loyalty is evident in their product launches, which are a must-see event in the tech industry.

e.l.f. Cosmetics

• Product: e.l.f. offers a comprehensive range of makeup and skincare products, brushes, and beauty tools.
• Price: One of e.l.f.'s main value propositions is its affordability. Many of their products have a low price point, making the brand accessible to a wide range of consumers. Its lower price point sets it apart from other brands in the beauty space.
• Place: e.l.f. products are widely available in drugstores and big-box retailers like Target and Walmart. It also has a a strong online presence, selling products directly through their website and other online retailers.
• Promotion: As a challenger brand in the beauty space, e.l.f. seeks to establish itself as a recognizable and reliable option at the drugstore and beyond. The brand is proactive across social media, including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, to engage with younger demographics. In addition, their campaigns often involve user-generated content to foster a sense of community with their audience. 

Back to You

Even though marketing has changed since the four Ps were developed, the foundational elements of the industry haven't. You can apply the concepts of the marketing mix to create winning marketing strategies that help you profitably launch and promote your company’s products.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Organize your product, price, place, and promotion initiatives in a simple, single template.

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Master the 4 Ps of Marketing: Strategy Simplified

The 4 Ps of Marketing—Product, Price, Place, and Promotion—are the pillars of successful marketing. They form a strategic blend driving effective campaigns, shaping modern strategies, and fueling business success.

What's Inside?

Learning the fundamentals of marketing is vital in the dynamic world of business, where customer preferences are ever-changing and competition is intense. The well recognized notion of the 4 Ps Product, Price, Place, and Promotion forms the foundation of strategic marketing.

These four components are the cornerstones of any successful marketing campaign because they combine to create a complex web of strategies that may elevate a company to new heights. Come along as we explain the 4 Ps and reveal the complex interplay between them that creates successful marketing efforts.

This exploration offers unique insights into the fundamental concepts that drive successful marketing, suitable for both experienced marketers looking to hone their craft and novices hoping to learn the ropes.

What is 4Ps of Marketing?

The Marketing Mix, sometimes referred to as the 4Ps of Marketing, is a fundamental framework that summarizes the crucial components required for every marketing strategy to be successful. These four Ps Product, Price, Place, and Promotion were first used by E. Jerome McCarthy in the 1960s.

They stand for the essential elements that companies must carefully balance in order to satisfy customers and accomplish marketing goals. Every "P" has a specific function in forming the whole marketing plan, helping companies develop a strong product offer, determine the right price, choose the best distribution channels, and carry out efficient promotional campaigns.

Gaining a competitive edge in the market and navigating its intricacies requires marketers to have a solid understanding of and proficiency with the 4Ps.

Let's examine the four Ps of marketing and provide examples for each:

Definition: This is a representation of the real products or services a business provides to satisfy the demands and preferences of its target market.

• For instance, Apple's iPhone is more than simply a smartphone; it's a svelte, high performing gadget with innovative features, design, and technology. Apple concentrates on developing goods that provide users with a distinctive and upscale experience.
• Tesla's electric vehicles are more than just automobiles; they signify a change in the way the automotive industry operates. Tesla presents its vehicles as high-end, environmentally responsible substitutes for conventional automobiles, thanks to its svelte designs, cutting-edge technologies, and dedication to sustainability.

Price is defined as the maximum amount of money a consumer is willing to pay for a good or service. It should take into account the competitive price, market conditions, and the cost structure of the business in addition to reflecting the product's value.

• Walmart, for instance, is well known for its low cost approach. Walmart attracts budget-conscious customers with a large selection of goods at affordable costs. Value for money is prioritized, and Walmart's pricing approach helps it dominate the market.
• By offering high quality razors at reasonable prices through a subscription based business model, Dollar Shave Club upended the razor market. They challenged the established razor makers' conventional price tactics by drawing in a sizable consumer base with their simple and affordable answer.

Place, by definition, refers to the venues and routes via which consumers can obtain and pay for the good or service. Retail locations, internet platforms, supply chain management, and logistics are some of the factors it takes into account.

• For instance, Coca Cola's extensive worldwide distribution network guarantees that its drinks are accessible in a range of locations, such as vending machines and convenience stores. Coca Cola products' availability in a variety of settings adds to the brand's broad appeal and consumer convenience.
• Starbucks is a master at placing things strategically. Starbucks outlets are positioned in high traffic places, such as shopping malls, airports, and even grocery stores, in addition to traditional cafés. Customers may effortlessly enjoy their favorite Starbucks beverages because to this wide distribution.

Promotion, by definition, refers to the marketing and communication tactics used to increase consumer awareness of the product and encourage purchases. This covers sales promotions, public relations, personal selling, and advertising.

• For instance, Nike's advertising campaigns are well-known for their motivational themes and prominent athletes' sponsorships. For example, the "Just Do It" ad links the Nike brand to a feeling of empowerment and success by encouraging people to follow their dreams.
• An iconic Old Spice commercial campaign with the figure "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" gained widespread attention. In addition to promoting Old Spice as a brand, the entertaining and captivating ads changed the company's perception and made it more appealing to a younger audience.

In conclusion, the 4Ps combine to form a thorough marketing plan. Businesses can create efficient plans to launch, market, and sell their goods and services by carefully evaluating and optimizing each component.

How can you benefit from 4Ps of Marketing?

When used properly, the 4Ps of marketing offer a strategic framework that can aid organizations looking to prosper in the competitive market in a number of ways. Here's how to make the most of each "P" in your marketing strategy:

Benefit: Developing an appealing product line that stands out from the competition and satisfies consumer needs.

How to Benefit: Make research and development investments to improve the features, caliber, and distinctiveness of your products. To remain competitive in the market, evaluate and update your product offerings on a regular basis.

Innovation and Market Research: To fully grasp the demands and preferences of your customers, conduct in-depth market research. Create unique items that meet unmet needs and make a statement in the market.

Quality and Features: To get a competitive advantage, highlight the product's quality and features. Share differentiators that will appeal to the intended audience.

Benefit: Gaining a competitive edge by determining the best pricing that gives customers what they want to pay.

How to Benefit: Examine the market in-depth in order to identify pricing patterns and customer preferences. To draw in and keep customers, try to strike the ideal balance between perceived value and pricing.

Benefit: Reaching a wider audience by placing goods where prospective buyers are most likely to buy them.

How to Benefit: Choose and make use of distribution channels that correspond with your intended audience. Supply chain management and logistics should be optimized to guarantee that goods are available when and where customers need them.

Benefit: Using successful marketing techniques to raise brand awareness and increase consumer engagement.

How to Benefit : Create marketing efforts that are both imaginative and well-targeted to your target demographic. To increase brand recognition and loyalty, use a variety of promotional channels such as social media, public relations, advertising, and others.

Your marketing plan can be made more coherent and comprehensive by adopting the 4Ps' principles, which include important facets of distribution, price, promotion, and product creation.

This increases your marketing campaigns' overall efficacy and gives you the flexibility to adjust to shifting market conditions, maintain your competitive edge, and promote long term success in your sector.

Types of Marketing Strategy Templates from Decktopus

Success in the ever-changing field of marketing depends on developing methods that are compelling. The procedure becomes fluidly creative as well as efficient when Decktopus and other similar technologies are used. In this process, Decktopus is a priceless AI that enables customers to easily convert their marketing plans into captivating presentations.

The ability to transform pre-existing PDF strategy documents into dynamic decks with an engaging and interactive twist is made possible by the game-changing PDF Import feature.

For those who are just getting started, Decktopus provides an easy-to-use interface for entering instructions and quickly creating a finished deck that matches their vision.

Furthermore, Decktopus functions as a presentation helper in addition to a presentation tool. Users can make on-the-spot components like Q&A sections and presentation suggestions by utilizing Decktopus AI during the live presentation.

This dynamic element makes the presentation experience smooth and interactive by improving the presenter's capacity to engage the audience and successfully address questions.

Essentially, Decktopus goes above conventional presenting tools by providing a complete solution for both planned tactics and spontaneous interactive aspects.

Decktopus gives marketers the ability to effortlessly enhance their storytelling and attract their audience, whether they are transforming PDFs into colorful decks or starting from scratch to create presentations.

Social Media Marketing Template

The Social Media Marketing Template is a thorough manual that describes how your company will use social media platforms for marketing. Typically, it contains information about the intended audience, the content strategy, the posting schedule, engagement techniques, and success measures.

This template serves as a guide to assist companies in creating a dependable and successful online presence across many networks, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others. It is essential for creating a community, increasing interaction with your target audience, and promoting brand awareness.

Social Media Marketing Strategy Template

Going one step further, the Social Media Marketing Strategy Template offers an organized framework for creating a comprehensive social media strategy. It usually consists of sections that outline the general content and posting plan, define target demographics, conduct a competitive analysis, set explicit objectives, and determine key performance indicators (KPIs).

This template acts as a strategic roadmap, guaranteeing a consistent and powerful online presence while coordinating your social media endeavors with your company's overarching objectives.

Cheat Sheet Template

The Cheat Sheet Template is a concise, easy to refer to document that lists the key components of your marketing plan. It is made to be easily accessible and functions as a helpful reference manual for team members or other stakeholders that are involved in carrying out marketing initiatives.

A Cheat Sheet Template for social media marketing might contain important posting windows, hashtag tactics, content ideas, and interaction pointers.

This brief guide facilitates prompt decision-making and execution, which makes it a priceless instrument for preserving efficiency and consistency in your social media endeavors.

