which part of the business plan includes the 4 p's

What Are the 4 Ps of Marketing? The Marketing Mix Explained [Example]

Published: October 03, 2023

If you've been a marketing professional for years now, learning about the four Ps of marketing might seem like a throwback to you.

However, for those of us who work in the industry but didn't study marketing in college, it's entirely possible you haven't heard of the marketing mix.

Below, let's learn about the four Ps of marketing and how they're still relevant in today's marketing landscape.

What are the 4 Ps of marketing?

The four Ps of marketing are product, price, place, and promotion. These are the key factors that are involved in marketing a product or service. You take the four Ps into account when creating strategies for marketing, promoting, advertising, and positioning your product or brand.

The four Ps are meant to help marketers consider everything about a product or service when they're deciding how to market it for their business. Framing your marketing around the four Ps will help you learn what the competition is doing and what customers want from you.

How to Use the 4 Ps of Marketing

You can use the four Ps to answer questions about the product, price, place, and promotion of your product or service.

For example, you can ask yourself:

• Product : How does your product meet your customer's needs? What problem(s) does it solve? What unique value or features does it offer?
• Price : What is the value of your product? What are my competitors charging?
• Place : Where are customers looking for your product?
• Promotion : How can you differentiate your product from competitors? Where can you reach your audience?

Always consider the needs and preferences of your target audience. Ultimately, your product, its price, its place of distribution, and its promotional strategies should appeal to your customers the most.

Thinking about your marketing in terms of the four Ps will help you strategize how to reach your customers. The 4 Ps of Marketing are also known as your marketing mix — more on that below.

What is the marketing mix?

The marketing mix is also known as the four Ps of marketing. It refers to the four key elements of a marketing strategy: product, price, place, and promotion. These elements guide the marketing initiatives, wording, and positioning for a product or brand.

Free Marketing Mix Templates

Map out your marketing mix with these free templates

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

To develop a marketing mix, you'll need to think about how you can uniquely position your brand amongst the competition. The most important part of thinking about the marketing mix — or the four Ps of marketing — is to understand the customer, the competition, and your company. You'll evaluate your product and how to promote it.

But getting started isn’t easy. That’s why we’ve created the ultimate collection of marketing mix templates you can use to visualize your marketing mix and share it with your employees or investors. Use the templates to organize your initiatives and activities by the right section.

Featured Resource: Marketing Mix Templates

Click here to download the templates for free .

Use the template to follow along with the 4 Ps of marketing below.

The 4 Ps of Marketing (Example)

1. the first p of marketing: product.

When you think about your product, consider exactly what you're selling. Is it a specific product? Or is it a service? Your product can be a physical product, an online app, or a service such as house cleaning. Really, anything that you're selling is the product.

Then, think of your brand messaging, the services you offer, and even packaging. When you define your product, think about what problem your product solves for your customers. Consider how your product is different from competing products. What features are unique to your product?

It's important to know your product intimately so you can market it.

Product Example

We’ll use Marketing Hub as an example.

What is it? “Marketing automation software to help you attract the right audience, convert more visitors into customers, and run complete inbound marketing campaigns at scale — all on one powerful, easy-to-use platform.”

Who is it for? Modern marketers who juggle too much data and who are stuck with impossible-to-use software solutions that make their job harder, not easier.

Which features does it have? Marketing Hub offers blogging, SEO, social media management, email marketing, and ad tracking tools in a single, intuitive platform.

What problem does it solve? Marketing Hub simplifies the marketing automation process for busy marketers by bringing all data and tools under one roof.

2. The Second P of Marketing: Price

When it comes to price, you have to consider how much you're going to charge customers for your products or services. Of course, you need to make a profit.

When coming up with your pricing strategy , you also need to think about what competitors are charging for the same product or service and how much customers are willing to pay. You can also think about what discounts or offers you can use in your marketing.

When you decide on a price, you want to think about perception. Do you want to be known as a cost-effective option in your industry? Or perhaps you're a luxury brand and the price is slightly higher than competition on the market. Keep in mind that pricing SaaS products is a little different than pricing physical products.

Either way, the language you use to market your product will be greatly impacted by the price of your product.

Download a sales pricing calculator for free .

Price Example

Marketing Hub is priced to grow with you as you grow.

We offer the following subscription tiers:

• $0/month (Free)
• $45/month (Starter)
• $800/month (Professional)
• $3,200/month (Enterprise)

3. The Third P of Marketing: Place

When it comes to place, this might mean the physical location of your company, but it could also be defined as anywhere you sell your product, which might be online.

The place is where you market and distribute your product.

Remember that not every place makes sense for every product. For example, if your target market is seniors, then it won't make sense to market on TikTok. It's important to choose the right places to market your product and meet your customers where they're at.

Think about possible distribution channels and outlets you could use to sell your product. Be sure to take into account whether your business is B2B or B2C .

At this point, you'll need to think about how to market your product on all the various channels that make sense for your company.

Place Example

As a provider of a SaaS product, we offer Marketing Hub directly on our website.

Marketers can sign up for Marketing Hub by creating an account directly on our platform. We’ve created a convenient sign-up page for free subscriptions — or they can request a demo from our friendly sales team.

4. The Fourth P of Marketing: Promotion

Promotion is the bread and butter of marketing. This is when you'll think about how to publicize and advertise your product.

Additionally, you'll discuss brand messaging, brand awareness, and lead generation strategies .

When it comes to promotion, keeping communication in mind is of the utmost importance. What messages will resonate with your target market? How can you best promote your product to them?

Think about where, when, and how you'll promote your brand.

Promotion Example

We want to be where marketers are. Most importantly, we want to help them grow in their careers — as well as grow their businesses.

Our inbound marketing strategy will focus primarily on organic acquisition. We’ll promote Marketing Hub over the following channels:

• The HubSpot Marketing Blog
• HubSpot Academy

The 4 Ps of Marketing Examples: Apple and e.l.f. Cosmetics

Let's break down the 4 Ps of marketing for Apple and e.l.f. Cosmetics.

( Image Source )

• Product: iPhones, Macs, iPads, Apple Watch, AirPods, Software, and Services (i.e., Apple Music, Apple TV, iTunes, etc.).
• Price: Apple products are often priced at the higher end of the market. The brand commands premium pricing due to its reputation for innovation, quality, and design.
• Place: Consumers can purchase products online and in retail stores. Apple products are sold worldwide and have a significant global market presence.
• Promotion: Apple places a strong emphasis on cultivating a dedicated and loyal consumer base. Their marketing campaigns reinforce the idea of being part of an "Apple ecosystem." Once users buy one product — like an iPhone – they're more likely to choose other Apple products like MacBooks, iPads, Apple Watches, and more. This ecosystem fosters a deep brand loyalty. This sense of loyalty is evident in their product launches, which are a must-see event in the tech industry.

e.l.f. Cosmetics

• Product: e.l.f. offers a comprehensive range of makeup and skincare products, brushes, and beauty tools.
• Price: One of e.l.f.'s main value propositions is its affordability. Many of their products have a low price point, making the brand accessible to a wide range of consumers. Its lower price point sets it apart from other brands in the beauty space.
• Place: e.l.f. products are widely available in drugstores and big-box retailers like Target and Walmart. It also has a a strong online presence, selling products directly through their website and other online retailers.
• Promotion: As a challenger brand in the beauty space, e.l.f. seeks to establish itself as a recognizable and reliable option at the drugstore and beyond. The brand is proactive across social media, including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, to engage with younger demographics. In addition, their campaigns often involve user-generated content to foster a sense of community with their audience. 

Back to You

Even though marketing has changed since the four Ps were developed, the foundational elements of the industry haven't. You can apply the concepts of the marketing mix to create winning marketing strategies that help you profitably launch and promote your company’s products.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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The 4 P’s of Marketing Mix and how to master it in today's world (updated with example and template)

This article addresses how to use one of the oldest marketing concepts in today's online world: "The Marketing Mix," which is based on the 4 P's: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

If you’re ready to take your marketing seriously, you’ll need to start with a marketing plan. A classic marketing concept called “The Marketing Mix” or “The 4 P’s” of Marketing is a perfect place to start.

The original concept of the 4 P's marketing mix

The original marketing mix, or 4 P's, as originally proposed by marketer and academic Jerome E. McCarthy , provides a framework for marketing decision-making. Effectively summing up the 4 pillars of the business cycle, McCarthy's marketing mix has since become one of the most enduring and widely accepted frameworks in business.

The essential base ingredients of the 4 P’s are: Product , Price , Place and Promotion . While this combination doesn’t appear to be rocket science, a company’s ability or lack thereof to embrace and implement the 4 P’s can make all the difference between thriving and failing as a business.

