The 7Ps of traditional marketing are based on the most important aspects in the marketing world.
In the past, the predominant model was the basic 4Ps: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Although these 4Ps used to be the ones we used to talk about, today it is possible to list more characteristics, taking into account that the world has evolved.
Who created the 7Ps model of marketing?
The 7Ps of marketing model was originally devised by E. Jerome McCarthy and published in 1960 in his book, The 7Ps of Marketing Basic Marketing. A Managerial Approachh which includes:
- Product
- Promotion
- Price
- Place
- People
- Process
- Physical tests
The 4Ps vs. the 7Ps
The 4Ps marketing mix was designed at a time when companies were more likely to sell products than services. The 4Ps represented an early approach to product marketing, when the role of customer service in helping brand development was not as well known.
Over time, Booms and Pitner added three expanded “P’s of Service Mix”: Participants, Physical Evidence and Processes. Later, “Participants” was renamed “People”: the marketing mix encompassing salespeople, customer service reps, recruiting, culture, training and compensation.
Today, it is recommended to keep the 7Ps of marketing in mind when reviewing competitors’ strategies, in terms of product, customer service and so on.
The 7Ps help companies review and define the key aspects that affect the marketing of their products and services. The marketing mix, a very popular marketing model, can also be referred to as the 7P framework for digital marketing mix.
How can I use the 7P model of marketing?
Although sometimes considered old-fashioned, we believe the 4Ps are an essential strategy tool for selecting your scope and is especially useful for small businesses. For startups reviewing pricing and revenue models today, using the Business Model Canvas for marketing strategy is a great alternative as it gives you a good structure to follow.
Businesses can also use the 7P’s of marketing model to set goals, conduct a SWOT analysis and undertake a competitor analysis. It is a practical framework for assessing an existing business and working with the right approaches while evaluating the elements of the marketing mix.
After applying this model you will be able to improve your marketing with many other new methods and terms such as growth marketing.
1. Products/services:
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To start, get into the habit of analyzing your product as if you were an outside marketing consultant brought in to help your company decide whether or not you are in the right business right now.
To apply this you must ask yourself, how can I develop my products and services, is there a product or service I offer that, knowing what I know now, I would not bring out again? Compared to your competitors, is their product or service superior in any significant respect to anything else available? If so, what does it consist of? If not, could you develop an area of superiority? Should you offer this product or service in today’s market?
You must also ask yourself critical questions such as, “Is my current product or service, or combination of products and services, appropriate and suitable for today’s market and customers?”
Whenever you have difficulty selling the number of products or services you would like, learn to develop the habit of evaluating your business honestly and ask yourself, “Are these the right products or services for our customers today?”
2. Pricing/Fees:
The second P in the formula is pricing. Develop the habit of continually examining and reexamining the prices of the products and services you sell to make sure they are still appropriate to the realities of today’s marketplace. Sometimes prices need to be lowered. Other times, it may be appropriate to raise them. Many companies have found that the profitability of certain products or services does not justify the amount of effort and resources that go into producing them.
By raising your prices, you may lose a percentage of your customers, but the remaining percentage generates a profit on each sale. Could this be right for you? Sometimes you have to change the terms of sale. Sometimes, if you spread your price over a series of months or years, you can sell much more than you are currently selling, and the interest you can charge will more than make up for the delay in collections.
Sometimes you can bundle products and services with special offers and promotions. Sometimes you can include additional free items that cost you very little to produce but make your prices seem much more attractive to your customers.
In business, as in nature, whenever you experience resistance or frustration in any part of your sales or marketing plan , this area should be open to reviewing the pricing structure and making sure it is ideal for the current market. This area should also be open to the need to revise your pricing, if necessary, to remain competitive, to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing marketplace.
You can set it as a monthly subscription, a software as a service model based on the number of contacts in the database or taking into account the number of users of the service.
3. Place/Access:
The fourth P of the “7Ps” of marketing is where you actually sell your product or service.
You can sell your product in many different places. Some companies use direct selling, sending their salespeople to meet face-to-face and talk to the potential customer. Others sell by telemarketing. Others sell by catalog or mail order. Others sell at trade shows or retail outlets. Some sell in joint ventures with other similar products or services. Some companies use manufacturers’ representatives or distributors. Many businesses use a combination of one or more of these methods.
You can even have your business online, in a network of partners or as a user group in one country. What new distribution options exist for customers to experience our product, e.g. online, in-store, mobile, etc.
Develop the habit of reviewing and reflecting on exactly where the customer meets the seller to encourage sharing. Sometimes, a change of location can lead to a rapid increase in sales.
Whatever your case may be, as an entrepreneur you must correctly choose the best place for the customer to receive the essential information about the product or service he needs to make a purchase decision. What is yours? In what way should I change it? Where else could I offer my products or services?
4. Promotion:
The third P of the “7Ps” of marketing and sales is to think in terms of promotion all the time. Promotion includes all the ways you inform customers about your products or services and how you market and sell them.