The 4Ps are similar to the building blocks that assist companies in developing winning strategies in the wide realm of marketing. Together, these four components Product, Price, Place, and Promotion form the Marketing Mix, a strategy that astute companies employ to handle market difficulties.

"Product" is all about creating things that consumers truly want, whereas "Price" is about determining the item's value. "Place" refers to picking the ideal locations for sales, and "Promotion" is the means of announcing your offerings to the public.

We're dissecting each of these Ps in this blog, examining their functions and synergies.

This exploration will help you gain a better understanding of the 4Ps and how they impact the marketing industry, regardless of your level of experience.

Frequenly Asked Questions (FAQ)

1) What are the 4 Ps of marketing?

The 4 Ps of marketing, also known as the marketing mix, are a foundational framework in marketing strategy. They are:

• Product: This refers to the actual goods or services offered by a company to meet the needs or wants of customers. It involves decisions regarding product features, design, branding, packaging, and quality.
• Price: This refers to the amount of money customers are willing to pay for a product or service. Pricing decisions involve setting an appropriate price that reflects the value of the product or service, considering factors such as costs, competition, and perceived value.
• Place: This refers to the distribution channels through which products or services are made available to customers. It involves decisions about where and how to make products or services accessible to target customers, including decisions about retail locations, online channels, and logistics.
• Promotion: This refers to the activities and communication strategies used to inform, persuade, and influence customers to purchase a product or service. It includes advertising, sales promotions, public relations, personal selling, and other promotional tactics aimed at building brand awareness and driving sales.

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The 4 Ps of marketing: The essentials of successful marketing strategies

A lot can slip through the cracks when overseeing multiple marketing strategies, but the 4 Ps of marketing, AKA the marketing mix, act as a useful safety net—never mind that they sound like the start of a kindergarten lesson.

So consider this guide somewhere between a refresher course and an advanced technique seminar. We'll cover each of the Ps thoroughly, including an overview and best practices—plus plenty of 4 Ps of marketing examples. 

What are the 4 Ps of marketing?

Early 1900s economist Neil H. Borden first came up with the "marketing mix," what we know today as the 4 Ps of marketing. During a kind of marketing revolution in the 1940s, coinciding with the emergence of marketing theory, Borden proposed a somewhat complicated list of essentials for successful marketing. 

Over the next decades, his ideas proved true, and in the 1960s, his list was simplified as the "4 Ps of marketing" for the sake of accessibility. Although Borden couldn't predict the technological advances of the half-century or so, the core of his message still helps marketers in all industries today. 

The 4 Ps of marketing are: 

Product : how well your goods or services satisfy a demand

Price : how your pricing suits consumer needs, perceived value, and production costs 

Place : where your products are sold (and advertised) in relation to your target customers

Promotion : how you raise awareness of your product, including advertising and PR outreach

While the methods may have changed since the days of Neil Borden, his ideas remain at the heart of good marketing. Below, we'll look at the four Ps of marketing individually, and I'll share some modernized best practices and examples to help you understand the big picture . 

Your product—which for all intents and purposes includes services —is the nucleus of your marketing. That's not to say your product defines your marketing strategy, but it's certainly where you start. (After all, just look at what past marketing geniuses did with pet rocks .)

The bare minimum for a product is that it satisfies some consumer need, even if that need is only imagined. Although many products aim at practical needs (i.e., food or toilet paper), it's equally viable to offer products that satisfy emotional needs like status or identity. Think about customers who buy six-figure watches when they can just tell time on their phones. 

Ideally, your products or service will fit into a market opening , fulfilling a need that current products do not. In the digital age, new products often stem from technological advances where solutions simply didn't exist before. 

But it's just as typical to improve upon an existing product or target an underserved niche. For example, rubber duckies have existed for ages, but what about rubber duckies with pop culture references? Fans of lesser-known pop culture don't have much merchandise available, so companies like CelebriDucks are able to capitalize on those ignored niches. 

If you're looking to improve your existing product or launch a new product line , consider your target customers' pain points , or things that cause them discomfort. A good product rectifies the consumer's pain points, whether a minor inconvenience (an alarm app to help you wake up on time) or something more life-threatening (a smoke detector to safeguard against fires). 

Finally, you need your product to stand out from the competition . Even if you create an original and successful product, it won't be long before a rival comes in with a copycat product—or worse, an even better version. 

In a crowded market, you need to add something extra to incentivize people to choose you over your competition. These special features should serve some other pain point, even something superficial (e.g., your competitors don't offer their products in the color blue, so you make yours in blue).

Pricing affects a lot more than profits: strategic pricing can help you break into a new market, garner customer loyalty, or establish your brand as either high-end or cost-effective. 

First and foremost, your pricing should cover all the costs of maintaining your business. There are exceptions to this rule:

You have multiple products that cover costs, leaving you more wiggle room to experiment with the prices of individual product lines.

You temporarily sell at a loss in order to break into a new market or segment, or to undercut competitors short-term.

Your prices also directly feed into your branding. If you want to come across as an exclusive "premium" brand, you'll want to raise prices as high as people are willing to pay. Alternatively, you could position yourself as the cheaper option in an expensive market, fulfilling the needs of consumers who can't afford your competitor's products. 

There are dozens of different pricing strategies , and only a few of them focus on maximizing profits. Most are designed to fit specific situations or goals, such as setting a higher price but moving fewer units to recover investment costs ("price skimming"), or raising the price of one item to encourage sales on another lower-cost item ("premium decoy pricing"). 

It's worth taking the time to review the list to see if any of the common pricing strategies can help your particular needs. 

Don't worry so much about selling where everyone shops; search for where your specific customer types shop. Amazon, Etsy, and brick-and-mortar Walmarts all have very different shoppers. The more you narrow down your target group, the easier it is to find them—not to mention you don't waste resources marketing to dead-end segments. 

Start by identifying both the demographics (age, gender, income, location, etc.) and psychographics (lifestyle, personality traits, ideologies, values, etc.) of your target customers. This also adds insight into how they shop, which can help you choose the right sales channels and types of promotions to offer. 

Specifically, pay attention to whether your target customers prefer to shop through eCommerce or at brick-and-mortar stores. Depending on the industry and that customer segment's tastes, you may need to switch between online and offline. 

Equally important, you should find the best places to advertise and promote your products, again going to where your target customers are. Advertising channels come in all shapes and sizes, with something for every customer segment and every budget. 

Consider which social media platforms your shoppers prefer , which public venues they frequent, which blogs and news sites they go to, and even which search engines they use. Finding your audience is the first step before actually reaching out to them, which brings us to our last P…

4. Promotion

Last in the 4 Ps of marketing is promotion, which encompasses all publicity, outreach, and advertising, plus literal promotions like special offers and contests. 

Advertising is the most common form of promotion, and for most companies a flat-out necessity. Ads are a direct approach to raising brand awareness and attracting new customers by broadcasting the benefits of your products. Ideally, your ads draw attention to the pain points that your product solves, possibly even adding urgency or raising the stakes. 

The content of your ads can also further your branding; using the right visuals , colors, wording , and typography can influence how shoppers perceive your brand. The image of your brand impacts purchasing decisions, especially if you're promoting a certain identity or using exclusivity pricing. And when designing your ad, don't forget a strong call to action . 

Different types of deals and special promotions also appeal to different types of customer groups—an ongoing theme in all aspects of marketing. While seemingly everyone likes a good sale, more specific promotions can assist in other goals. For example, coupon codes through newsletters can increase email subscriptions, and two-for-one deals can help you unload less desirable inventory. However, the first step is seeing what kinds of deals your target shoppers prefer. 

Promotion isn't just about advertising and deals, though; it's also about outreach and engagement in general.

Review websites offer social proof, so focus on getting those five-star reviews.

On social media , you can interact with shoppers directly. 

If you can impress someone with your customer service, there's a high chance they'll mention the experience with their friends (but beware of bad customer service for the same reason).

Refer-a-friend promotions and affiliate partnerships can effectively spread the word about you and your products. 

Influencer marketing provides not only a wide new audience of like-minded shoppers, but also a vote of confidence from a trusted authority in whatever industry the influencer represents. 

The list goes on.

Bringing it all together

While each P works great as an individual metric, they work even better when used together. For example, the cost of manufacturing your product should directly factor into its price; where you choose to sell your products should influence how you promote and advertise them; and so on. 

The 4 Ps of marketing are split up just to make them easier to understand, but in practice, they're inseparable. When planning your overall marketing strategy, don't neglect any single area. Instead, consider how the choices you make for one will impact the others, and aim for marketing strategies that complement all four areas at once. 

Read more: Free marketing calendar templates to boost your strategy

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Matt Ellis is a freelance content writer, specializing in design, eCommerce, and digital marketing. For over a decade, he's been sharing his industry knowledge through eBooks, website copy, and blog articles just like this one.

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MARKETING INSIGHTS

The 4 Ps of marketing: everything you need to know

• Jenna Romano
• Apr 8, 2023

What do pancakes and marketing have in common? With a few simple ingredients, they come together perfectly. In marketing, the four special ingredients collectively known as the “marketing mix" can't be bought off the shelves, but anyone looking to promote their business, or promote their website , can learn the recipe from scratch. All you need to do is remember the four Ps: product, price, place and promotion.

Whether you’re working on a social media campaign or using a website maker to create your website, the 4Ps are there to help you with every aspect of your promotional efforts. These ingredients represent the very pillars of the art of marketing, helping you consider the ins and outs of your goods and services in order to market them effectively.

In this article, we’ll discuss what goes into each ingredient and how to use this marketing management mix to create a winning marketing strategy for your business.

Build your online presence with Wix .

The four Ps of the marketing mix

The idea of the marketing mix was first popularized by Neil Borden, a professor of advertising at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. In 1964, Borden published an article titled “ The Concept of the Marketing Mix ,” which discussed different advertising tactics that companies could use to target consumers. It was here that he highlighted the marketer as an artist—a mixer of all the ingredients needed to achieve the firm’s marketing objectives.

Still, there was no real consensus about what should be included in the mix until 1960, when E. Jerome McCarthy, a marketing professor at Michigan State University, identified four basic ingredients known as the four Ps of marketing. Since then, the four Ps have been widely adopted by marketing professionals as the core pillars of an effective marketing penetration strategy. And while there have been a few changes and additions over the decades, the fundamental principles remain the same.

What are the four Ps of marketing?

Below we’ll define the four Ps of marketing and show you why each ingredient plays an important role in increasing sales, building a competitive advantage and building a smart strategy for promoting your business.

01. Product

This one’s easy—products refer to the good or service that you offer to customers. Whether you’re launching a new product or seeking to improve an existing one, making sure that it meets the demands of consumers is a core pillar of marketing. For your product to be effective, it should either satisfy an existing consumer need or create demand so that people believe they need it. Familiarize yourself with product differentiation and what it means for your marketing efforts.

In addition, you should be familiar with your product’s life cycle —meaning its introduction into the market, its growth, maturity and decline. From a marketing standpoint, this lets you adapt your messaging, KPIs , pricing and target audience according to each life cycle stage.

To master the product element of the marketing mix, ask yourself the following questions:

What is your product?

Who is it for?

How and where do customers use your product?

What existing needs does your product satisfy? If it doesn’t satisfy an existing need, how will you create a new need in the market?

What specific features does your product have that will directly address those needs? Are there any features you may have missed?

What are the key elements of your product design and user experience? Do they work together to meet the needs of your consumers?

What is your product called?

How will you brand your product?

How does your product differ from the competition?

When you create a marketing plan for your business, the answers to these questions will help form a set of guidelines.

The price is what consumers pay for your product. As simple as that sounds, determining what to charge can be tricky. You’ll need to make a profit, but you also want consumers to feel that the price corresponds with the product’s value.

Whether your product is a budget option, luxe option or somewhere in between, the price you charge greatly affects the language you use in your promotional messaging. It’s also deeply interconnected with the kinds of customers you’ll market to, as well as the country or region where you plan to sell your product. It might also impact your customer acquisition costs as well.

To come up with the pricing, ask yourself the following questions:

What is the perceived value of your good or service to the buyer? How will you align your marketing strategy with consumer perception of the price of your product?

How does the price compare with that of your competitors?

Is your audience price-sensitive? Will decreasing the price help you capture more customers, or will it decrease your profit margin? Conversely, will increasing the price gain you more profit margin, or will it result in a loss of customers?

Can you use different pricing tiers (for instance, a basic versus premium package) for different customer segments depending on how you understand each customer journey?

The third P of marketing is place. This refers to the location of your marketing and distribution activities. Place can be a physical location, like a brick-and-mortar store that primarily targets local community members. But it can also refer to online locations, referring to the various platforms and marketing channels you use to promote and sell your product.

Place is an important factor to consider as you market your product or services, since it helps you understand what kind of buyer persona has access to it. The bottom line is to promote and sell your product in view of the types of people who need it and can get it. If you market to an audience who ultimately decides that your product is too hard to find or inconvenient to purchase and use, you’ll likely hit a wall with your marketing efforts. Are you focusing on local marketing , or something broader?

Similarly, this concept applies online when you determine the most effective channels for promotion. If your product is U.S.-only, there’s little reason to promote it on an Italian news site. If you’re selling a product for grandparents, you probably shouldn’t start by creating paid ads on TikTok.

When factoring place into your marketing strategy, ask yourself the following marketing intelligence questions :

Where is your target audience located (both in person or online)? Not sure? Time to build out your marketing analytics tracking and reporting plan

Where do people look for your product? If they look in a store, what kind (e.g., a boutique versus a large chain)? If they look online, what platforms are they using? Use these to build better customer segments to target.

What kinds of distribution channels and outlets can you use to sell your product?

Where are your competitors selling? What physical locations and online channels are they using?

04. Promotion

Promotion is the 4th P of the marketing mix. This all encompassing ingredient involves using the factors you identified in the previous three Ps—product, price and place—to craft your messaging and spread the word about your product via advertising and marketing campaigns.

To incorporate this final pillar, ask yourself:

Where can you get your message across to your target market ? Online channels like social media? PR? TV, radio or podcasts? Print advertisements? Email marketing?

What sort of language, media and personas does your audience connect to most in these online and offline locations?

When is the best time to promote? Is your product seasonal? Are there events or other external factors that might affect your messaging?

How, when and where do your competitors promote their products?

The answers to these questions—as well as the ones listed earlier—will help you to to create a strong small business marketing strategy that promises to meet consumer needs, offers value in relation to its price, reaches consumers using the right channels and uses the right messaging.

Examples of the four Ps of marketing

To help you better understand the four Ps of marketing and apply them to your business, let’s go over some real-world examples:

Apple has a top-notch marketing strategy, especially when it comes to its popular iPhones. Certainly, a big reason why consumers love the iPhone is because Apple used the four Ps of marketing to put together the ideal product, price point, distribution channels and brand messaging.

Product: The first iPhone directly addressed consumer needs at exactly the right time. Cell phones were already becoming more stylish (who can forget the appeal of the Blackberry?), and Apple took full advantage of that trend. But the iPhone wasn’t only sleek and well-designed. It also addressed the need for an improved user experience. The product eliminated the hassle of a keyboard or stylus, reduced the need for a separate music device and added other key features (on-the-go internet, a decent camera, fun apps and a user-friendly screen).

Price: The iPhone became a pioneer in the mobile world, promising quality and extra value that prior mobile devices didn’t have. On top of that, it was produced by a reputable and well-loved company. As a result, customers were willing to pay a premium price compared to other brands. This pricing strategy worked well for Apple and continues to do so over the years, attracting middle and upper class consumers thanks to maintaining the brand’s high-end appeal.

Place: Apple has cultivated an aura of exclusivity by authorizing specific stores to sell their products. While this might limit their reach, it helps establish the company as a designer brand. This also lowers the brand’s distribution costs so that it can invest in other areas instead.

Promotion: Apple’s promotional strategy for the iPhone often takes the form of commercials and print ads. Their advertisements tend to be highly visual, emphasizing the high-quality screen and camera features while showcasing the brand’s sleek, stylish aesthetic. Their goal is to prove to their audience that their product stands out against the competition. The brand further promotes their products through Apple Keynote events, presentations given to the press two to four times a year. This is a great opportunity to supply them with quality PR while establishing Apple as a thought leader and visionary.

02. Spotify

Spotify is another big brand that’s achieved success by strategically applying the four Ps. Here’s how:

Product: Spotify’s main product is music streaming. Before this technology came along, people could only hear their favorite artists by purchasing CDs, buying digital albums or songs, listening to the radio or pirating music. Music streaming solved this problem, filling an important niche in the music industry by providing consumers affordability and convenience.

Price: Spotify has a broad audience—everyone who listens to music—and it maintains a wide reach by offering various pricing tiers. Using a freemium model, they allow users to listen to content for free, but offer extra perks (such as ad-free listening) to those who pay for a premium subscription. They additionally upsell their product by offering bundle packages to couples and families, and incentivize young adults to go premium with student discounts.

Place: Music streaming solved a huge accessibility problem. People no longer needed to go to the store to buy a CD, find music to download illegally, or listen to the radio in hopes of finding their favorite tunes. Spotify made its product available online so that it can be instantly accessed in nearly every country.

Promotion: As an online platform, Spotify does most of its promotions on the web with the goal of driving traffic to their website . Because the product satisfies an important consumer need and is easy to use, fans of the platform also tend to spread word of the product to their friends. This makes social media marketing—and influencer marketing in particular—an organic promotional strategy for the brand.

5 quick tips for applying the four Ps in your own marketing

Now that you’ve seen some examples of the four Ps in action, think about how to apply these principles to your own marketing strategy. This marketing mix can be used to improve existing marketing campaigns and products, or starting a fresh one from scratch.

Here’s how:

Identify the good or service you want to promote.

Identify each of the four Ps above as they relate to your chosen product.

Review your answers to the four Ps and challenge them by providing alternatives: What would happen if you raised or dropped the price, changed the color or design, advertised on a different platform, or sold through a new channel?

Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. As the customer, does the product meet your needs? Is it priced according to your values and perceptions? Can you learn about the product or service and purchase it in places that are relevant and accessible to you? Do marketing promotions reach and resonate with you? This might mean conducting market research and user testing your product.

Iterate the process and don’t hesitate to run A/B tests with your pricing, promotions and messaging along the way. Keep asking questions and tweaking your answers until you’ve created the optimal recipe. Run marketing audits of your campaigns and approaches regularly.

Finally, remember that even once you’ve created your ideal marketing mix, the journey isn’t over. Your product will most likely evolve, new marketing trends will take hold, and your customers, competitors and the environment will change over time.

Because of this, it’s important to revisit your marketing mix on a quarterly, biannual or yearly basis, depending on your product’s lifecycle. The four Ps of marketing aren’t static, and should be continually strengthened to adapt to the changes around you.

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What Are the 4 Ps?

Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images

The 4 Ps is a marketing term that stands for product, price, place (or placement), and promotion. This “marketing mix” of four key marketing factors is the foundation of successful marketing strategies around the world.