Each of the 4 P’s build upon and interact with one another, and are governed by both internal and external factors within the business itself, and our ever-changing marketplace. The 4 P’s of marketing primary purpose is to help us take into consideration potential roadblocks to widespread product adaptation and ongoing success.

So let’s get to them, shall we?

4 P's of marketing in simple and familiar terms:

A PRODUCT is a service or good offered to meet consumer interest or demand. It could come in the form of occupational therapy or a fidget spinner - choices are only limited to the imagination, BUT, are highly dependent on marketplace curiosity or need.

PRICE is the cost people pay for a product. This includes base costs (materials, manufacturing, and shipping) plus expenses (rent, office supplies, healthcare, etc.). While you should always look to the competition, a smart business will tap into what people will actually pay for it. That's the only thing that counts. If you can't rise above your bottom line and make your target profit, then it’s a losing proposition.

PLACE is the “home” where the product resides, and that “home” can live in many different channels, such as a physical store display, a newspaper, radio or TV ad, or a website or blog spotlight. Really, a place is anywhere you can get your product in front of your target customers that compliments your budget, including the price point.

PROMOTION is product exposure and public relations efforts via advertising (through the channels mentioned above) as well as word of mouth, direct mail, email marketing and social media. Promotion is a communication tool that encapsulates the first 3 P’s by putting the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time, with the goal of it being irresistible to customers.

The 4 P's example and template for a service business

The Marketing Mix of “HVAC Plumber” reflects a real life example of how a service company covers the 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) in their marketing strategy.

“HVAC plumber” (a fictitious company) provides heating and cooling services in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.

HVAC Plumber marketing mix elements strategy and example:

HVAC Plumber offers industry standard services, but also innovates to provide more value to our customers and captures more of the market. We are insured, licensed and provide warranties for our work. Our high quality services and focus on a pleasant customer experience helps us get repeat clients, referrals, and builds our reputation. Also, our motto is: “Leave the place cleaner than we found it” - so you’ll always see us with a broom in our hands before we leave.

At present, the following are the main categories of HVAC Plumber products:

• Furnace installation and repair
• Water heater maintenance, installation and repair
• Air conditioning installation, maintenance and repair
• Complete plumbing system design and installation
• Drain, sink and toilet unclogging and jet rodding and repairs

Our extra value added products:

• Emergency services
• Indoor air quality testing services
• Air duct and dryer vent cleaning services
• Warranty services
• Equipment sales

Our reputation and successful marketing generates more demand than we can handle, so it allows us to charge premium for our services. We train our service technicians to upsell our other services. We also have a customer loyalty program in place to reward our long-term clients with better rates and provide coupons to first time clients. We also seek partnerships with organizations such as: homeowner associations, insurance companies, builders and general contractors, and offer exclusive pricing options based on quantity.

The company has offices in downtown Chicago, but walk-in customers are unusual. We are physically represented by our company vans, uniforms and warranty stickers. We consistently attend industry trade shows, and belong to the Chicago Chamber of Commerce.

We nurture partnerships with our equipment vendors, participate in their trainings, and have certifications, which allow us to be listed “licensed technicians” on their websites. We serve the Chicagoland Area, which is about a 30 mile radius from our warehouse, but we do make travel exceptions for long-term clients and bigger projects.

Our company website is the most important communication tool, and is a place where our clients learn about our services and make initial contact. We invest a great deal of money and time to keep it updated and useful to our audience. We plan to expand our website to include ecommerce and make some of the package services, equipment and accessories available for purchase online. None of our competitors are doing this at the moment, so we’ll take advantage of being pioneers in this regard.

Most new business comes through our website and we focus all of our promotion efforts to drive more traffic to it. Our promotional mix is as follows:

• Search engine optimization
• Paid traffic
• Social media marketing
• Content marketing
• Email marketing

Our value proposition statement

HVAC Plumber is an industry-leading HVAC and plumbing service provider serving the Chicago area since 1999. We specialize in new installations, repairs, and 24 hour emergency services.

Start with 4 P's of marketing template

Check out our 4 P's of marketing template to help you work through your first few ideas.

But why stop there?

The 7 P’s of marketing mix

Since the inception of the original 4 P’s of marketing, marketing experts have expounded upon the mix to include three additional P’s to enhance brand exposure and sales performance.

These additional P’s include: People , Process and Physical evidence .

PEOPLE have always been at the epicenter of the business world. Whether it’s the company visionaries, the movers and shakers, or the daily doers, unless (or until) commerce is fully automated, you’re only as good as the people who keep the business operational and flowing. And believe you me, customers are quick to notice when there’s a glitch in the matrix.

PROCESSES ensure consistent service delivery to every customer, at any time of day, on any given day. And, a successful business incorporates scenarios where customer preferences can be accommodated to provide them a unique experience.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE – Almost all services include physical proof of a transaction, even if the bulk of what the consumer bought isn’t tangible. It’s something the customer can hold onto and recall about working with you. Physical evidence also describes consistent branding across communication channels.

How can you actually use this?

How the 4 P’s apply in today’s online marketing

The how’s and why’s of how we approach marketing have become much more dynamic since the inception of the internet. However, the driving factor is still and should always remain: PEOPLE. Actually, it’s more about people than ever before. Having an honest marketing approach has never been more important and is both emotionally and financially rewarding if you do it right.

PRODUCT and how it lives online versus the shelf

It seems like not much has changed as far as the product or services goes, right? Wrong. No matter what type of product you offer, the landscape shifted majorly to the consumer benefit. The majority of customers now prefer to shop online, and perform in-depth research before making their buying decisions.

Besides the original, product-related marketing factors such as: product quality and design, branding, packaging, returns and guarantees, in your marketing plan, you should also consider NEW factors.

User-centric customer support - your product now has a digital voice. And it must talk to your audience and be both personalized and timely. Not only across all the common channels such as phone or email, but also should be proactively involved in social media. Resource: Social media customer service 101: the beginner's guide

New PRICING models to consider

Pricing your product or service is never an easy task. It sure helps if you can find a unique product positioning on the market, otherwise you fall into price comparison wars with your competition. And, to compare prices has never been easier than today. The original Marketing Mix suggests considering pricing strategy and tactics, discount structure, payment terms and options for both customers and distributors.

Competition pricing research - this is an in-depth review of the pricing models of your direct competitors. In comparing products, you should focus worldwide. With local services, of course, should compare within your own service area. Remember that you don’t have to anchor your pricing based on competition, but it helps to know the market.

Shipping and handling strategy - it’s not an obvious, but very important factor in online sales conversions no matter the item price. Offering free shipping is one of the most effective purchase incentives. Resource: How to offer free shipping and still make money

"9 out of 10 online shoppers consider free shipping as one of the main reasons why they shop at a particular online store. To offer free shipping is not a new thing, thanks to Amazon it became essential running an online store. The main question now is how to make it profitable. It looks impossible, but with the right approach - offering it most, not all, of the time, setting a flat shipping or order threshold, it is possible."

Diana Bukevicius - Scube Marketing

Product positioning - I know I’m repeating myself, but I have to. Positioning is strongly engraved into each pillar of The Marketing Mix. As far as pricing goes, having strong niche positioning eliminates the number of competitors that your product or service can be compared with and it opens up an opportunity to go for value pricing . Resource: Everything you need to know about pricing

Upsell strategy - this is an underestimated source of cash flow. It’s always easier to sell to the people that already bought something from you and were happy with the product. It can be an additional items or warranties, maintenance or a product upgrade.

PLACE for marketing is now on the mobile screens

Back in the 1940’s “place” was all about brick and mortar. Location, distribution, and logistics are still part of the process, but it heavily shifted from the marketing department to operations. No doubt you’ll boost sales if your product gets featured in physical Walmart stores, but you also can sell at Walmart Marketplace online with way less effort for the approval process. Same goes for Amazon. Online selling has undoubtedly taken over as the place to peddle your wares. Resource: How to sell on Walmart marketplace in 7 easy steps

Website - this is by far your most important marketing piece. It’s your 24/7 storefront and your sales rep that never sleeps. Any marketing efforts that you take will end up on your website. I mentioned 3rd party sources like Walmart Marketplace or Amazon, but I still highly recommend you focus on your own website first and use other sources as secondary. Why? Because you own it and you control it.

Any 3rd party retailer could change their policies tomorrow and you might be out of business. Plus, websites grow more powerful over time if supported by thoughtful and consistent marketing decisions. When you build your website, the decisions on design, structure and content should be made based on your promotional strategies.

3rd party platforms - Your audience is on or a few of these platforms already. Identify those platforms and utilize them. It can take the form of direct eCommerce platforms like Amazon, or it can be social channels like LinkedIn or Facebook etc.

