What is the marketing mix? 4P and 7P mix analysis

According to the definition of marketing, things are pretty simple. All a business has to do is put the right product in the right place at the right time at the right price.

While there is enough truth in this perspective, it takes a lot of work to find out what people want and identify where they shop.

A digital marketing mix is designed to generate sales, leads and successful business. But simply buying ads and hoping that maybe you’ll get lucky won’t deliver results. It’s best to have a marketing plan and rely on the promotion mix suggested by specialists.

Then you need to figure out how to get a price that potential customers are willing to pay and how to attract their attention to your brand. That’s why the marketing mix is the ideal place to start developing your plans for a product or service.

If you want to stay competitive, you need to keep up with what’s happening in the market. Your customers also change over time, so it’s vital to keep up with the latest trends.

It’s important to remember that marketing is a journey, not a destination.

So, if you don’t know exactly what the marketing mix is and how it influences the way any business evolves, it’s time to find out. First and foremost, marketing is an investment in your business. But nothing works by accident. Marketing specialists can advise you on how to invest your time, money and effort in marketing.

In this article you’ll discover everything you need to understand the elements of the mix, the 4Ps and 7Ps, and how to develop an effective strategy based on them.

The table of contents:

1. What is the marketing mix and how does it help you?

A marketing mix is a tool that describes the interactions between the product or service you are selling and online consumers in order to create an overall message that persuades customers to buy.

In short, this mix consists of the combination of factors that can be controlled by a company to influence consumers to purchase the products or services offered.

However, before going into all the elements of the marketing mix – and to avoid confusion between the 4Ps and the 7Ps – you should pay attention to the image below to understand all the components of the marketing mix:

The image above is a simplistic diagram of the elements included in this mix.

It’s a basic concept, but the hard, hard truth is that if you don’t understand these parameters in detail or at all, there’s a pretty good chance you’re missing the key ingredients that can ensure your success.

Philip Kotler defined the marketing mix as “a set of tools that a company can use to achieve marketing objectives among its target audience”.

Also known as the 4Ps or 7Ps of marketing, the concept of the marketing mix is simple and refers to 4 or 7 levels of decision making: Product, Price, Promotion and Placement (distribution) + People, Process and Physical evidence.

2. The 4Ps of the marketing mix:

Conceptually, the 4Ps of the marketing mix were developed by Professor Neil H. Borden to describe the right combination of a particular set of circumstances, specifically the 4 key elements, called the 4Ps of marketing, that form the core of any marketing program run by a business.

The 4 P’s that make up a firm’s marketing mix are:

2.1 Product:

Just as before starting any business it is important to know very well what you need to do, so it is with marketing products, whether physical or intangible.

First of all you need to know your product, what it does, what benefits it offers and how it differs from your competitors, which is why there is a list of questions to which it is important to find concrete answers:

• What does the customer want from the product/service? What needs does it satisfy?
• What features does it have to satisfy those needs?
• Are there features you missed?
• Have you included expensive features that a customer will not actually use?
• How and where will the customer be able to use it?
• What are the sizes, colour and so on?
• What is it called?
• How is it branded?
• How is it differentiated from the competition?

2.2 Price:

Now that you know your product or service well enough, it is time to make pricing decisions.

This element of the digital marketing mix focuses on issues such as profit margin, supply and demand, marketing costs and many other factors. The questions to be answered are:

• What is the value of the product or service to a buyer?
• Are there set price points for products or services in your field?
• Is there a possibility that a small price drop will help you gain additional market share?
• What discounts can you offer?
• How does your price compare with your competitors?

2.3 Promotion:

How are you going to attract the attention of potential customers to your product or service?

In the marketing mix, the promotion aspect focuses on the strategies you can find to get your product in front of your target audience. This element of the marketing mix focuses on aspects such as:

• Advertising
• Public Relations (PR)
• Social Media
• Content Marketing
• Video Marketing
• Search Engine Marketing
• SEO
• PPC Campaigns

Curious to find out what questions you need answered? Here are a few:

• Where, when and how will you deliver your marketing messages to your target market?
• Will you be able to reach your target audience through online, print, TV, radio or billboard advertising?
• When is the best time to promote? Are there seasonal issues?
• How do competitors promote themselves?

2.4. Placement (distribution/leasing):

Another important aspect in terms of the marketing mix is how potential customers are used to interact and purchase.

