It used to be that the marketing mix that people applied to their business’ marketing evaluation followed the guidelines of just the four Ps: product, price, promotion and place. These four Ps were known as the product oriented model of the marketing mix. Now, however there’s another model to follow, the four Cs, which are a consumer-oriented model of the marketing mix. When doing a marketing evaluation for your business, you should first determine which model is best for your company, the four Ps or the four Cs. Since the four Cs are newer to the marketing industry we’ll go through them with you. The four Cs are quite similar to the four Ps and tie into them quite nicely.

The first C is Consumer; by changing the first portion of the model from product (as it is in the four Ps) to consumer, it changes the entire scape of the marketing mix. Now, the focus is on the consumer instead of the product. Price has been replaced by Cost, in relation to the cost of ownership to the customer. For example, what’s it going to cost them to use your product or service? The third C is Communication whereas in the four Ps it’s promotion. Now the focus is on communicating between your business and the consumer. It’s no longer focused on just promoting the product. The fourth C is Convenience. How easy is it for the consumer to find out information about your product or purchase it? If you want to ensure a successful business and an expanding customer base, convenience to your accessing your product is key. Thanks to the internet, this is much easier to do so long as the correct content and information is easy to find online.

Which model you follow, the four Ps or the four Cs, really depends on the industry that your business belongs to. Many people believe that the four Cs are now the model to adhere to, but this isn’t always the case. Carefully consider which type of marketing mix is best for you when doing a marketing evaluation for your company and everything should fall into place just fine.

If you’re just starting out with your small business and you’re trying to determine exactly what your product or brand is offering, you may have heard a term known as marketing mix when working on your business’ marketing evaluation. Your marketing mix can be crucial to your business and goes hand-in-hand with the four Ps of marketing: price, product, promotion and place. Right now we’ll got through the four Ps of a marketing mix and hopefully be able to help you better determine just what your marketing mix should be.

The first of the four Ps is Product. Obviously, your product (or service) is out there to satisfy a need or want from a potential client. Products can be tangible or intangible and all have a growth and maturity phase and then, unfortunately, a decline. Your job when doing your marketing evaluation and determining the best marketing tools for your business is how to avoid that decline and the difficulties that can arise as your product or service moves through the different phases. To do this, you can take into consideration the product mix when doing your marketing evaluation. There are several ways to do this such as increasing the number of product lines you have or the depth of them; in the long run you want your different products to complement one another.

The second P is Price, which is the amount a customer pays for your product or service. Price will determine your profit, revenue and success of your company. If you’re unsure of how to set the prices of your product, it’s best to ensure they complement the three other Ps in the marketing mix for best results.

The third P is Promotion. How are you going to market and advertise your product? This is also a very important part of the marketing mix because if you’re not correctly promoting your product and getting the word out about it, the success of your business could suffer severely.

Lastly, there’s Place. You want to ensure that your product is at a place that is conveniently accessible to your customer base, whether it’s in a store or online. To guarantee a successful business and a good marketing mix, you need to ensure that each of the four Ps complement each other seamlessly.