PROMOTION is in your inbox

Search engine optimization (SEO), social media, email marketing and paid search. I hear that Super Bowl ads are worth their weight in gold, but if you can afford a Superbowl ad, you are on the wrong blog!

Jokes aside, make sure your marketing strategy is built around driving traffic to your website and converting it to leads or sales.

Traffic generation - getting targeted visitors to come to your website is the ultimate #1 goal. There are numerous ways you can achieve that, and they’re all worth considering:

Search engine optimization (SEO) - is the practice driving traffic to your website through organic search engine results by optimizing (making relevant) your website for targeted keyphrases. SEO is an ongoing process that requires patience and consistent efforts.

Paid search - in other words - “bought traffic.” Platforms like Google AdWords, Bing Ads or Facebook Ads allows you to buy highly targeted traffic in an auction-type of fashion. It’s typically based on “per click” pricing, where each visitors cost you x amount of dollars.

Social media marketing - is the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites. If you sell to people then it’s a great idea to invest time and effort (and sometimes money) into one or several social media sites. That’s where the people hang-out these days. Resource: Welcome to the beginner's guide to social media!

Email marketing - is the modern equivalent of oldschool direct mail, I believe. Even if one more email in our inbox is the last thing we want or need - email is still one of the best performing marketing tools. Resource: A beginner’s guide to successful email marketing Resource: A comprehensive guide to email marketing platforms

Conversion rate optimization - converting website visitors into leads is the ultimate goal #2 to achieve. Firstly, to be able to calculate conversions you need to have Google Analytics or other tracking system integrated to your website. Conversion rate optimization are an ongoing process where you optimize your website and measure the outcome looking for the optimal version of each page. Resource: Conversion optimization made simple: a step-by-step guide Resource: Learn Google Analytics with free online courses

2 extra P’s from Angle180

The team at Angle180 takes the “4 P's of marketing (Plus 3)” two steps further, to include Positioning and Positive Reviews.

Positioning - again and again. Positioning is a fundamental piece of your marketing plan and your overall business success. Essentially, if you answer all the questions related to each P you’ll arrive to your business positioning statement.

Positioning is how you differentiate your product or service from your competitors in your niche market.

A good positioning statement is the first thing people read when they visit your website. Typically, it’s a 7-10 word sentence on your Home Page that succinctly answers:

There’s a science behind positioning, and it’s wise to research how others in your field describe themselves.

Positive reviews - positive online reviews are pretty self explanatory, but I recommend creating a strategy for collecting positive reviews, as well as dealing with negative ones.

Unfortunately, it’s human nature to take positive experiences for granted and feel revengeful about the negative ones.

Reviews definitely affect local search rankings and customer buying decisions.

Local consumer review survey by BrightLocal reveals the importance of reviews:

97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses in 2017

85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations

49% of consumers need at least a four-star rating before they choose to use a business

Responding to reviews is more important than ever, with 30% naming this as key when judging local businesses

4 P's of Marketing Mix in a slideshow presentation (PPT) and downloadable PDF

Here is a PDF version of 4 P's of marketing presentation.

Our conclusion? The original 4 P’s of the marketing mix withstand the test of time

There is one common trait to all classic things - they never get old or obsolete. So, even with all the changes that technology has brought us, the 80 year concept of The 4 P’s of marketing mix are still relevant and applicable today. Marketing platforms and tools have certainly changed, but the foundation is rock solid. And, let’s hope it always remains personalized and people-driven.

I'm Sarunas Budrikas, CEO of Angle180, a B2B marketing company delivering results through high performance web design and traffic generation.

You can also find me on LinkedIn and Twitter .

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What Are the 4 Ps?

Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images

The 4 Ps is a marketing term that stands for product, price, place (or placement), and promotion. This “marketing mix” of four key marketing factors is the foundation of successful marketing strategies around the world.

Key Takeaways

• At least four key factors, known as the 4 Ps, go into a successful marketing mix and plan: product design, pricing, placement, and promotional strategies.
• Use a marketing mix of all 4 Ps to ensure that your goods or services are marketed effectively to the right customers, in the right way, and in the right areas. 
• Understanding the 4 Ps and creating an ever-evolving marketing plan can help your business adapt, thrive, and grow in a dynamic, ever-changing market environment. 

Definition and Examples of the 4 Ps of Marketing

The 4 Ps were notably identified by Neil Borden, an advertising professor at Harvard University, in a 1964 article entitled, “The Concept of the Marketing Mix.” However, the concept of four essential marketing factors has been around since the 1950s, although it has evolved significantly since then. 

This four-pronged marketing model is used by most successful businesses and is the foundation of comprehensive marketing plans. Here’s more on the 4 Ps:

• Product : The goods or services your business is offering.
• Price : How much the consumer can or will pay for your goods or services.
• Place(ment) : The location or environment where the product will be sold.
• Promotion : How your product is positioned and advertised.

The easiest way to incorporate the 4 Ps is by answering these four questions: What are you offering? How much is it worth? Where can consumers find it, is it priced well, and why should they care?

In the marketing world, these considerations are referred to as “positioning” and help businesses examine their offering in relation to consumers and the market as a whole.

Sometimes, these 4 Ps are expanded to include three more “P” components:

• People : The employees responsible for creating, marketing, and curating your products.
• Process : Procedure management of your products and/or the methods and flow of your services.
• Physical evidence : The physical assets (location, furniture, signage, layout) used to present your product.

The 4 Ps are more than a simple, static marketing plan; the approach is an evolving and cyclical explanation of your business's offering. Using a blend of techniques, strategies, and focus areas, the 4 Ps help business owners ensure that their marketing plan is hitting all the right points of emphasis, consistently, and over time. 

There is a subtle but essential difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan. Marketing strategies are the methods used to execute a marketing plan. Marketing plans are the road maps, or blueprints, businesses create to implement effective marketing strategies.

How Do the 4 Ps of Marketing Work? 

An effective business marketing plan based on the 4 Ps depends on what you're providing to the public, who wants or needs it, how rare or valuable it is, and the strength of your competition. Let's look into what roles product, price, place, and promotions play in building a marketing plan and shaping marketing strategies for businesses.

Quality, packaging, design, materials, and production cost are vital considerations when designing and branding products. To fully understand this part of the 4 Ps, ask yourself, do I have a product worth buying? What makes this a good product? Who would want it and why? 

It’s important to ask questions such as, who is not interested in my product and why? How could I alter my product or marketing mix to accommodate new or more customers? Which designs, price points, promotional tactics, or product placements aren’t working effectively? 

For example, paper plates should be able to hold food well, be made of sanitary materials, have a low cost, be disposable, and readily available. Therefore, marketing gold-rimmed paper plates as a product would be a marketing failure. Offering expensive paper plates defeats the purpose of their invention.

The sizable current target market for paper plates would not be interested in paying more for this product, or in throwing away something of value (gold) when they only desired a time-saving, low-cost convenience product.

Conversely, offering gold leaf on fancy desserts at a top-tier restaurant to a clientele that spends more makes sense. Those kinds of extravagant products are almost an expected part of a high-end dining experience and, therefore, market well. It’s also worth noting that marketing that same high-end dessert on paper plates would not be as popular, for obvious reasons.

When considering the "price" element of the 4 Ps, it's important to consider the two different pricing structures businesses can adopt: cost-based and value-based. Using market research to determine how much niche, mass appeal, or interest your product has is an excellent place to start.

For readily available products in flooded markets with much competition, cost-based pricing is the norm. If the product is not costly, sought after, or unique, basing the price on the cost to consumers makes more sense, and pricing your product competitively will be effective.

Value-based pricing is dependent on the subjective assessments of worth from consumers. Designer clothing, luxury cars, and rare gemstones are examples of value-based-priced products. The rarer the item, the stronger the social and societal value placed on it—and the greater the demand—the higher a price it can command.

In the marketing mix, "place" refers to the location (virtual or real-world) where you will market your goods or services. Consider who wants your product and where they spend the most time. This explains why most marketers spend their largest marketing ad budget on social media and search engines now rather than on TV or Radio. The reason is that the customers spend their time there. The common expression used now is "meet where they are."

Also, consider which kind of promotions work well with that target audience in order to work this angle successfully. Certain kinds of products perform better when marketed in different venues or environments.

Hardware supplies still sell well in physical stores for a large number of reasons. Consumers enjoy being able to handle such products before they buy them. Often, a trip to a hardware store leads to a few more purchases than the customer realized they needed. Selling a tool in a hardware store or lumberyard is still a smart move, in addition to offering it online .

Placing your product where it makes sense to do so (and where your target audience expects it to be) is smart marketing. That said, innovative, guerrilla marketing (a term for marketing in an unexpected location where consumers least expect it) can also be highly effective. Sometimes the element of surprise can be a powerful addition to a marketing plan.

For other products, sales in physical stores don't make sense anymore. Streaming services , apps, and software programs or services are great examples of this. There is nothing physical to buy, so the promotion, price, place, and product all happens in one place—virtually. This keeps production and advertising costs down and ensures that the products or services are readily accessible and serviceable, improving customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth marketing.

Promoting your product successfully depends heavily on the other three marketing-mix factors as well. For example, how you promote your product or service depends on what kind of offering you have, where it will be sold, how much it costs, and who your target market is.

For example, promoting the launch of your new app through a newspaper advertisement may not make much sense logistically (as your target market may not even see it), but promoting its launch through TikTok videos or Instagram ads does.

Within the 4 Ps marketing mix, you can morph promotional ideas from your marketing plan. Which blend of promotional tactics or strategies will work best for your product? Consider possibilities such as advertising on social media, targeted public relations (PR) releases, personal selling campaigns, direct marketing, and sought-after sales promotions.

Prof. Neil Borden. " The Concept of the Marketing Mix ." Accessed June 14, 2021.

Harvard Business Review. " A Quick Guide to Value-Based Pricing ." Accessed June 14, 2021.

The 4 P of Marketing: Explained (with Examples)

Article last updated on August 20, 2021

I love to talk about marketing strategies because it is one of those things that can actually help you in growing your business and one of these strategies is definitely the Four P of marketing.

The Four Ps are an acronym for Product, Price, Place & Promotion.

So what does this ultimately mean?

It means that if we want our customers to buy from us then we need to be able to provide a product or service they will find valuable enough to pay for.

We also have to price it at a level where they won’t feel like they’re being ripped off.

And finally, we should promote ourselves in ways that get our message across effectively.

In contrast, here are three things I don’t think any company wants their customer to do:

• Pay too much – If you charge more than necessary, you’ll lose potential buyers because they’ll look elsewhere.
• Not use your services – You may not even know how good your products or services really are!
• Ignore your promotion efforts – It doesn’t matter how many times you try something new; if no-one knows about it, it didn’t work.

Therefore, let me show you why these four P’s are important and how you can start using them today.

So firstly, let’s define what is 4P in marketing and then break down each of the four Ps individually.

What Is The 4P In Marketing

Well, there are two main parts to the 4Ps.

The first part is ‘Product’ which refers to the actual thing you offer. This could be physical goods, digital content, events, experiences, etc.

Then there’s ‘Promotion’, which simply means getting the word out about your product or service. In other words, making sure others know about it i.e. marketing communications.

We could spend time talking about the process of customer decision making and how this relates to 4Ps, but let’s take a closer look at each of the four Ps separately because that will give you even better understanding for more focused marketing strategy .

1st P is Product

Just like the name suggests, Product refers to the actual thing you’re offering.

It can be anything from a physical item such as clothes to digital content such as an eBook or courses.

Products also come in all shapes and sizes too so it’s important you segment what you offer.

This will make it easier for you to market to different target markets and to boost your overall results.

What should be included in your product or service? In other words, what will people get from it?

Again, think practically and try to come up with a shortlist of 10-20 features or benefits explaining why someone would want your product or service.

For example: Now think about whether there are any additional services that could complement your offering.

List them out – 10 to 20 items.

On top of that, think about what you could give as a free gift to your potential clients.

This is relatively easy if you work in a service-oriented business, but even companies that manufacture and sell physical goods can consider giving away something of value for free.

The goal here is to create an overview of the entire product or service and then highlight everything it has to offer. What do customers get from purchasing it?

Here’s an example of a product with multiple layers:

Sometimes, it’s not possible to decide on which features you want to highlight right away.

In these cases, think about the quality of your marketing materials.

If they are flashy but basic, people may be more inclined to focus on just what they see on the surface rather than anything else that might be hidden inside.

That being said, I’d recommend creating something realistic for your first try.

It’s simpler and usually works better than coming up with something over-the-top at first.

2nd P is Price

I don’t need to tell you that this is of high importance because all organizations are concerned with price.

It’s an intrinsic part of any business. If people won’t pay for it, the business can’t survive!

If you’re selling a service or product then price is what your customer pays to own it.

And if you want to sell more of that service or product , you have to increase the price and so on and so forth.

You should also think about whether you want to charge based on value or the number of features.

In other words, are people really likely to buy something because it costs more (value-based pricing) or are they more likely to be interested in what you have to offer no matter how much it costs (feature-based pricing)?

That’s a tough question and there’s no one right answer.

On one hand, we all know that paying less is always good unless you’re talking about convenience or quality.

I mean, let’s face it – nobody wants a cheap haircut if it looks like someone butchered their hair with hedge clippers! So charging based on value might not work all the time.

On the other hand, there are people who will purchase an item no matter how much it costs just because they really need or want it.

It all depends on your budget and willingness to take a risk.

If you have a small capital investment, I’d recommend starting with value-based pricing since it’s easier to scale and can be more effective in the long run if executed properly.

If you’re going big, though, go straight for feature-based pricing and make sure that every penny is worth it!

The most important part of deciding on price is determining what you need to earn from each sale in order to achieve your goals.

For instance, let’s say you came up with 10 features and benefits that explain why someone should buy from you. Of course, your goal is to sell each product or service for the highest possible price!

But how much could you earn?

To make this decision easier, divide the total cost of creating your product by the number of features you have and then multiply that result by 100.

For example: Let’s say it costs $1,000 to create a set of 4 pillows with different designs (colorful feather pillows will look good on our bed).

Each pillow has 1 feature (feathered edges). That means I need to charge at least $25 per pillow if I want my goal ($50,000) to be realistic.

Then, just add up all the expenses related to making each pillow and divide it by the total number of features.

The result will be the price for each feature (in this case, $5 per pillow). This is what people have to pay for your product or service.

Finally, add up all the prices for each feature and multiply it by 100 to find out what the end cost is.

Of course, you can always adjust these numbers later on depending on how much profit you want to make or how competitive your market is.

3rd P is Place

Place refers to where your products or services are available.

Once you’ve decided whom you want to sell them to (target market), it’s important that you let them know how and where they can get hold of what it is you’re offering.

What are some ways we can do this? Well, if you have a website with an online store then that is one place where they can get it. Or, in other words, on your site.

Think about it like this – if all else was equal but the place differed, which option is more favorable from a marketing efforts standpoint?

Think about your target audience, their preferences and buying habits.

Here’s an example of a business that has a lot of options for placement:

It can be offline or online. Even better – it can be both!

It might not make sense to do this at first, but if you’re planning ahead, then this is important information to keep in mind.

Alternatively, if you want to start out with something simple and relevant right away, think about advertising on websites that match your target audience’s demographics and interests based on publicly available data.

Also consider places where people are likely to look for products like yours (i.e., Google search results).

If you’re not sure what works best for your business just yet, try doing some research.

4th P is Promotion

This one is a biggie and encompasses all the ways you communicate your product or service to your customers.

Once you have a plan for yourself, it’s time to start promoting your business in the wild.

There are many different ways to go about this – email campaigns , social media marketing, content creation and sharing… The list goes on and on!

I’d recommend starting small with a few ideas you know will work and then expand from there once you’ve seen some results.

However, stay realistic – take into account any limits or obstacles that may keep you from being successful and adjust accordingly (by changing strategies or lowering your expectations).

New businesses can be particularly vulnerable to failure if they concentrate too much on promotion while neglecting other important areas such as product development.

Remember that people tend to be more attracted to what they already know or have experienced in the past.

In other words, it’s better to create something great (or at least very good) and promote your services instead of offering poor quality products / information that nobody really wants.

You may also want to consider keeping costs low by finding partners for joint promotion efforts.

Do you know any businesses that would be willing to promote your product if you did the same? When done correctly, this can save a lot of money while providing both parties with additional exposure.

Collaborating with another business doesn’t necessarily mean less work – quite the opposite – but it does provide meaningful results faster than promoting on your own.

Here’s an example of a new business owner who is doing pretty much everything right from a marketing standpoint:

She has created a simple, realistic plan.

She has gathered all the necessary data and done her research.

Her plan reflects her business’s greatest strengths and weaknesses.

She is promoting herself both online and offline – via email campaigns, social media ads etc.)

Finally, she is using marketing materials that are relevant to her target audience.

Once you’re able to incorporate these four P into your own business model, you’ll be well on your way towards successful long-term growth.