Whether we are talking about a website or a physical location, you need to understand how potential customers are used to search and find your product or service. Here are some questions to answer:

• Where do buyers look for your product or service?
• What type of store – a specialty boutique or a supermarket? Both or online?
• How can you access the right distribution channels?
• Do you need to attend trade fairs?
• What are your competitors doing and what can you learn from them?

Define and improve your marketing mix. The 4P model can be used to help you decide how to launch a new offering in the market, but also to test your current marketing strategy.

Start by identifying the product or service you want to analyse, then go through the questions mentioned above and answer each one in detail.

Try asking yourself “why” and “what if”. Check your answers and make sure they are based on sound knowledge and facts. If there are doubts about your assumptions, identify any market research or facts and figures you can rely on.

The 4Ps of marketing are just one of many lists that have been developed over the years. Although all of the questions listed above are key, they are only a subset of the detailed survey that is needed to optimize your marketing mix.

3. The 7Ps of the marketing mix:

The 4Ps were conceived at a time when companies’ main business was products and the role of customer service in brand development was not well known.

Over time, Booms and Pitner added another 3Ps, extended to the service area, namely: People, Physical evidence and Processes.

It is now recommended that the 7Ps of the marketing mix be considered together when conducting a marketing mix analysis.

The 7P’s are made up of the 4P’s mentioned above, to which a further 3P’s have been added to help companies analyse and define the key aspects that can affect the marketing of products and services.

The current name used in the industry is: the 7Ps of the digital marketing mix framework.

Companies can use the 7 P model for goal setting, SWOT analysis and competitive analysis.

3.1 People:

All businesses rely on people, from the salespeople who contact customers, to the support service, to the CEO.

People are at the core of a business’ success, which is why they are taken into account in the structure of the 7Ps marketing mix.

3.2 Processes:

A professional can consistently deliver good results. That’s why every business develops and implements systems to ensure that quality standards are always met and therefore the best results are always achieved.

3.3 Physical evidence:

In this aspect it is important to consider the physical evidence that the service has been delivered, regardless of the specifics of the business.

Also, for some businesses, even active physical presence is important, playing an important role in branding.

What factors can influence the marketing mix?

The marketing mix using the 4Ps or 7Ps is not always foolproof. There are certain influencing factors of the marketing mix that you need to take into account:

Factors that influence the marketing mix can be internal or external factors.

Examples of internal factors:

• Product planning
• Price
• Branding
• Personal selling
• Promotional sales
• Physical distribution
• Market research

Examples of external factors that can influence the marketing mix:

• Consumer buying behaviour
• Retailer behaviour
• Direct competition behaviour
• Government behaviour

In short, this is the marketing mix with the 4Ps and 7Ps, but to be really effective for the current context, I think improvements can be made.

That’s why, in the following I will present you some aspects to consider and a modern alternative for the marketing mix.

The marketing mix (4P/7P) has the following limitations:

• It doesn’t tell you how to optimize the 4Ps or 7Ps.
• It doesn’t tell you how to prioritise.
• it doesn’t tell you how to adapt your business to the current digital environment.

Those 3 reasons are enough to bring the Growth Hacking Marketing concept into the scene.

4. Growth Hacking Marketing:

This marketing concept has been at the heart of the success achieved by some of the most well-known companies such as Facebook, LinkedIn, AirBnb, Dropbox and others.

What’s different about growth hacking?

Instead of spending huge amounts of money on outdated marketing ideas and campaigns that can’t be measured, growth hacking offers a modern and creative approach that is based on measuring results and testing.

Specifically, it’s important to make sure that what you offer or want to offer is exactly what people need (product-market fit) and then use creativity to find the most effective ways to get the attention of potential customers and convince them to buy.

We will provide more information about growth hacking in future blog posts. Until then, don’t forget to subscribe to the re7consulting newsletter.

That said, let’s see how to attract the attention of potential customers and grow your business.

5.The support poles of a business:

As in any field, in business or marketing there are some pillars on which everything is built.

The pillars of a business, from a marketing mix point of view, present several decision levels that can help you in your marketing efforts and sales growth.

In short, these pillars represent a set of indicators that, if you improve them, your business will grow steadily.

What are the pillars of a business?

