The 4 Ps of marketing as we know them today were originally created by E. Jerome McCarthy in 1960. They have been made more known and accessible by Philip Kotler. How can we apply the 4 Ps of marketing to the digital world of entrepreneurship and service-based businesses? And even more specifically how can we apply them to personal brands?
The 4 Ps of marketing include product, price, place, and promotion. Each of the 4 has a pertinent role in organic marketing as service providers.
How do the 4 Ps of Marketing help with personal branding?
Let’s take a look at how each of the 4 Ps of marketing can be used to help differentiate your personal brand and business from others in your area of expertise.
Product
Your product is what you sell and can be a physical product or a service such as consulting or coaching. For the sake of this article, we will focus on service.
What makes your service unique from others with similar expertise? Why do people need your service? How do you provide your service? What solution does your service offer? These are just a few questions that you can provide answers to in your marketing content.
Your personal branding efforts are how you communicate what makes you different from others in your area of expertise. In short, answer the above questions specifically about your business.
As a service provider, you are the differentiating factor. You are the personal brand and that is what your audience will think, say, and feel about you. Your branding and marketing will help you control that perception.
Your journey, your life experiences, the mistakes you’ve learned from, and how you experienced the problem you now solve for others, are all important facets of how you describe your service and what makes working with you unique (and better).
Likewise, it is important to remember that when writing copy for your website and creating content for social media marketing, email marketing, Pinterest marketing, etc., the key is to make your soulmate clients aware that you understand the problem that they have and have a solution that you can provide for them. You also want to showcase your personality and energy so that you can build the know love and trust factor. Represent yourself authentically and genuinely and stay aligned with your values to attract the right people.
More on building a personal brand.
Price
The second item in the 4 Ps of Marketing is price.
The price you set for your product or service is based on the value you provide – this will impact the perception of your brand and is a differentiating factor between you and others in your niche.
When establishing your price, consider how you want to be perceived. Do you want to be perceived as the highest price in your market, or the lowest? The highest price is often associated with the highest quality, is that what you provide? Charging a high price indicates you believe you are the best in class. If you believe this, wonderful, but be prepared to prove it. Do you want to be perceived as exclusive, or available to anyone? If available for anyone, then charging a lower price will be necessary but that can be accompanied by less-than-ideal clients, especially if you are maintaining quality and have high expectations for your clients. Before establishing your be sure to consider brand perceptions. Are you a Wal-Mart or a Gucci?
In addition, when establishing your price be prepared to address discounts. Will you offer sales or coupon codes? Be prepared for people to ask this of you. Similarly, will you offer payment plans? Establish your pricing structure and sales process in advance to answer these questions upfront. Likewise, be prepared to address objections to pricing.
Place
The third part of the 4 Ps of Marketing is place. Place refers to your audience and where they are located, where you deliver your service, and how you deliver your service.
Where do you promote and sell your service, where can your audience learn more about your service, and where can your audience hire you and/or work with you?
Likewise, do you work with your customers in person or virtually? Similarly, do you work with only local people, or do you provide your service globally?
Lastly, if you work with your clients in person, do you travel to your clients, or do you expect your clients to travel to you?
Promotion
The last item in the 4 Ps of marketing is promotion.
How does your audience find out about you and your service and what strategies do you have in place to tell the world about you and your service? You need to stand out online.
Do you run advertisements, or do PR? Similarly, do you speak for publicity? How do you get the word out about your brand and business to gain the attention of your soulmate clients?
Other forms of promotion may be writing blog posts, email marketing, and Pinterest marketing. Whenever and wherever you can publish content that differentiates you from all others in your area of expertise.
Do you have questions about creating a brand marketing strategy for your brand and business? If yes, I invite you to schedule a discovery call with me. You can ask your questions and we can see if maybe we’re a good fit to work together.