In summary, here are some tips for implementing the 4Ps into your marketing strategy:

• Product – Find your business’s greatest strength and match it to a product / service that meets the needs of your target audience. Keep in mind that you can always offer several different products or services, but they should all fit into your overall business model.
• Price – Decide on a price that’s fair to your customers. You can always raise prices later, but it’s much harder to lower them. Lastly, take advantage of alternative pricing schedules (such as “buy one get one free”) when appropriate.
• Place – Determine where you want to sell your products and services – offline or online? It’s important to do the proper market research before making a final decision.
• Promotion – Decide how you plan to promote your business – with or without an online presence?  It’s also important to create realistic goals based on your resources (money, time etc.). A very small investment in promotion is often better than no effort at all.

And remember, the most important ‘P’ here is to be persistent; whatever you’re selling, follow-through and stay focused on your target market.

And of course, keep experimenting until you find what works for you!

Now that we have covered all 4P’s, I want to give you an example of combined 4P framework so you get even better understanding of each one of them.

Marketing 4Ps Example

The first example.

The first example shows us that a business has an existing product that they are offering.

The business also offers other products and services in addition to this one, but the first is being used as a primary example.

The business is offering $10 worth of service for the month, which would be equivalent to $120 if purchased continually without stopping.

The place of purchase is online only and there will not be any offline delivery.

One key factor that may reduce the amount of profits made from this particular product would be its exclusivity.

It appears that only one individual or group could use it at a time, which makes it difficult to market on a larger scale when you need more customers than that.

However, because this production happens almost entirely online, costs can easily go down by cutting out traditional advertising methods.

Traditional forms of advertisement such as televisions, newspapers and radio usually cost a lot to maintain each month.

The content for these advertisements are also created at the same time which means that multiple people are needed to create them.

Digital marketing is much more efficient in terms of money spent on advertisement.

With Facebook, these ads can be carefully targeted based on demographics and other useful information about the audience being advertised towards.

The place of this business’s product is almost entirely online.

This means that no additional physical infrastructure needs to be built by order to fulfill the demand for customers who would use it outside of their home/office computers.

The second example

The second example shows us that the business produces a product that can be delivered directly to customers for a price.

The service being provided is also unique in that it can only be purchased from one location, unlike common products such as food/drinks and electronics which have multiple stocked warehouses across the country.

Since this product is not something your typical customer would use on a daily basis, there are no additional costs involved other than the initial purchase cost.

There are plans to offer more services like this in the future but they will work independently of this set up so it does not affect profit margins or cash flow.

The place of this business’s product is both online and offline, however this one offers a service for the price of $60+.

If it was sold in physical stores, which are usually more expensive to run than their online counterparts, then average consumers would not be able to purchase the products regularly because they would have less money left after paying for rent/utilities and other living costs.

When a customer purchases this product, it also comes with access to the service provider which means that traditional advertising methods are not necessarily required.

It is believed that most sales come through people visiting and reading information posted by this company on social media websites such as Facebook and Instagram.

This type of business has its customer service section separated into individual stores or businesses that are a part of the overall brand and image.

If traditional advertising was used then it would be very costly to advertise on such a large scale so it is not believed that this method is currently being used (if at all).

The main marketing tool for this company may involve social media instead.

In addition to that, this business has a website as well which may be visited by customers in order to learn more about the product.

They have integrated themselves into the online community in order to market their product and service offerings on a global scale.

Many people have heard of this brand or company before so it is not necessary for them to market themselves as heavily since they already have a certain amount of recognition among potential customers.

Marketing through social media has proven itself as an effective method for promoting information on a large scale so it’s possible that most new customers are attracted to buy from them based on what they see online rather than recommendations from other customers.

After having a positive experience with their product, many customers may recommend them to others through word of mouth which is considered to be the most effective way for businesses to attract new customers.

As stated previously, since there are no costs involved in running this business aside from paying for advertising, they can scale faster.

In conclusion, marketing should be focused on helping others achieve success.

The four Ps framework helps us identify which parts of our businesses require improvement.

By using these tools, we can improve our own personal performance while simultaneously improving the quality of our service offerings.

Marketing 4P Mix

Marketing mix is often associated with the 4 Ps of marketing, but it’s not strictly limited to those four elements.

For example, in addition to the 4Ps, there’s also a fifth element that’s important for businesses – Product Life Cycle (PLC).

But also there can be even more elements to a marketing mix, like 6Ps or 7Ps. This is known as the extended marketing mix.

Of course each element must be matched with specific consumers’ needs and preferences.

Ideally the buyer’s decision making process can be divided into five stages:

• Problem recognition
• Information search
• Evaluation of alternatives
• Purchase decision
• Post‐purchase behavior

The customer buys a product at one stage in the process, while he/she may consider other options at different stages.

Problem recognition and information search are the first two stages in the decision making process.

This is where marketing campaigns can be targeted to create awareness about a product and to make potential buyers aware of its benefits.

Next comes the evaluation of alternatives , which means evaluating different brands and their products.

This is where the competitive successful marketing strategy comes into play.

Buyers can be influenced by internal and external information that surround him/her during all stages in this process, but especially at evaluation of alternatives.

When consumers are presented with two or more choices, they will try to estimate their relative worth by comparing different attributes of each option.

In other words, the marketing mix plays a huge role for each key element.

In order to be able to influence consumers, marketers must first know their needs and wants in advance.

As mentioned earlier, the traditional marketing mix (4Ps of marketing) are considered to be: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

Other elements can include more or less factors that affect the overall marketing performance.

Information about competition is also important when evaluating potential market opportunities and threats.

For example, if your product isn’t differentiated from others it’s much harder to sell it as compared to other products with different (or additional) features.

If you’re starting a new business in an existing market where there’s lots of competition – without being aware of competitors’ strategies etc., you may end up trying to sell a product nobody needs.

If this happens, you can always adjust your marketing strategy by making minor or major changes in the 4Ps.

For instance, changing prices might help you gain some customers who were previously unwilling to buy because of high prices.

This would potentially improve customer experience especially if pricing decisions were a main friction point.

However, if you don’t have any idea what kind of pricing strategy would work best for your particular situation, then you should probably start off with something simple.

You could offer free samples, discounts on certain items, special offers, etc.

These tactics won’t cost anything upfront, so you’ll get immediate feedback on how effective these approaches are.

All in all, the most successful businesses tend to focus on providing great value to their target audience and they do this through offering unique solutions to problems, creating useful content, building trust, delivering superior service, etc.

Remember: The goal isn’t necessarily to spend money; rather, it’s to generate leads and increase conversions.

Once you know what type of lead generation works best for your business, you can decide which channel to invest time and resources into.

4P in marketing plan

I want to show you how you can incorporate 4P in your marketing plan. This especially works well for digital 4P integration.

Let’s say that you already have a business, you are profitable, but you want to grow even more. You also realize that there is still room for improvement.

In order to achieve this, you should start by analyzing where you stand today.

What does your current situation look like? How much revenue did you earn last year? Did you lose any customers during the past 12 months? If yes, then you probably didn’t improve enough over the years.

If not, congratulations! Your business is doing fine right now.

However, you might be missing some opportunities to expand further.

To figure out what could help you grow faster, you must analyze all aspects of your business.

For instance, do you sell products directly through eCommerce websites? Or do you offer free samples? Do you provide customer support via phone calls or email messages? Are you using social media platforms to promote your product?

If so, great job! Now you’re ready to move forward.

Now we came to the part on how to implement the 4 Ps strategy successfully…

Here are some tips from personal experience developing growth strategies for my clients.

I recommend starting small by creating a simple landing page. Then test different variations of content and calls-to-action.

You may also consider using split testing software like Optimizely or Google Analytics so you can easily compare results across multiple versions of pages.

When you’ve found something that converts better, keep improving it! And always stay true to yourself and your brand.

Here’s quick recap:

• Who am I targeting?
• What problems do they face?
• How can I help them solve their problem?
• Focus On One Goal At Once – It might seem tempting to try to tackle several issues simultaneously, but this approach usually ends up being counterproductive. Instead, focus on one thing at once. If you want to grow your email list, then make sure all other aspects of your campaign revolve around building subscribers.
• Be Consistent – It is important to stick to your guns and not deviate too far from your original vision. Otherwise, people won’t trust you anymore. They will expect you to change direction every now and again. So, if you want to build long term relationships with your audience, you need to show them that you mean business.
• Don’t Forget To Measure Results – The most effective way to measure success is through data. Make sure you track everything – including clicks, impressions, bounces, form submissions etc. It doesn’t matter whether you use tools such as Google Analytics or Hubspot . Just make sure you collect enough information to see trends over time.
• Keep Improving – Don’t stop improving your user experience and conversion rate just because things are working well. Always strive to improve upon what’s already been done. The more effort you put into making changes, the faster you’ll reach your goals.

Questions About The Four Ps

Can i have a successful marketing plan without 4ps.

Yes, of course! But it will be much more difficult and time consuming than with the help of these four Ps.