• How do you get potential customers to hear about your business? (NOTORABILITY)
• How do you attract their attention to your business? (ATTRACTION)
• How do you give customers the “AHA!” moment? (ACTIVATION)
• How do you turn potential customers into current customers? (CONVERSION)
• How do you get customers to buy from you again? (RETENTION)
• How do you get customers to generate new customers? (RECOMMENDATIONS)
• It is important to understand that people, i.e. your potential customers, go through a certain process before they buy something.

The 6 pillars mentioned above are based on this process and help you optimize your marketing efforts to get as many people through all the stages as possible. Next, it’s important to understand the current context of people on Social Media and the direction online marketing is heading in 2020.

6. The importance of the marketing mix

The following points explain the importance of the marketing mix:

• Helps to create a chain of clear links between processes

Any properly executed marketing mix should have all P’s compatible with each other. Price should be compatible with product placement. Product should be compatible with promotions. In general, all P’s are intrinsically linked.

As a result, when you make a marketing mix, it becomes a chain of strong links. And these links then guide you to create a longer chain. Whenever you are tempted to add a new feature or change existing things, you need to look at the bigger picture, which helps to create a clean and clear marketing mix for your product.

• The marketing mix helps to develop new products

During the design of an existing product, there are a lot of ideas that can arise for a similar product that the company can design. Price, place and promotions may be different for such a product. However, it can be classified as a new product and therefore, while designing the marketing mix, the company can also come up with good ideas for NPD (new product development).

• The marketing mix helps to develop the product portfolio

Whenever you want to develop a product or product line, you have to make minor changes to the product. Essentially, it refers to minor changes in the marketing mix itself. You can make changes to product features, pricing and possible promotions. As a result, by changing the marketing mix and certain features within it, you will actually end up with an expanded product portfolio.

• The marketing mix acts as a guide to improve a business

Physical evidence has been an important P in the service marketing mix. If a restaurant or interior design business realises that this is important, then naturally they can act accordingly and improve the physical evidence of their business, improving it effectively.

The importance of the marketing mix is obvious if you analyse the four 4p’s that make up the mix. People and processes are also important to the organisation, and optimising both can improve the overall functioning of the organisation. Therefore, the marketing mix is an excellent guide if someone wants to improve their business and does a GAP analysis.

• The marketing mix helps differentiation

When you analyse the marketing mix of your competitors, you will be able to identify different ways to differentiate yourself from the competition. Your business’s direct competitor might have poor promotions and by analysing them, you can create better promotions for your own product or service.

Your competitor might have bad product placement or process or the wrong people for the market requirements. All of these can be improved by formulating a better marketing mix and therefore gaining a competitive advantage in the market.

• Marketing mix helps you to be dynamic

A company that is well prepared can always cope well with change. During a recession or in a poor business environment, a company should be prepared to respond in a timely and efficient manner. In such times, dynamism in the marketing process is needed.

Such a company needs to better understand its product, processes, customers, promotions and in general the whole mix of the 4 P’s. It will then respond quickly and dynamically to grow its business.

7. Online marketing trends for 2022:

I’m sure by now you’ve already heard about marketing campaigns done in collaboration with influencers.

However, even these will undergo changes in the coming period. Some brands are already starting to turn their attention to people (influencers) with a much smaller audience (nano or micro-influencers).

Influencer marketing will become more and more personalised and will no longer be limited to platforms like YouTube or Instagram (how much does it cost to promote on Instagram).

Micro-moments are becoming increasingly important in online marketing from 2020 onwards. Read our article on defining and aligning micro-moments with customer intent.

To benefit from these micro-moments, you need to know what they are, how you can target them and how to show up where potential customers are looking.

Social Media stories are also becoming increasingly important from a marketing point of view. They have the power to:

• Increase brand visibility.
• Achieve constant interaction with your target audience.
• Increase traffic generated by the website from Social Media.
• Reach younger audiences.

At the same time, you should also consider an audio (podcast) and video (YouTube) content generation strategy to provide valuable information to your target audience.

And don’t forget, visual search and voice search are very close to becoming an important micro-moment in a potential customer’s buying process.

I hope the information in this article has helped you and if you have any questions, I invite you to contact us.

How can re7consulting Agency help you?
re7consulting Agency in Bucharest is an Online Marketing Agency that offers complete online promotion services, such as: social media promotion, PPC campaigns – Facebook Ads & Google Ads, SEO optimization.

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter!