Having a brilliant business idea and understanding everything about your product or service might yield you some results.

However, the key ingredient that can ensure continuous business growth and success is effective marketing.

Some business owners normally believe that marketing is the act of simply setting up social media pages and giving out a few flyers here and there. One thing they usually fail to understand is that marketing entails understanding your clients’ needs and effectively fulfilling them. As a matter of fact, your marketing strategy should focus on selling solutions rather than goods and services. Customer satisfaction should be the #1 priority.

Business managers need to fully understand who their customers are, where to find them, as well as their tastes. For this reason, you need to come up with comprehensive strategies of business that clearly lay down all the techniques that shall be used to achieve the company’s objectives. Business success depends on supplying the right product at the right price, in the most suitable location, using the most efficient promotion methods. All these comprise the 4 P’s of product, price, place & promotion.

1. Product: The product is the goods or services offered by your business. To succeed as a business, you need to precisely understand your product. This entails knowing its functions and the benefit it offers to your target customers. Therefore, you need to study your target market and identify a need that you can cater to. Thereafter, you should consider the factors that can make the product stand out from your competition within the same market. Finally, consider your branding and product appearance.

2. Price: When determining the appropriate price for your product or service, there are a number of factors you need to consider. First, analyze the cost of production. These entail capital, labor and/or land. Second, take a look at your market position and your competitor’s prices. Thereafter, make sure that your profits are enough to cover additional costs such as advertising and discounts.

3. Place: Placement refers to how the product or service will be availed to the client. In this case, distribution is a fundamental component of placement. You need to assess the available distribution channels and determine the most suitable one for your products in order to maximize ease of access. How clients get access to your product should be in tandem with the rest of your marketing campaign.

4. Promotion: Product promotion is arguably the most important “P” in your marketing strategy. It includes activities such as sales promotions, advertising, public relations campaigns, sponsorships, special offers, and discounts. After outlining all the other strategies, you must inform your target market about your business and its products/services. The channels you opt for must be appropriate with respect to the nature of the product. This will greatly assist in determining the appropriate pricing. Lastly, it is important to differentiate promotion and marketing. Promotion is basically the communication part of the whole marketing activity.

A solid marketing strategy is very crucial for business success. The concept of the 4 P’s of marketing can greatly assist a new business manager in defining the core structure of a business as well as its market position.