So, don’t worry about having an “all in one package” solution.

You should start with whatever works best for you.

And remember – there is no right answer here. Every company has its own unique needs and challenges.

Do I need to have a marketing team and marketing process to use 4Ps?

No, not at all! You can do it yourself with the help of these two things:

• A good sales funnel. This allows you to segment your leads based on where they came from and how many times they visited your site before submitting contact info.
• An autoresponder service. These allow you to send automated emails to your contacts after they sign up for your newsletter.

These two things alone will get you started.

Then, add some analytics, social media management and content creation.

This way you will have an insight into what works to polish your 4Ps and improve your marketing process.

Is there some other marketing model besides 4P that I should be aware of?

The four Ps are a good starting place, but they’re not the only way to think about your business and its customers.

There are plenty of different models out there.

Don’t obsess over these things for long because you should pay attention to three main KPIs and your marketing model will be a secondary priority.

These three KPIs are:

• NPS : This metric measures customer loyalty by asking questions like “How likely would you recommend our product/service?” and “What percentage of your total revenue did we generate?”.
• CAC : This is basically the cost required to acquire each new customer. For example, let’s say you spend $100 per lead generated. If this number is high then you might consider lowering your price points. On the contrary, if it’s low then maybe you could increase your prices.
• LTV : This is calculated by multiplying the average lifetime value of a customer by their retention rate. In simple terms, it means how much money does your current customer bring in compared to the amount spent acquiring him.

Will 4Ps marketing reduce costs for my marketing budget?

Yes it will and it does that by reducing time wasted on ineffective activities.

You’ll save lots of time and effort which you can use to focus more on growing your company instead of wasting resources on unproductive tasks.

Which of the 4P of marketing is most important?

I think it’s all about your target audience and their needs, right? So, I would say 1st P i.e. Product and combine it with your ideal customer.

Let me give you a few examples on why: If you sell software products, you probably know who your ideal customer is.

• But do you really understand them?
• Are they looking for something specific?
• What problems do they face when buying from you?
• How can you help them solve those issues?

That’s where you start!

You don’t need to go deep into psychology here.

Just ask yourself: Who am I trying to reach? Why do they need my solution? And what problem do they face while searching for solutions online?

Then try to find out what kind of content they’re interested in reading.

Now you have an idea of what type of blog posts you should write next.

If you sell services, you may also identify your ideal client but you won’t get as many opportunities to talk directly to them.

Instead, you’ll have to rely on indirect ways such as surveys, case studies, testimonials, etc.

To overcome this challenge, you can still apply the same principle.

Find out what people like about your service and offer similar features in your product.

For example, if you provide web design services, you can include freebies like templates, icons, fonts, etc.

If you sell physical goods, you can simply look at your competitors’ catalogues and see what types of items they carry.

Or even better, visit local stores and observe what kinds of things people actually purchase.

This way you can figure out what exactly your potential clients are looking for.

So, how much money did you spend on advertising last year? Did you notice anything different after spending so much money? Probably not because you didn’t take enough actionable data before making decisions.

All in all, these four Ps in marketing are very powerful tools that every entrepreneur should use to their advantage.

They help us understand our customer base and give us insight into who exactly we need to reach out to.

It helps us create relevant messages that resonate well with our customers.

We can then tailor our message accordingly based on their interests and preferences.

It allows us to make informed choices regarding our business strategy and ultimately leads to higher conversion rates.

In short, the Four Ps of marketing are extremely useful tools that any business owner must master.

• Product- Ideal Customer : A persona is a fictional character used to represent one or more real individuals. In marketing terms, it’s someone who represents a group of consumers.
• Price-Value Proposition : Price is only part of the value proposition. Value includes quality, delivery time, reliability, support, brand name, etc.
• Place-Geography : Place refers to the location of your target audience. Geographical targeting involves selecting geographic areas which match certain criteria.
• Promotion-Channel : Promotion channel is where you advertise your products.

Hopefully now after reading this article you have a complete understanding of 4Ps of marketing. I wish you good luck!

Marko Matijasevic

Marko is performance-based growth strategist, focusing on business growth while maintaining a strong emphasis on authenticity in every individual he works with.

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4 P's of marketing: How to achieve the perfect marketing mix

The 4 P’s of marketing are price, promotion, place, and product—the four key factors every marketer should use to guide their campaign strategy. Our guide covers the 4 P’s of marketing and gives a breakdown of each step involved.

The 4 P's approach works for any industry, and can be applied to any business, from solopreneurs to enterprise organizations. In our guide, we'll cover what the 4 P’s of marketing are, then break down exactly how to incorporate them in your next marketing campaign.

What are the 4 P’s of marketing?

The 4 P's stand for product, price, place, and promotion, the four primary factors that marketers need to consider when designing a campaign strategy.

A marketing strategy should:

Communicate what the product will provide the customer

Demonstrate why the product's value fits its price

Appear in the places the company's target audience will encounter them

Use effective promotion strategies to reach potential customers

Keep these four objectives in mind as you craft your marketing strategy. The 4 P's should influence your product positioning, marketing channel selection, advertising decisions, promotional strategy, and copy choices throughout the campaign.

How do the 4 P’s work?

Knowing what the 4 P’s are isn't very helpful unless you also know how to implement them in your marketing strategy . Below, we'll break down each P to help you better understand what they are, why they're important to your marketing efforts, and how you can incorporate them into future campaigns.

The first P: Product

In the marketing mix, "product" is shorthand for whatever it is that you're selling, whether it's a physical product or a service. A strong marketing campaign starts with a clear and detailed understanding of the product and how it appeals to the target customer.

For example, a car advertisement that only highlights details like what the car looks like and how much it costs isn't very compelling. Guided by a complete understanding of the product they're selling, a more skilled marketer might pitch an SUV crossover advertisement that emphasizes unique safety features in order to specifically target parents of small children. 

Example product questions

What problem is your product solving? Consider what challenges your target customers encounter and what impacts those challenges have.

Who is your target customer? Think about what type of person is most likely to find value in your product.

How does your product address your target customer’s needs? Home in on how specific features of your product address specific customer demands.

What does your product offer that competitors' products do not? Determine how your product solves customers' needs more quickly, effectively, or affordably than competing products.

Put yourself in your target customer's shoes to more thoroughly understand what your product has to offer. With a better understanding of the specific ways in which your product offers value to the customer, you'll be able to market that product more effectively.

The second P: Price

The second P of marketing stands for “price.” This is how much you should charge for your product in order to make a profit. When creating your pricing strategy, a good place to start is by looking at your competitors. 

Checking how much your competitors charge gives you a good sense of how much potential customers are willing to pay for similar products. Combine that with the perceived value of your product—in other words, what you want your price to imply about your product. Are you a luxury, standard, or budget option?

You can use your marketing messaging to focus on these different price points. Don’t forget to also think about coupons, discounts, offers, and bundles that are popular in your marketplace.

Example price questions

What do competing products cost? This is a great starting point for market research and gauging your product’s price range.

How much are your customers willing to spend? Thinking about how much your potential customers are willing to spend will help give you a price cap.

Can your product have multiple price points? Looking at the potential to have several price points for different levels of subscriptions or products can open you up to a larger demographic.

What does your product cost to create? Understanding how much it will cost you to make a product or provide a service will help you determine your profit margins.

If you've priced your product correctly, you should be selling it at a cost that's affordable for your target customer and still brings in a profit.

The third P: Place

The third P of marketing stands for “place.” This encompasses where you are in relation to where your customer is, as well as where you need to place your advertising in order to reach your target audience.

It doesn't take a master strategist to know that a physical product or service needs to be available where potential customers live, shop, and work. However, place will impact your marketing strategy, too.

If you operate a physical store, it's unlikely that customers will come from far away to buy your product. Generalized marketing methods will always be effective, but you may get a greater return on investments in local SEO, advertising in town newspapers, and co-sponsoring community events.

The same principle applies to locating your target audience online. For example, if you're targeting Gen Z social media influencers, you'll probably be wasting valuable budget by advertising on platforms that cater to older audiences like Facebook or LinkedIn.

Example place questions

Where does your target customer purchase similar products? Think about whether your potential buyers will purchase your product in a store, conference, online, etc., in order to determine the best place to sell your product.

Where is your customer located? Knowing where your customer lives or spends their time shopping is an important aspect of developing a marketing strategy.

Are you business or consumer-focused? Deciding whether you are selling directly to individuals or businesses will help you determine where to sell your new product.

Where are your competitors selling their products or services? Use your successful competitors as a guide on where to sell your products. They are great indicators of which place(s) will be most successful.

The fourth P: Promotion

The last P of marketing stands for “promotion.” If product is what you're selling, price is how much you're selling it for, and place is where you're selling it, then promotion is how you're promoting the sale. 

In designing your promotion strategy , think through how you want your messaging to be received. Is your brand fun and clever, upscale and luxurious, or serious and intellectual? Nail down your brand voice and then keep it consistent across all of your marketing.

It's also important to determine what messages will perform well on different platforms. A multiple-paragraph post will be ignored on Facebook or Instagram, but might make an excellent SEO opportunity for your blog. You might be targeting audiences that use both LinkedIn and TikTok, and you may even be promoting the same message across channels, but you'll need to tailor the format of your content to match each platform.

Example promotion questions

Who is your target audience? Understand who you're speaking to so you can decide what voice and tone will resonate the most.

How do you want your brand to be perceived? Think about what brand personality makes sense for your product and industry.

What distribution channels does our target audience use to consume information? Don't sabotage your message by promoting it in the wrong place.

How are competitors promoting their products? Using your competitors as your guinea pigs for promotion experiments is a great way to find out what works and learn from their mistakes.

Can you capitalize on seasonality? If your target audience's behavior changes drastically from summer to winter, create different marketing strategies for different times of the year.

4 P’s vs. 7 P’s of marketing: What’s the difference?

The 4 P's first appeared in a book called Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach that was published in 1960. Though the 4 P's are still just as applicable today, the original marketing mix didn't account for modern factors like the specific challenges of online marketing or the massive variety of products available today. 

That's why some marketers like to use an expanded list that contains an additional three P's: people, physical evidence, and process.

The 7 P's of marketing

The 7 P's of marketing include the original four (product, price, place, and promotion) plus three people, physical evidence, and process.

People represent a company’s internal team and staff members that provide a service or sell the product. Impressing potential clients with great customer service is important because many people can’t separate their feelings toward a  product from their buying experience.

Physical evidence is "proof" that the claims and statements you're making in your marketing and advertising materials are true. This proof can include customer reviews, case studies, and testimonials that show your target audience that your existing customers are satisfied with your product.

Process pertains to the transportation and delivery of your product. Word-of-mouth is one of the most effective forms of advertising there is, so investments in safe and speedy delivery, pleasant purchasing interactions, and effective customer support are really investments in marketing.

Use the 4 P's to start your marketing campaigns on the right foot

The 4 P's aren't something you can implement as an afterthought. To utilize the 4 P's effectively, incorporate them into every step of your marketing campaign. 

From your initial organizing stages all the way through to campaign launch, the presence of the 4 P's should be evident in your marketing strategy every step of the way.

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Marketing vs. advertising: What’s the difference?

11 The 4 Ps: Product, Price, Promotion, and Place

The 4 ps: product, price, promotion, and place  maybe call this what are the 4 ps rather than repeating the chapter title  .

by Richard Hochhauser

The 4 Ps are used as a description of marketing in general, an outline or sections of a marketing plan, or as a description of the marketing mix. They are:

Price – the amount charged for the good or service (offering), and what impact this has on the brand

• Product – an offering that’s for sale

Promotion – sellers telling about and selling the offering to prospective buyers

Place – where the product is made available, sold, and delivered

This initial view of the marketing mix was described in 1960 by Jerome McCarthy in his book Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach and is shown in Figure 1.1.

There have been clarifications and changes to the 4 Ps model since then, though one could argue that most of those changes can easily be incorporated into the definitions of each of the 4 Ps, as shown below:

• Price – the amount charged for the good or service (offering)
• Promotion – sellers telling prospective buyers about the offering
• Place – the way the offering is delivered

One new way of thinking about the 4 Ps came in the form of a revised terminology for the B2B sector as shown in the third column of Figure 1.1. These are helpful constructs and expand the definitions of the 4 Ps. They also apply to the world of B2C as well as B2B. The authors refer to their approach as S.A.V.E. (Solutions, Access, Value, and Education).

Let’s do a deeper dive into each of the 4 Ps.

1. “Price” has been defined as:

• List price and discounts
• Payment terms
• Competition pricing
• Shipping costs

Adding “value” to this list does not require creation of a new acronym.

2. The term “Product” has been described by its features, brand, quality, functionality, labeling, services, and packaging .

Adding the term solution to the definition seems appropriate, and one could argue that B2C marketing can also be solution oriented.

3. “Promotion” has been defined by such terms as advertising, public relations, direct and database marketing, sales force, sales promotion, communications, and messaging.

Over the past 20 years, the internet has been added as a promotion vehicle. The purpose of many of these is to create awareness, interest, desire, and action (AIDA buyer behavior model). One way to achieve these goals is to educate—thus, it’s already part of the existing definition.

4. Finally, “Place” is often described as distribution .

Other descriptors have been channel, location, coverage, and sometimes even inventory, warehousing, and logistics systems. E-commerce is one of the recent additions to the definition. Access is an important component of Place both for B2B and B2C and should be added to the definition.

The Forbes Magazine article by Ahmad Kareh “Evolution of the Four Ps: Revisiting the Marketing Mix” (1/3/2018) suggests that another “P” be added entitled “Process.” The argument is that strong processes allow such companies as Walmart and Amazon to charge less money and gain market share. While it’s hard to deny this, I’m not sure why “Place” can’t cover this as it already includes many of the process elements. This article also points out that “People” be added as another “P.”

It supports the people argument with inside-out thinking—what the company needs to do to have the right people in place. While that’s important, the outside-in approach may be more important—then the focus will be on the customer, that is, who the prospective target customers are and what they care about. Human capital or “people” are part of each of the 4 Ps, but this dimension is the strongest candidate for a fifth P.

Let’s look at the applications of these 4 Ps. Questions to ask about Price are:

• How do perceptions change with different price points?
• What pricing strategy works for the product vis-à-vis competition?
• While the cost to produce should not be the determinant   of price, it is an important element correlated with profitability.
• What is price/demand elasticity—the extent to which a change in price impacts demand?
• What is the perceived value (= benefits/price)?

For Product , seek answers to these questions:

• What will someone do with the service or product? How will it be used?
• Where will the client use it?
• What features are really important and help differentiate the product or service?
• What needs are met and not met by the product or service?
• How is the brand supported?

For Promotion , the questions relate to communication and the audience:

• What channels are available to send communication to prospects and customers?
• What channels are used and preferred by prospects and customers?
• Has the audience been segmented to identify targeted prospects, loyal customers, etc.?
• What message works best for each of the segments?
• What are competitors doing to promote their product?

For Place, ask the following:

• Where do customers try to find the product? Where do they prefer to buy?
• How are different channels accessed and are you making it convenient?
• Is there an opportunity for inbound marketing (e.g., website) as well as outbound?
• Can barriers to purchasing be removed?
• Are partners needed to distribute the product?

Here are some examples of the 4 Ps for three different cleansing products:  Label as a Figure 1.2?

Source: Lumen Chapter 13 https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-introbusiness/chapter/marketing-mix-introduction/

In summary, the 4 Ps are used in developing a marketing plan, and are needed to do the following:

• Identify a strategy of differentiation.
• Understand and ultimately meet the needs of customers and prospects.
• See the interactions between the elements of the 4 Ps.
• Develop a unique selling proposition (USP).
• Understand the competition better.
• Develop a communications plan.
• Establish marketing goals and budgets.
• Better understand the partners needed to achieve marketing objectives.
• Understand the products and services that can be offered to customers.
• Assess marketing effectiveness and ROI (return on investment).
• Allocate resources.

The 4 Ps are an invaluable tool for marketers to both plan and execute. Its focus on the customer sets the stage for a winning organizational culture.

Fill out your own 4 Ps Framework:

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Developing An Effective Marketing Strategy | The Four p’s of Marketing

Before you read about the 4 p’s of marketing. lets look at what is marketing.

What is Marketing?

What are the marketing mix and the 4ps of marketing, the 4 p’s of marketing, the role of marketing in busines planning.

Marketing is defined as putting the right business plan for a product in the right place, at the right time, for the right price for a product. Although this sounds easy enough, a lot of hard work and research usually goes into making this a reality. And if even one element is off the mark, a promising product or service can fail completely and end up costing the company much time and treasure.

A marketing mix is a crucial tool for understanding what the product or service can offer and how to plan for a successful product offering. The 4 p’s of marketing was developed over the years by experts to help businesses with the creation and implementation of a  Through its’ use, the effort is placed on trying to satisfy both the customer and the seller.