Small changes in the way you promote and sell your products can lead to dramatic changes in your bottom line. Even small changes in your advertising can immediately lead to an increase in sales. Experienced copywriters can often increase ad response rates by 500% simply by changing the headline of an ad.
Companies large and small in all industries are continually experimenting with different ways to advertise, promote and sell their products and services. And here’s the rule: Whatever marketing and sales method you’re using today, sooner or later it will stop working. Sometimes it will stop working for known reasons, and sometimes it will be for unknown reasons. In either case, your marketing and sales methods will stop working and you will have to develop new sales, marketing and advertising approaches, offerings and strategies.
how can we add or replace the combination of paid, owned and earned media channels? Directors speak at events, webinars, helpful guides that are amplified with SEO and effective with SEO. PPC social media advertising is also included, e.g. LinkedIn.
5. Positioning:
The next “7P” of Marketing is positioning. You must develop the habit of continually thinking about how your company is positioned in the hearts and minds of your customers. How do people think and talk about you when you are not present? How do people think and talk about your company? How are you positioned in your market, in terms of the specific words people use when describing you and your offering to others?
In the famous book by Al Reis and Jack Trout, Positioning the authors point out that the way your customers see and think of you is the determining factor of your success in a competitive marketplace. Attribution theory says that most customers think of you in terms of a single attribute, either positive or negative. Sometimes it’s “service.
How do we reassure our clients, e.g., impressive buildings, well-trained staff, a great website, build good company communication with the audience, which reinforces your brand image while building connection, trust and positioning.
Sometimes positioning is based on “excellence”. Sometimes it is “quality engineering,” as in the case of Mercedes Benz. Sometimes it is “the ultimate driving machine,” as in the case of BMW. In all cases, the degree to which that attribute is ingrained in the minds of your customers and potential customers determines the ease with which they will buy your product or service and the price they will pay.
Develop the habit of thinking about how you can improve your positioning. Start by determining the position you would like to have. Ask yourself: if you could create the ideal impression in the hearts and minds of your customers, what would it be? What would you have to do in every customer interaction to get your customers to think and talk in that specific way? What changes do you have to make in the way you interact with your customers to be seen as the best option for their customers?
6. Processes / Packaging:
The next “7P” of marketing is packaging, and in general, internal company processes. Develop the habit of stepping back and looking at every visual element of your product or service packaging through the eyes of a critical prospect.
Remember that people form their first impression in the first 30 seconds of seeing you or some element of your company. Making small improvements to the packaging or external appearance of your product or service can often elicit completely different reactions from your customers.
Regarding the packaging of your company, your product or service, you must think about everything the customer will see from the first moment of contact with your company until the purchase process.
Packaging refers to the way your product or service appears on the outside. While it also refers to your staff and the way they dress and groom themselves, it also encompasses your offices, waiting rooms, brochures, your correspondence and all the visual elements of your company. Everything counts. Everything helps or hurts. It all affects your customers’ confidence in dealing with you.
When IBM started under the leadership of Thomas J. Watson, he concluded early on that 99% of the visual contact a customer would have with his company, at least initially, would be represented by IBM salespeople. Since IBM sold relatively sophisticated high-tech equipment, Watson knew that customers had to have a high level of trust in the salesperson’s credibility. Therefore, he instituted a dress and grooming code that became an inflexible set of rules and regulations within IBM.
As a result, all salespeople were required to look professional in every respect. Every element of their attire-dark suits, dark ties, white shirts, conservative hairstyles, shiny shoes, clean fingernails-and every other trait conveyed the message of professionalism and competence.
7. People:
The last “7P of marketing” is people. Develop the habit of thinking in terms of the people inside and outside your business who are responsible for every element of your sales, marketing strategies and activities.
It is surprising how many entrepreneurs and business people struggle to think about every element of the marketing strategy and marketing mix, and then pay little attention to the fact that each of the decisions and policies has to be carried out by a specific person, in a specific way.
Your ability to select, recruit, hire and retain the right people, with the skills and capabilities to do the job you need, is more important than everything else put together.
To be successful in business, you have to develop the habit of thinking in terms of exactly who is going to perform each task and responsibility. In many cases, it is not possible to move forward until you can attract and place the right person in the right position. Many of the best business plans that have been developed are sitting on the shelf today because [the people who created them] couldn’t find the key people who could execute those plans.
What you should keep in mind when applying the 7Ps of Marketing
When we use the 7Ps of marketing as a model for conducting an audit of our company, you should look at each of the P’s. It is not advisable to ignore an area unless it is completely out of your control.
We are now seeing how AI and machine learning techniques inform more developed marketing mix modeling techniques such as regression and forecasting.
Once you have developed your marketing strategy, with the “7Ps” you can do constant review to make sure it is on track and that you get the maximum possible results in today’s marketplace.