Key Takeaways

• At least four key factors, known as the 4 Ps, go into a successful marketing mix and plan: product design, pricing, placement, and promotional strategies.
• Use a marketing mix of all 4 Ps to ensure that your goods or services are marketed effectively to the right customers, in the right way, and in the right areas. 
• Understanding the 4 Ps and creating an ever-evolving marketing plan can help your business adapt, thrive, and grow in a dynamic, ever-changing market environment. 

Definition and Examples of the 4 Ps of Marketing

The 4 Ps were notably identified by Neil Borden, an advertising professor at Harvard University, in a 1964 article entitled, “The Concept of the Marketing Mix.” However, the concept of four essential marketing factors has been around since the 1950s, although it has evolved significantly since then. 

This four-pronged marketing model is used by most successful businesses and is the foundation of comprehensive marketing plans. Here’s more on the 4 Ps:

• Product : The goods or services your business is offering.
• Price : How much the consumer can or will pay for your goods or services.
• Place(ment) : The location or environment where the product will be sold.
• Promotion : How your product is positioned and advertised.

The easiest way to incorporate the 4 Ps is by answering these four questions: What are you offering? How much is it worth? Where can consumers find it, is it priced well, and why should they care?

In the marketing world, these considerations are referred to as “positioning” and help businesses examine their offering in relation to consumers and the market as a whole.

Sometimes, these 4 Ps are expanded to include three more “P” components:

• People : The employees responsible for creating, marketing, and curating your products.
• Process : Procedure management of your products and/or the methods and flow of your services.
• Physical evidence : The physical assets (location, furniture, signage, layout) used to present your product.

The 4 Ps are more than a simple, static marketing plan; the approach is an evolving and cyclical explanation of your business's offering. Using a blend of techniques, strategies, and focus areas, the 4 Ps help business owners ensure that their marketing plan is hitting all the right points of emphasis, consistently, and over time. 

There is a subtle but essential difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan. Marketing strategies are the methods used to execute a marketing plan. Marketing plans are the road maps, or blueprints, businesses create to implement effective marketing strategies.

How Do the 4 Ps of Marketing Work? 

An effective business marketing plan based on the 4 Ps depends on what you're providing to the public, who wants or needs it, how rare or valuable it is, and the strength of your competition. Let's look into what roles product, price, place, and promotions play in building a marketing plan and shaping marketing strategies for businesses.

Quality, packaging, design, materials, and production cost are vital considerations when designing and branding products. To fully understand this part of the 4 Ps, ask yourself, do I have a product worth buying? What makes this a good product? Who would want it and why? 

It’s important to ask questions such as, who is not interested in my product and why? How could I alter my product or marketing mix to accommodate new or more customers? Which designs, price points, promotional tactics, or product placements aren’t working effectively? 

For example, paper plates should be able to hold food well, be made of sanitary materials, have a low cost, be disposable, and readily available. Therefore, marketing gold-rimmed paper plates as a product would be a marketing failure. Offering expensive paper plates defeats the purpose of their invention.

The sizable current target market for paper plates would not be interested in paying more for this product, or in throwing away something of value (gold) when they only desired a time-saving, low-cost convenience product.

Conversely, offering gold leaf on fancy desserts at a top-tier restaurant to a clientele that spends more makes sense. Those kinds of extravagant products are almost an expected part of a high-end dining experience and, therefore, market well. It’s also worth noting that marketing that same high-end dessert on paper plates would not be as popular, for obvious reasons.

When considering the "price" element of the 4 Ps, it's important to consider the two different pricing structures businesses can adopt: cost-based and value-based. Using market research to determine how much niche, mass appeal, or interest your product has is an excellent place to start.

For readily available products in flooded markets with much competition, cost-based pricing is the norm. If the product is not costly, sought after, or unique, basing the price on the cost to consumers makes more sense, and pricing your product competitively will be effective.

Value-based pricing is dependent on the subjective assessments of worth from consumers. Designer clothing, luxury cars, and rare gemstones are examples of value-based-priced products. The rarer the item, the stronger the social and societal value placed on it—and the greater the demand—the higher a price it can command.

In the marketing mix, "place" refers to the location (virtual or real-world) where you will market your goods or services. Consider who wants your product and where they spend the most time. This explains why most marketers spend their largest marketing ad budget on social media and search engines now rather than on TV or Radio. The reason is that the customers spend their time there. The common expression used now is "meet where they are."

Also, consider which kind of promotions work well with that target audience in order to work this angle successfully. Certain kinds of products perform better when marketed in different venues or environments.

Hardware supplies still sell well in physical stores for a large number of reasons. Consumers enjoy being able to handle such products before they buy them. Often, a trip to a hardware store leads to a few more purchases than the customer realized they needed. Selling a tool in a hardware store or lumberyard is still a smart move, in addition to offering it online .

Placing your product where it makes sense to do so (and where your target audience expects it to be) is smart marketing. That said, innovative, guerrilla marketing (a term for marketing in an unexpected location where consumers least expect it) can also be highly effective. Sometimes the element of surprise can be a powerful addition to a marketing plan.

For other products, sales in physical stores don't make sense anymore. Streaming services , apps, and software programs or services are great examples of this. There is nothing physical to buy, so the promotion, price, place, and product all happens in one place—virtually. This keeps production and advertising costs down and ensures that the products or services are readily accessible and serviceable, improving customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth marketing.

Promoting your product successfully depends heavily on the other three marketing-mix factors as well. For example, how you promote your product or service depends on what kind of offering you have, where it will be sold, how much it costs, and who your target market is.

For example, promoting the launch of your new app through a newspaper advertisement may not make much sense logistically (as your target market may not even see it), but promoting its launch through TikTok videos or Instagram ads does.

Within the 4 Ps marketing mix, you can morph promotional ideas from your marketing plan. Which blend of promotional tactics or strategies will work best for your product? Consider possibilities such as advertising on social media, targeted public relations (PR) releases, personal selling campaigns, direct marketing, and sought-after sales promotions.

Prof. Neil Borden. " The Concept of the Marketing Mix ." Accessed June 14, 2021.

Harvard Business Review. " A Quick Guide to Value-Based Pricing ." Accessed June 14, 2021.

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4 Ps of Marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion

Successful marketing is the act of putting the right product, in the right place, at the right time and price.

On paper, this sounds like a simple process, but we know it’s not. The problem is that there are millions of wrong products, places, times and prices.

You have to dedicate hours of research and testing just to meet this seemingly simple mix of conditions. If one element is off, your entire marketing strategy is flawed.

Also, you’ll learn the following

What are the 4 Ps of Marketing?

Understanding the 4ps of marketing:, the first p of marketing is the product, the second p of marketing is the price, the third p of marketing is the place, the fourth p of marketing is the promotion, why 4 ps of marketing is important.

Knowing 4Ps of marketing is very important. Even the most innovative and exciting product or service can fall flat if you don’t have a good marketing mix.

The marketing mix is one of the oldest tools used by companies to determine the best delivery methods for their offerings.

In the Digital Age, having a proper marketing mix is even more crucial because you have far more channels, strategies and competitors to manage than ever before.

This guide will explore the 4Ps of marketing:

• P roduct – the good or service you’re offering
• P rice – what the consumer pays
• P lace – the location or channel where products/services are marketed
• P romotion – the advertising itself

Let’s discuss how you should use the 4Ps to deliver an effective, market-worthy strategy that customers will respond to.

The product quadrant of the marketing mix refers to the good or service that your company is bringing to market.

A perfect product should fulfill an existing consumer demand. In other words, there has to be a need for your product before you can have a successful marketing mix.

Alternatively, you can create a product that is so compelling that customers believe they need it.

The product side of your marketing mix requires you to think about the many qualities and traits of your product.

To help demonstrate the product side of your marketing mix, let’s take a look at an example.

PPC Signal is a tool that helps Google Ads users manage their multiple campaigns to understand the unexpected or outstanding behavior by looking at different signals generated by this tool.

The marketers for PPC Signal have to consider many factors when it comes to their product:

This side of the marketing mix has to do with how convenient and aesthetically pleasing the product is. You should consider everything down to the packaging of the product at this phase. It’s about delivering the best possible user convenience.

If you look at the screenshot of the PPC Signal interface, you see a cool, effective, yet simple design.

The user is immediately drawn to the latest alerts for their ad campaigns. They don’t have to hunt or cycle through tedious menus to find the features or tools they need.

Example: The design of your product can help define your brand persona. It’s the outward appearance of your offerings, like its clothing. Do you want to dress it casually? What about sporty or lavishly?

Automobiles are a great example of this idea. Each car is essentially four wheels, an engine, battery, steering wheel, etc. Yet, they all look radically different from one another.

There’s a big difference between a family-oriented minivan and a high-end, luxury car. Each vehicle’s design accentuates this persona.

You should consider how the design of your offerings helps develop their image.

Whereas design choices make each product look different, features are what separates your product from similar offerings on the market.

Features build upon the product’s initial purpose. For example, PPC Signal is a PPC management tool that features AI and machine learning algorithms to detect unusual behaviors, whether good or bad, occurring in the user’s account.

PPC Signal also offers various filtering options to help users get right to the data they need most. For more accessible analysis, every data signal is visualized, so the viewer immediately recognizes the most valuable information.

These types of features that make a product stand out. You can develop added features over time to solve user pain points or fix future problems.

Who makes the product? What expertise do they have in the field? Consumers want to shop from brands that they can trust.

PPC Signal, for instance, is developed by PPCexpo, a software company that specializes in data analysis tools for PPC data. Including “PPC” right in the name helps demonstrate the purpose of the product.

Their wide range of software tools helps solidify that they are a brand name that has extensive background knowledge and expertise in the field.

Example: You can also use brand names to develop a stronger brand personality.

Betty Crocker was a fictitious personality developed to write personalized responses to customer letters. The character then became the brand name of the baking products company that the world knows today.

What makes Betty Crocker such an effective brand, beyond their delicious-tasting products, is this persona. The Crocker character is depicted as an expert, at-home baker, which is exactly the experience the company wants to deliver to its customers.

Pricing is always a crucial component of marketing, especially when you’re operating in a hyper-competitive space.

This is how much money consumers will pay for your product or service. The value of the price needs to align with the product’s real and perceived value, which takes into account several factors, including:

• Supply, production and distribution costs
• Profit margins
• Discounts, rebates and other deals
• Competitor prices
• Quality of the product
• Pricing plans, periods and other policies

These characteristics are rarely easy to determine. For instance, offering a discount to customers can draw in more interested parties. However, there is a trade-off. A discounted product may give the impression that it’s not as exclusive or less luxurious than other options.

Some products require a more comprehensive pricing strategy. For example, subscription services may have multiple pricing plans, ranging from a free version to a premium one.

Other tools, like PPC Signal, use a progressive pricing model . With this strategy, the cost relates to the size of the user’s account.

Ultimately, you need to align your pricing strategy with your overall marketing goal. Are you trying to attract new users? Then, you want a lower price point that doesn’t deter people on the fence.

On the other hand, if you want to maximize revenue , you should structure your pricing strategy to attract high-end customers.

Marketing decisions regarding place are meant to answer two critical questions:

• Where the product should be sold?
• How do you best deliver to these locations?

Where The Product Should Be Sold?

There are many ways to define the place where your products are sold:

• The physical locations where you want your product to be available.
• The placing or arranging of products within a store’s display.
• The selling of products online versus in-stores, or both.
• The choice between selling products to consumers versus other businesses.
• The media placements and channels that garner attention for the product.

The cross-section of all of these places is your market. It’s the unique space where your customers are most likely to gather and buy.

How Do You Best Deliver To These Locations?

Now, there’s the how question. Again, you have a broad term with many different elements in the mix:

• Channels of distribution
• Warehousing decisions
• Product handling protocols
• Transportation
• Inventory management
• Order processing

Any aspect that helps your products reach the market can fall under this category.

The best delivery methods will change based on whether you’re selling physical goods versus digital ones.

Since PPC Signal is a software service, its definitions for channels of distribution, product handling protocols, etc are slightly different compared to a company selling physical goods.

For example, PPC Signals channels of distribution include being compatible with multiple browsers, etc. If PPC Signal attracted customers through an app or software marketing place, this would be another element of distribution channels.

The promotion and place parts of the marketing mix share a close relationship. Place determines where your market is and promotion aims to bring customers there.

There is even some crossover between the two where promotion and placement meet, especially on digital channels. For instance, which search pages you target with ads for your product involves both placement and promotion.

The goal of this final stage is to engage and persuade customers. You’re trying to show customers why they need the product and why it’s worth the price.

You can have free audit of your campaigns and check the campaign performance in the areas which need attention.

To achieve this goal, marketers have to implement many different promotional strategies, including:

• Traditional advertising
• Pay-per-click advertising
• Personal selling
• Public relations
• Direct marketing
• Social Media
• Sales Promotion

PPC Signal uses a free trial as one of its most effective marketing tools. This offer helps prospective users learn how the product positively impacts their PPC management and why it’s something their strategies need.

They promote this offer on many different channels to draw more customers to test their product.

The 4 Ps are a mechanism that breaks down the complicated and broad act of marketing. They are the four vital factors in successfully defining and bringing a product to market.

It helps you determine:

• What customers want?
• How their product can fit those needs?
• The perception of their product in the eyes of the consumer.
• How they stand out from the competition?
• How to best interact with target audience ?

The 4 Ps are essential factors involved in making sure your product is ready for market and poised for success. There are several reasons why they are vital to marketing.

Boost The Success Of Your Campaigns

The 4 Ps help a marketer answer every question or concern regarding their product, from start to finish. By structuring your marketing around the 4 Ps, you can learn valuable lessons about your customers.

Creates Synergy

Every piece of your marketing serves a particular purpose and plays a crucial role in the process. When you blend product, price, promotion and place together, it creates a coordinated and cohesive strategy.

It’s the saying, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Stimulates Brand Loyalty & Value

Since one of the primary goals of the marketing mix is to identify and meet the needs of the customer, their satisfaction is a top priority. In turn, this earns you substantial customer loyalty and a compelling reputation as a brand.

Forges A Link Between Consumer And Organization

The combination of the 4 Ps creates an ongoing “conversation” between your company and the customer. It’s an open communication link where you’re consistently listening to customers and refining your strategies to serve their latest expectations in the best ways possible.

Carves Your Unique Space In The Market

Most companies are facing pressure from multiple competitors. Analyzing the competition is a significant component of the marketing mix. This activity helps you find the features, qualities and other elements that make your product unique. When you can secure your own space in the market, it helps you attract more business.

Higher Sales Volume

Arguably the most compelling result of all of the above efforts is higher sales. Aligning all four areas of your marketing mix leads to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty, which translates into a larger share of the market and more sales.

What is another name for the 4Ps?

The 4Ps of marketing, also known as the marketing mix, are sometimes referred to as the “marketing elements” or the “marketing tactics.”

Who has given 4Ps?

The concept of the 4Ps of marketing, also known as the marketing mix, was popularized by E. Jerome McCarthy in the 1960s.

You offer an outstanding product or service that you’ve committed ample time towards refining and perfecting.

It’s a great start, but it doesn’t guarantee marketing success. For that, you need to implement the 4 Ps of marketing. Otherwise, you won’t be able to build the proper presence and hit your audiences at the right place, time, price, etc.

In other words, without consulting the 4 Ps of marketing, lousy marketing decisions are an inevitability.

Even an amazing product idea will struggle to meet success without these four aspects. You owe it to yourself and your customers to maximize the value of your product with proper utilization of all 4 Ps of marketing. There are other products as well to consider as best example like PPCexpo Reporting tool , which gives you easy interface, beautiful visualization for the data analysis which adds value to the customer need.

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4. Promotion

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The four Ps you need to focus on for your next presentation

• Presentation skills

At the end of our presentation skills courses , we give our delegates a guide to help them continue their learning.

Why? Because we believe that learning and skills development should not stop when you leave the training room or the Zoom session comes to an end.

The guide is called ‘The Four Ps’, and we thought we would share it with you in our blog.

So, what are The Four Ps?

We believe there are four key steps to communicating with confidence, cohesion and clarity:

Good presenters put most of their effort into the first three – planning, preparing and practising – because, once you have got that right, the presenting part is much easier.

The only way to ensure an effective presentation is through careful planning and preparation.

Every memorable speech that has compelled, educated and entertained audiences has done so thanks to good preparation.

Mark Twain famously said: “It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.”

And that is how we feel about public speaking.

Bullet points, mind maps and message preparation sheets will all help you to plan an effective presentation.

Always think about your audience and your message. Can you come up with a one-sentence description that describes who you are talking to?

For example - Senior managers of a large university hospital, aged 40-55, mostly male and all with business degrees or MBAs

Once you are clear on who you are talking to, you can focus on what you want to tell them.

What is the main point you want them to take away? How can you make what you say relevant, captivating and memorable?

It is essential to think of ways to engage your audience and illustrate your message with examples – a good anecdote, fact, or analogy, will help bring a message to life.

Also, think about the structure. When a presentation is structured well, the audience can follow what is being said and are more likely to leave inspired, motivated and clear on what they should do next.

But when that structure isn’t there, they get lost as they are bombarded with uncoordinated facts, figures, thoughts and messages. And when that happens, they inevitably switch off. You can find out more about presentation structures in this recent blog .

Preparation and planning might sound similar. But the preparation stage is where you develop that initial plan and consider how to make what you want to say resonate. It is where the fine-tuning takes place.

And it involves saying AMEN.

That might sound like an appeal for some divine inspiration. And many of us have been asked to give a presentation where that might have felt like a good option.

But AMEN is an acronym we use on our presentation skills training courses (and during our message development and testing training ) to help people get their messages right.

It stands for Audience, Message, Example, Negatives.

Let’s take you through it:

Who are you talking to? Is it an internal presentation? Are you talking to existing customers? Potential new customers? An industry group?

It is crucial to be clear on who you are talking to.

If you are presenting to people within your organisation, you can refer to common ground. And use more technical language and acronyms.

But a wider audience is unlikely to understand much of this, and the content would need to be simplified.

What key message do you want to get across in your presentation?

What do you want the audience to remember about what you have said?

What do you want them to do as a result?

Or, how do you want them to feel?

What is the call to action and how can you close your presentation with a bang ? 

Hopefully, you notice we are talking about one message. It’s because, as harsh as it might sound, few people will remember more than one major point you make.

That message should be capable of being spelt out in a single sentence of fewer than 20 words, otherwise, it is likely to be too complex for people to remember.

What examples can you use to support your message?

Tell stories to bring the message to life and make it resonate with your audience.

Entertaining and moving your audience through storytelling is vital to giving a great presentation.

Are there any negative angles to what you are discussing? 

Could anyone dispute or question what you are suggesting in your presentation?

Has your sector or organisation been in the news recently?

Has a competitor made a big announcement?

Spend a little time anticipating anything that could detract from the message you want to get across.

You can download your AMEN messaging template here.

Don't worry, we have another cohort starting in the summer. Find out more.

Practice makes perfect.

You must keep practising your presentation skills. Like any good athlete, we need to keep our brain and muscle memory fine-tuned. Don’t wait until that crucial next presentation is on the horizon

Pick up a video camera - or use your smartphone - and practice with colleagues, friends, family, and even the dog – if it will listen.

The more you practice, the more confident you will become and the better you will come across when it is time to present for real.

And, those skills will help you with more everyday interactions, like meetings.

Practice should also include thinking about your personal branding and image.

Personal branding and image

We know it sounds shallow.

But the harsh reality is that when you are public speaking and presenting, your audience will form an almost instant impression of you.

And they will only pay attention if you sound and look like you know what you are discussing.

Generally, your impact in the first 30 seconds is determined by: 

• Body image - 55 per cent – what you wear, posture, gestures and eye contact
• Voice - 38 per cent - your tone, volume, accent and clarity
• What you say - just 7 per cent.

First impressions are formed almost instantly. And then, in the subsequent few minutes, the audience will be looking for proof that their initial assessment is correct. This is called confirmation bias, and everyone is susceptible to it.

So, how do you create the right first impression?

Start by considering how you want to be perceived. As someone knowledgeable, professional and experienced? Or someone who has integrity and is approachable, decent and trustworthy? Or a combination of all these qualities?

The audience will tend to assume how you have presented yourself in terms of your appearance reflects your state of mind. So, it’s vital to consider the tone you want to set and reflect that in your dress.

As the speaker, you want to be about 10 per cent smarter than your audience.

You should also look to make eye contact with the audience and smile – smiling will make you appear confident and suggests you are happy to be there.

If you are presenting in a room, avoid starting by tapping the microphone and asking whether people at the back can hear. Not only is it boring, but it also doesn’t create the impression of someone who is going to communicate with confidence and clarity.

Similarly, opening with phrases like “I haven’t had a lot of time to prepare”, or “I’ll keep it brief”, does not suggest you are taking the opportunity seriously or that the audience will get much out of the presentation.

Any negative introduction or self-deprecation will alert your audience to look out for flaws in your presentation that they may never have noticed had you not drawn attention to them.

But what should you wear?

Well, this gets trickier all the time. Fashions change constantly, and many presentations now take place online.

So, rather than tell you what you should wear, we will highlight some pitfalls we think you should avoid and offer a few tips.

1 Don’t try something new – the presentation stage is not the right time to find out if that new outfit looks as good as you thought it did in the fitting room, or whether it is as comfortable as you imagined.

2 Choose comfort – of course, you want to look professional. But don’t make yourself uncomfortable and unable to move freely. Choose clothes that don’t feel restrictive.

3 Choose clothes that make you feel confident – most of us will have ‘go-to’ items in our wardrobes we turn to when we need to feel good about ourselves. If they are appropriate for the situation then choose them for your presentations. If you feel good, you will appear more confident.

4 Avoid clothes that might distract – you don’t want the audience to go away thinking about what you were wearing, so avoid distracting clothes. Glittery outfits can be particularly distracting, as can loud socks, anything with large writing on it and comedy ties. If in doubt we recommend choosing items with solid colours, rather than anything with patterns.

5 If you opt for a dark suit, match it with a lighter shirt or blouse to provide a little contrast.

6 Be careful with jewellery and accessories. If it makes a noise when you move around, or continually knocks against the microphone, it will take the attention of the audience away from what you are saying. Jewellery can also reflect light at the audience, especially on TV, which is distracting.

7 Similarly, avoid shoes that make a noise when you walk around.

8 Think about the audience – if you know it is a formal event, then you need to dress smarter. But, in many countries, the business suit is not as popular as it once was. Many people go to work in jeans, for example. If you turn up in a suit to talk to an audience wearing informal clothes, you may seem old-fashioned and out of touch. Speak to the organisers and venue before the event and bring an alternative option just in case.

9 Many presentations now take place online, and its ease and convenience mean it is likely to remain a popular option. 

If you are presenting online, you can usually relax the dress code a little – no one expects you to login wearing a suit and tie. Choose something you will be comfortable in, but still consider the impression you want to get across to the audience. 

Remember that block colours look good on camera, and avoid black and white because they are harsh and can make you look stern or washed out. Patterns and stripes should be left in the wardrobe as they can create a strobing effect with many TV and video cameras.

As you will be on camera, avoid wearing anything that will distract from what you are saying (such as large dangly earrings) and make sure your hair doesn’t need to be constantly brushed away from your face. 

It's time to take a deep breath.

Let’s assume you have planned properly, prepared carefully and you are confident you look the part.

The final part of the Ps is presenting. And getting your body language right can make a massive difference to its success.

So, let’s take a look at it and how you need to adapt it for different presentation formats:

Standing in front of a seated audience is probably the presentation format that causes the most fear. The good news is there are simple steps to help you appear composed and confident.

When you are on the stage, plant your feet hip-width apart. Now imagine your feet are on a clock, and your toes are pointing at 5 minutes to 1. This maximises your floor coverage and makes you look as if you’re standing on solid ground - even if you’re behind a lectern.

Draw yourself up to your full height. Shoulders should be relaxed.

Everyone’s favourite actress Dame Helen Mirren says she bases all of her characters on one part of the body: the elbows. The more confident her character, the looser she is at the elbow. So, you want those arms away from your body. Allow the energy to come up and out to the audience, forget about your hands and use your whole arms to help get your points across. We promise your hands will follow.  

Gesture to your slides and visual aids (if you’re using them – more on this later) and out to the audience. The bigger the stage, the bigger the gestures need to be. Fill that stage.  

If you like to move around to encompass the whole audience, that’s fine. But always stand still with your feet planted when you make a crucial point.

As part of that all-important preparation, we spoke about earlier, practice delivering your presentation in front of a tall mirror, so you can see if you are standing confidently and using your arms and hands to emphasise particular points.  

Learn how to overcome your nerves and present with confidence and clarity, whatever the format, with this online course.

What about if you are sitting down?

Well, traditionally sitting down to deliver a presentation has been frowned upon.

But, in the real world, there are many times when we present sat on our bottoms.

Boardroom meetings, team meetings and even some conferences or panel events call for speakers to be seated. 

The key is to not become too relaxed in this slightly less daunting format – body language remains crucial if you want to show authority and capture the attention of the audience.

It’s crucial to make sure you have your feet flat on the ground. And position yourself as far back in the chair as you can.

During our presentation skills training courses , we use the acronym BBC to help people remember to sit with their  B um to the  B ack of the  C hair. One tip to add here is that speakers should opt for a stationary chair, as moving around on a swivel one will prove distracting. 

Draw yourself up to your full height, keeping your shoulders relaxed. Then lean forward, placing your forearms on the table in front of you, with arms separated. TV directors call this ‘bringing the face into shot’. The light catches your cheekbones, you appear authoritative and full of integrity – and you haven’t said a word yet.

From here, you can lean back, removing your arms so you can listen to others comment. And then, when you want to assume charge again, you go back to that position of authority.

Who is the most important person in the room? The answer is everyone. So, make sure you engage in eye contact with all those around the table – including the people on either side of you.

Next time you watch TV, notice how presenters use open gestures towards the guests on either side of them. It looks dynamic and is very engaging and inclusive.

Many presentations and meetings take place online.

While there are some similarities to sit-down presentations, online ones do have their intricacies and requirements. 

The most important thing is maintaining eye contact with your audience. Poor eye contact and wandering eyes can make you look shifty and uncomfortable, and your audience will wonder what else you are looking at.

Look into the lens and maintain that contact.

But, also consider whether you would be better standing. You have to work harder online to get your message across, so sitting down hunched over a laptop may not be the best solution.

Why not put the laptop on a shelf so it is at eye level with you when you are standing? That would give much more energy to your performance.

Your voice is also vital, whether you are presenting in person or online.

You need to add energy to your delivery to keep your audience engaged.

Balance is vital - don’t shout, but vary the pace and tone of your voice. Even subtle changes can dramatically improve the attentiveness of an audience.

Remember your volume and tone should be driven by your content. There are moments when you will want to sound inspiring, times when you will want to sound more like a friend, and points at which you will want to challenge your audience. Your voice needs to change to reflect the goals of your message.

If you have a presentation coming up and want to look back on your training with us in more detail, our online Presentation and Personal Impact Skills course enables you to refresh your knowledge and hone your skills whenever and wherever you need it.

Media First  are media and communications training specialists with more than 35 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers. 

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What is a Presentation? Objectives, Elements, Important skills, Four Ps

• Post last modified: 4 June 2023
• Reading time: 19 mins read
• Post category: Business Communication

What is a Presentation?

A presentation communicates a message, an idea or information to a group. It is similar to a report, but with a key difference–the human element. A presentation conveys the speaker’s personality and enables immediate interaction among all participants.

Table of Content

• 1 What is a Presentation?
• 2.1 To Inform
• 2.2 To Train
• 2.3 To Persuade
• 2.4 To Motivate
• 2.5 To Entertain
• 3 Main Elements of Presentation
• 4.1 Analytical ability
• 4.2 Effective communication ability
• 4.3 Creative ability
• 4.4 Good interpersonal skill
• 4.5 Sound time management
• 4.6 Problem-solving ability
• 4.7 A sense of humour
• 5 Evaluation Wheel
• 6.1 Prepare
• 6.2 Practice
• 6.3 Present
• 7.1 Know Yourself
• 7.2 Know Your Material
• 7.3 Know Your Purpose
• 7.4 Know Your Audience

Objectives of Presentation

The main objectives of a presentation are:

To Persuade

To motivate, to entertain.

A presentation is created to convey some information to a group of people. For example, a presentation may display an organisation’s quarterly performance.

Most training programmes in organisations are done through the presentation mode. Such instructional presentations convey a lot of information and are created with instructional design principles to keep the audience engaged for a long period.

Some presentations are used to convince a group of people to accept a particular idea and/or make a certain choice.

The growing popularity of TED Talks indicates how a presentation can be a powerful motivation tool. These presentations trigger emotions and inspire people to act.

Presentations can also be used to celebrate an event. For example, a farewell presentation of a colleague can be used to narrate the story of his/her overall tenure, experiences and achievement in the organisation.

Main Elements of Presentation

A presentation is said to be effective if it has three main elements, which are as follows:

• Specific content : This refers to the information that a presentation will comprise. The information must be conveyed effectively so that it is absorbed by the audience in one sitting. It should be relevant and meaningful to them.
• Audience : A presentation should be targeted for a specific group of audience who share the same purpose and have a similar level of pre-knowledge.
• Presenter: The presenter should act as the advocate of the information. If his/her conviction and passion in the message are clearly articulated, the audience will also pay attention to the subject.

Important Presentation Skills

In today’s business environment, presentation skills are requisite in almost every professional arena. Employees are often required to give presentations on the targets achieved by them. A presentation can be effective if it is carefully planned and prepared.

However, delivering presentations is not always easy for every individual. Some people take presenting as a probable opportunity to showcase skills, while others find it a challenging task. To provide an effective presentation, a presenter must possess some abilities.

Some of them are explained as follows:

Analytical ability

Effective communication ability, creative ability, good interpersonal skill, sound time management, problem-solving ability, a sense of humour.

It refers to a calibre which empowers an individual to collect, organise, visualise and comprehend data. Such skills enable a person to look at related patterns, draw conclusions and find solutions to problems. In addition, sound analytical skills also enable an individual to forecast future trends using various techniques such as brainstorming, forecasting, data mining and metrics interpretation.

Communication entails much more than mere talking to the audience. To communicate effectively during a presentation, one ought to showcase information lucidly. During a presentation, a person should not just have a good set of slides together; rather he needs to engage and strike a chord with the audience to transmit the intended message.

It refers to the ability to present things in a creative way that have not been explored earlier. Creative skills in presentation enable an individual to invent or develop something path-breaking, such as a new concept, unique way out from a problem, a method, a work of art or new machinery, etc.

It encompasses how an individual portrays or presents himself to the audience and builds a rapport with the audience. During a presentation, sound interpersonal skills empower a speaker to interact, communicate and collaborate with the audience effectively.

Interpersonal skills are prevalent across all personal and professional interactions between people. Interpersonal skills entail empathy, active listening and emotional intelligence.

While delivering a presentation, a person should manage time effectively, set a presentation schedule and end a presentation within a stipulated time. If a presentation is long, there are chances the audience may lose interest and the message may not be delivered.

A speaker cannot expect audience to actively listen to the presentation for hours. At the start of presentation, a speaker should aim to grab audience’s attention and allocate time for questions and answers at the end.

Problem-solving is a requisite skill for a presentation. During a presentation, the audience may ask the speaker any kind of questions. On the other hand, it is important for the speaker to provide an appropriate answer to the audience to make the presentation successful.

A sense of humour is crucial to deliver a quality presentation to make the environment light and engaging. Appropriate usage of light jokes relieves stress and holds the attention of an audience, which makes the presentation a memorable experience for both the speaker and the audience.

Evaluation Wheel

Evaluation wheel is a creative and effective tool that accumulates information on outcomes in a simple and accessible manner. A presenter can opt for the evaluation wheel tool to show the outcomes of the research or reports. This tool is used to provide various types of information and journeys of change within the organisation.

It offers a visual representation of progression and results in the form of a spider diagram. The evaluation wheel measures the exact outcomes for a programme at the start and end. It also helps educators, designers to comprehend information systematically. Figure shows an example of evaluation wheel:

Figure states the scale questionnaire in a circle form wherein respondents will analyse the instances from their discretion and experience and give rating on a scale of 1 to 5.

For instance, service users are appropriately involved. In this case, if the respondent strongly agrees, he/she will give 5 rating and if he/she does not agree, he/she will give 1 rating. The centre of the circle is for 1 and as the respondent agrees, they reach out to edge for 5 rating.

Ps of Presentation

Even the most powerful presentation may fail if the presenter comes unprepared. A presentation is both a mental and a physical effort. There are Ps of presentation that provide a checklist to the presenter for ensuring that the presentation is well-constructed and clear so that the audience gets the message. These four Ps are explained as follows:

A thoroughly prepared presentation captivates the interests of the audience. The topic or content of the presentation must be thoroughly researched. No one would develop interest in a vague or equivocal presentation. A speaker can make use of stories or relatable examples and quote references to give more depth to the presentation and make it intriguing.

Apart from that, it should be ensured that only important points are highlighted in bullets or using other graphical elements. Providing too much of theory or full sentences can create boredom for the audience.

While preparing for a presentation, the presenter should include the following sections:

• Introduction : This section includes the name of the topic and the purpose of the presentation.
• Body : This section contains the main content of the presentation; thus, it must be prepared in a well-organised manner.
• Summary : It provides a recap of the content of the presentation. It outlines the most important points of the presentation to ensure the key message is retained by the audience.

Practice will make a man perfect is an adage that is appropriate across all spheres of life. It helps a speaker become familiar with his/her own voice, words and phrases and adjust accordingly. By practising thoroughly, a speaker can explore how to fit different pieces of information together and practise transition.

Also, a speaker should make notes wherever required as a part of presentation support. Using an index card is a common form of note-taking that provides a quick glimpse of important points.

While delivering a presentation, the speaker needs to demonstrate confidence in front of the audience. The speaker must be polite, but not apologetic in situations, such as if the session is running overtime or the microphone has stopped working.

Instead he/she should expect and ask for discipline and attention. It is important for a speaker to engage with the audience during the presentation in order to assure them that he/she is genuinely interested in talking to them. 4. Pace, pitch and pause: A presenter should deliver the presentation in an easy-to-follow pace and try changing the pace to enliven the presentation.

For example, pauses can be taken intentionally between main points to reinforce them. Along with pace, pitch is equally important. Just as pace varies in normal conversations, it should be used effectively during presentations too. For example, when asking a question, the presenter can raise the pitch and can lower it down when explaining a point.

Four Cornerstones of Making Memorable Presentations

The most crucial aspect of delivering an effective presentation is that the speaker should appear confident and the speech should look effortless. Presentations are a source of anxiety for many individuals. However, getting well-prepared before delivering a presentation can reduce this feeling considerably and ease apprehension.

There are a number of ways to overcome feelings of anxiety, stress and stage fright before the presentation in order to appear confident in front of the audience. The four cornerstones of making a memorable presentation are provided in the upcoming sections.

Know Yourself

Know your material, know your purpose, know your audience.

A presenter should acknowledge his/her strengths and weaknesses. Accordingly, he/she should decide the style of delivering a presentation. For instance, if a presenter has a great sense of humour and can use it comfortably in the speech, he/she can make the presentation more engaging and interesting.

On the other hand, if the speaker who is an introvert and prefers to talk or engage less, he/she can add visuals in the presentation. Therefore, the trick is whosoever is delivering the presentation should feel comfortable.

Knowing the topic thoroughly is the most important step in preparing and delivering a presentation. A presenter with well-versed knowledge of the topic is bound to feel more confident. One should perform extensive research of the topic using credible websites and surveys.

A presenter with minimal information about the topic will not be able to deliver a memorable presentation; rather, it would create a negative image in front of the audience. A good presentation is one that is centred around the main theme, presents relevant information and stimulates thought.

It is crucial to know the purpose of the presentation. A presenter should be aware of whether the purpose is to create awareness or to build new skills or to change attitudes. For instance, professional firms or businesses use presentations for various purposes such as to create awareness, educate, motivate and persuade internal and external audiences.

Therefore, to prepare a presentation, identify its objective/purpose, determine the method of delivery, formulate a structure, include visual aids and rehearse.

One should know the type of audience and what is their purpose of attending the presentation. For instance, whether they are there for gaining knowledge or learning new skills, etc. The age, culture and knowledge base of the audience help a presenter in designing and delivering his/her presentation effectively and in a manner in which audience can easily understand and relate to.

A well-designed presentation uses visual aids effectively to reinforce the main points and enhance the audience’s level of understanding.

Business Communication Notes

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• What is Business Communication?
• What is Communication?
• Types of Communication

7 C of Communication

Barriers to business communication.

• Oral Communication
• Types Of Non Verbal Communication
• What is Written Communication?
• What are Soft Skills?
• Interpersonal vs Intrapersonal communication
• Barriers to Communication

Importance of Communication Skills

• Listening in Communication
• Causes of Miscommunication
• What is Johari Window?
• What is Presentation?
• Communication Styles
• Channels of Communication
• Hofstede’s Dimensions of Cultural Differences and Benett’s Stages of Intercultural Sensitivity

Organisational Communication

• Horizontal C ommunication
• Grapevine Communication
• Downward Communication
• Verbal Communication Skills
• Upward Communication
• Flow of Communication
• What is Emotional Intelligence?
• What is Public Speaking?
• Upward vs Downward Communication
• Internal vs External Communication
• What is Group Discussion?
• What is Interview?
• What is Negotiation?
• What is Digital Communication?
• What is Letter Writing?
• Resume and Covering Letter
• What is Report Writing?
• What is Business Meeting?
• What is Public Relations?
• What Is Market Segmentation?
• What Is Marketing Mix?
• Marketing Concept
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• What Is Marketing Environment?
• What Is Consumer Behaviour?
• Business Buyer Behaviour
• Demand Forecasting
• 7 Stages Of New Product Development
• Methods Of Pricing
• What Is Public Relations?
• What Is Marketing Management?
• What Is Sales Promotion?
• Types Of Sales Promotion
• Techniques Of Sales Promotion
• What Is Personal Selling?
• What Is Advertising?
• Market Entry Strategy
• What Is Marketing Planning?
• Segmentation Targeting And Positioning
• Brand Building Process
• Kotler Five Product Level Model
• Classification Of Products
• Types Of Logistics
• What Is Consumer Research?
• What Is DAGMAR?
• Consumer Behaviour Models
• What Is Green Marketing?
• What Is Electronic Commerce?
• Agricultural Cooperative Marketing
• What Is Marketing Control?
• What Is Marketing Communication?
• What Is Pricing?
• Models Of Communication
• What is Sales Management?
• Objectives of Sales Management
• Responsibilities and Skills of Sales Manager
• Theories of Personal Selling
• What is Sales Forecasting?
• Methods of Sales Forecasting
• Purpose of Sales Budgeting
• Methods of Sales Budgeting
• Types of Sales Budgeting
• Sales Budgeting Process
• What is Sales Quotas?
• What is Selling by Objectives (SBO) ?
• What is Sales Organisation?
• Types of Sales Force Structure
• Recruiting and Selecting Sales Personnel
• Training and Development of Salesforce
• Compensating the Sales Force
• Time and Territory Management
• What Is Logistics?
• What Is Logistics System?
• Technologies in Logistics
• What Is Distribution Management?
• What Is Marketing Intermediaries?
• Conventional Distribution System
• Functions of Distribution Channels
• What is Channel Design?
• Types of Wholesalers and Retailers
• What is Vertical Marketing Systems?
• What i s Marketing?
• What i s A BCG Matrix?
• 5 M’S Of Advertising
• What i s Direct Marketing?
• Marketing Mix For Services
• What Market Intelligence System?
• What i s Trade Union?
• What Is International Marketing?
• World Trade Organization (WTO)
• What i s International Marketing Research?
• What is Exporting?
• What is Licensing?
• What is Franchising?
• What is Joint Venture?
• What is Turnkey Projects?
• What is Management Contracts?
• What is Foreign Direct Investment?
• Factors That Influence Entry Mode Choice In Foreign Markets
• What is Price Escalations?
• What is Transfer Pricing?
• Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)
• What is Promotion Mix?
• Factors Affecting Promotion Mix
• Functions & Role Of Advertising
• What is Database Marketing?
• What is Advertising Budget?
• What is Advertising Agency?
• What is Market Intelligence?
• What is Industrial Marketing?
• What is Customer Value
• What is Consumer Behaviour?
• What Is Personality?
• What Is Perception?
• What Is Learning?
• What Is Attitude?
• What Is Motivation?
• Consumer Imagery
• Consumer Attitude Formation
• What Is Culture?
• Consumer Decision Making Process
• Applications of Consumer Behaviour in Marketing
• Motivational Research
• Theoretical Approaches to Study of Consumer Behaviour
• Consumer Involvement
• Consumer Lifestyle
• Theories of Personality
• Outlet Selection
• Organizational Buying Behaviour
• Reference Groups
• Consumer Protection Act, 1986
• Diffusion of Innovation
• Opinion Leaders
• What is Business Law?
• Indian Contract Act 1872
• Essential Elements of a Valid Contract
• Types of Contract
• What is Discharge of Contract?
• Performance of Contract
• Sales of Goods Act 1930
• Goods & Price: Contract of Sale
• Conditions and Warranties
• Doctrine of Caveat Emptor
• Transfer of Property
• Rights of Unpaid Seller
• Negotiable Instruments Act 1881
• Types of Negotiable Instruments
• Types of Endorsement
• What is Promissory Note?
• What is Cheque?
• What is Crossing of Cheque?
• What is Bill of Exchange?
• What is Offer?
• Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008
• Memorandum of Association
• Articles of Association
• What is Director?
• Trade Unions Act, 1926
• Industrial Disputes Act 1947
• Employee State Insurance Act 1948
• Payment of Wages Act 1936
• Payment of Bonus Act 1965
• Labour Law in India
• What is Brand Management?
• 4 Steps of Strategic Brand Management Process
• Customer Based Brand Equity
• What is Brand Equity?

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This question is about presentation skills .

What are the four P's of presentation?

The four P's of presentation are Planning, Preparation, Practice, and Performance. As the four P's imply, you need to plan and prepare your presentation, as well as practice. Finally, you need to be aware of your performance during your presentation to make sure you use your skills in an engaging manner.

Planning This step involves clearly defining your objectives, understanding your audience's needs and expectations, and structuring your message to achieve your goals. This phase also includes deciding on the format, technology, or tools you will use for your presentation.

Preparation. This stage requires you to gather all the necessary resources and materials you'll need for your presentation. It's about developing your content, creating visuals, and making sure everything aligns with your outlined plan. You might need to conduct research, design slides or props, or write a script during this phase.

Practice. A critical step to ensure smooth delivery of your presentation. It involves rehearsing your speech frequently until you feel comfortable with it. Practicing allows you to refine timing, tone, gestures, and other non-verbal communication cues. You may also identify potential questions and prepare responses in advance.

Performance. This relates to the actual delivery of your presentation. Being aware of how you present yourself is crucial - your posture, voice modulation, eye contact, and interaction with the audience can greatly influence how well your message is received. A successful performance also requires flexibility and adaptability in case of unexpected issues or questions.

These four P's of presentation are pivotal to delivering an engaging and effective presentation that resonates with your audience.

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The Fallout 4 Upgrade Isn't Free For Owners On PS Plus And They're Furious [Update: Bethesda Is Fixing It, Sorta]

The little-known caveat isn't an issue on xbox game pass.

Fallout 4 's free next-gen upgrade for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC arrives nearly a decade after the post-apocalyptic sequel’s original release. Thanks to the massive popularity of the recent Amazon TV adaptation, fans are ready to clock back to the wasteland. Unfortunately, those who have the game in their library through PlayStation Plus are discovering the upgrade won’t be free for them after all.

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If you purchased the disc or digital version of Fallout 4 for PS4, downloading the next-gen update, which includes a 60fps mode and tons of other improvements, is as simple as going to the PlayStation Store page and selecting the free upgrade option. But players who added the game to their library through a paid PS Plus subscription are now finding they have to pay $20 to buy the entire game all over again.

While Fallout 4 is currently included as a “free” game in the PS Plus Extra library, it was also part of the PS Plus Collection that every subscriber had access to when buying a PS5 shortly after it launched. That version of the game doesn’t qualify for the free upgrade either. Players are particularly irked because this wrinkle wasn’t widely publicized beforehand, even though the paid version of Fallout 4 was on sale for just $5 as recently as yesterday.

“I’m confused,” tweeted Rockstar Games content creator Videotechuk. “I already own Fallout 4 , which was free via PS Plus years ago. But the new version isn’t being granted? It’s asking to pay.” Another popular account, ThatGuyNamedTre, tweeted , “I don’t think Fallout 4 claimed from PS+ are able to update to the PS5 version :( dammit!!”

Other players responded by noting that this isn’t an issue on Xbox Game Pass, where most people also own the game via subscription versus having actually paid for it upfront. PS Plus players have also been flooding the Bethesda Games Discord server with complaints about not being able to redeem the PS5 version. “We’re checking on the PS Plus update,” wrote one of the admin’s there. “Hang tight.”

This is hardly the first time this issue has come up for PS Plus subscribers in the age of free PS5 upgrades. It was a problem with Final Fantasy VII Remake as well. While the PS4 version of the game was free for paid members, they weren’t eligible for the paid upgrade to the PS5 version.

That’s on top of all the other licensing issues players have experienced over the years. It hasn’t been uncommon for PS Plus subscribers to find their original license for a game they bought replaced with the one that expires when their membership lapses. PS5 has a convoluted system for “ restoring licenses ” when players get locked out of their games this way, but it’s still a pain.

Sony and Bethesda didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Update 4/25/2024, 4:22 p.m. ET: Bethesda Game Studios addressed the issue earlier today on social media. “We’ve seen some confusion regarding the free Fallout 4 next-gen update for PlayStation Plus Extra members,” the studio tweeted . “The Fallout 4 next-gen update will be available to PlayStation Plus Extra members through the PlayStation Game Catalog.”

It’s still not entirely clear if this means the update will be free for all players on PS5 or just those with PlayStation Plus Extra. Some players already went ahead and purchased the full game anyway while others try to resist the growing sense of FOMO and wait until the situation is resolved.

Update 4/26/2024, 8:45 p.m. ET: Subscribers to PS Plus Extra and above are now able to download the PS5 version of Fallout 4 (though it seems to be rolling out in different territories at different times), but those who claimed the game through the PS Plus Essentials Collection during the first two years of the console’s life are still locked out.

While Bethesda hasn’t clarified if things will stay that way, a message from the studio’s support channel isn’t reassuring. “ Fallout 4 's Next-Gen Update will be available for PS+ Extra members,” it reads . “We do not have any information regarding PS5 Catalogue or PS+ Essentials.” Affected players in the Bethesda Discord server are still frustrated as a result.

“Guys, I never knew I had a different version than the base game in the catalogue,” wrote one. “What’s the difference between PS Plus Collection and other versions? In the main game menu says free for all players.”