When properly understood and utilized, this mix has proven to be a key factor in a product’s success.  An effective marketing mix can mean the difference between a here today and gone tomorrow product or one that is bound to become a time-honored classic. The marketing mix is most commonly executed through the 4 p’s of marketing: Price, Product, Promotion, and Place. These 4 P’s are shown below, along with potential questions for you to consider:

The product is either a tangible good or an intangible service that is made to meet a specific customer need or demand. All products follow a life cycle and it is vital for marketers to understand the business planning process for the various stages. It is key to understand those problems that the product is attempting to solve. The benefits offered by the product and all its features need to be fully understood and the potential buyers of the product need to be identified and researched.

  Price covers the actual amount the end-user is expected to pay for a product. How a product is priced will directly affect how it sells. This is directly associated with the perceived value of the product is to the customer. If a product is priced higher or lower than its perceived value, then it will not sell. This is why it is imperative to understand how a customer sees what you are selling. Price may also be affected by distribution plans and how competitors price a rival product.

3.Promotion

The marketing communication strategies and techniques all fall under the promotion banner. These may include advertising, sales, special offers, and public relations. Whatever the technique used, it is necessary for it to be suitable for the product, the price, and the end-user it is being marketed to. It is important to differentiate between marketing and promotion. Promotion is just the communication aspect of the entire marketing function. Marketing encompasses all four Ps.

Place or placement has to do with how the product will be provided to the customer. Distribution is a key element of placement. The placement strategy will help assess what channel is the most suited to a product. How a product is accessed by the end-user also needs to complement the rest of the product strategy. Don’t try selling a 400 dollar pair of shoes at a discount shoe mart. 

While entrepreneurs are most likely to hire a professional business plan writer to write a formal business plan when seeking outside funding for their business, such as a bank loan or venture capital, planning your business is important before you start, whether or not you need funding.

Suppose you wanted to take a trip to Yellowstone National Park . You would likely plan many aspects of your trip before you even leave your home. You would need to decide whether to drive or fly. If you drive, you would need to determine the best route to get there (or have a GPS that can do that for you).

If you fly, you would need to look at flights around the days you hope to visit and then book one, as well as consider various options for land transportation once you arrive. You would also need to plan your lodging, including whether to camp, rent a cabin, or get a hotel room. If you go during the summer, when Yellowstone gets the most visitors, you would likely need to decide on your lodging ahead of time and make reservations to ensure your overnight preference is available.

Just like a trip to Yellowstone would require advanced planning to maximize the likelihood of it being a rewarding experience, planning your business in advance is necessary to maximize your likelihood of success. So, what are some of the things that should be considered when planning your business? While there are numerous ways to go about planning, one option is to consider the 4 P’s of Marketing (sometimes called the “Marketing Mix”).

With so much focus on business planning before you launch your business, does this mean that your plan must be etched in stone and that you should never be open to change? No! Assessing your operations and adjusting your strategies will be an ongoing process if you want to maximize your company’s potential.

In fact, one of the downsides to any business plan is that it will likely need to be updated every few months. You may discover that some of your marketing tactics are more effective than others and need to adjust your marketing campaign. You may discover that the demographics of your customer base are different from what you expected, and you may need to reconsider your target market. If you are offering more than one product or service, you may discover that some of your products or services generate more demand than others, and you may need to tweak your offerings.

Whether visiting Yellowstone or starting a business , it is important to develop a plan before you embark on your journey. However, it is also important to be flexible as you implement your strategy and be open to change.

The four P’s of marketing are product, price, place, and promotion. These elements help businesses develop an effective marketing strategy by focusing on product attributes, pricing strategies, distribution channels, and promotional activities.

Product refers to the goods or services offered by a business. It is crucial in a marketing strategy as it defines the value proposition, target audience, and differentiation from competitors. Understanding customer needs and developing a compelling product is essential for successful marketing.

Pricing plays a vital role in a marketing strategy as it directly affects customer perception, demand, and profitability. Setting the right price requires considering factors such as production costs, competitive pricing, value to the customer, and pricing strategies that align with business goals.

Place refers to the channels and methods used to distribute and make products or services available to customers. Effective distribution ensures that the right products are in the right place at the right time, making it convenient for customers to access and purchase them.

Promotion involves the communication and promotion of products or services to the target market. It includes advertising, public relations, sales promotions, and other promotional activities. Promotion helps create awareness, generate interest, and persuade customers to choose the product or service over competitors.

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The 4 Ps of Marketing (2023 Complete Guide)

What Are the 4 Ps of Marketing?

Why are the 4 ps of marketing important, understanding the 4 ps of marketing, a. understanding your target audience, b. developing your product strategy, c. choosing the right price point, a. establishing a price point, b. comparing your price to competitors, c. adjusting prices over time, 3. promotion, a. creating an effective promotional plan, b. leveraging digital advertising and social media strategies, c. utilizing traditional advertising channels, a. determining the best place for your product/service, b. utilizing distribution channels, c. establishing storage facilities, how do the 4 ps of marketing work together, how to use the 4 ps of marketing in marketing strategy, steps to implement the 4 ps of marketing, 4 ps of marketing use cases, 4 ps of marketing examples, what are the 4 ps of social marketing, which of the 4 ps of marketing is most closely related to a distribution strategy.

Creating an effective marketing strategy is essential for the success of any business. The 4 Ps of marketing – Product, Price, Promotion, and Place – are integral components that help organizations develop their plan.

This guide will dive into each of the 4 Ps, exploring tactics that can be used to make sure each element is properly executed. With a better understanding of the 4 Ps, businesses will be able to create a unique approach that best suits their needs. So let's get started on learning about how the 4 Ps can help shape your marketing strategy!

The 4 Ps of marketing are the main categories that all promotional activities fall into. They are used to determine how a product or service is presented, priced, promoted, and distributed to customers. Below is an overview of each component:

• Product: The product/service being sold. This includes features such as design, packaging, brand name, and services that come with the product.
• Price: The price of the product/service being sold. This includes how it is priced compared to competitors, discounts available, and payment options.
• Promotion: How the product/service is promoted to customers. This includes advertising campaigns, public relations activities, sales promotion, and personal selling tactics.
• Place: How the product/service is distributed to customers. This includes outlets, distribution channels, and storage facilities.

The 4 Ps are important for some key reasons:

• They provide a structure for businesses to follow when creating and implementing their marketing strategy.
• The 4 Ps are a valuable tool for understanding the competitive landscape and how to best position a product/service.
• The 4 Ps allow businesses to create a unique approach tailored to their needs.

By understanding and leveraging the 4 Ps, companies can ensure they are utilizing the best possible marketing tactics.

Now that you know what the 4 Ps are, let's dive into each one further to understand how they can help shape your marketing strategy.

When it comes to developing a product, it's crucial to think about what features will best meet your customer's needs. Consider the design, packaging, and services that come with the product/service. Also, keep in mind how you can differentiate yourself from your competitors. Doing so will help ensure that customers notice your product above the rest.

The first step to creating a successful product is understanding your target audience. Knowing who your customers are will help you determine the features they are looking for, ensuring that you meet their needs.

Once you have a better understanding of your target audience, it's time to develop a strategy for how you will create and market your product. This includes thinking about things like pricing, packaging, and promotions.

When pricing your product, you want to make sure it's competitive but still allows you to make a profit. Consider whether or not you want to offer discounts, what payment options you provide, and how your product compares to competitors.

Pricing plays a vital role in the success of any business. When determining the price for your product/service, it's essential to consider both its value and cost. You want to make sure that your customers feel like they are getting a good deal while also ensuring that you can still generate a profit. Additionally, consider offering discounts and incentives to customers in order to encourage them to purchase.

Before determining the price of your product/service, you need to consider its value and cost. This will help you figure out the best price point for your product so you can make a profit while still keeping customers happy.

It's important to consider what your competitors are charging to ensure you're competitive while still generating a profit.

As your business grows, you may need to adjust your prices to stay competitive. Keeping an eye on your competitors and understanding customer demand will help you determine when and how to make these changes.

A Free Google Sheets ROI Calculator Template to measure an investment or business venture success by measuring the return relative to the cost invested.

Developing a promotion plan is key to gaining the attention of your target market. Consider the different marketing tactics you can use, such as advertising campaigns, public relations activities, sales promotions, and personal selling strategies. Additionally, keep in mind that different tactics may work better for specific target markets, so tailor your approach to the particular audience you're targeting.

When creating a promotional plan, it's important to consider the different tactics you want to use and how they will work together. Make sure to define specific objectives for each tactic so that you can track and measure success.

Digital advertising and social media can be powerful promotional tools. Think about how you can use these channels to reach your target market, whether it's through ads, engaging content, or influencer marketing campaigns.

Don't forget traditional advertising channels like radio, television, or print media. These can be great ways to reach a larger audience and build brand awareness.

Having an effective distribution system is essential in making sure that customers can easily access and purchase your product/service. Consider where customers will most likely find it – including outlets, distribution channels, and storage facilities. Think about the most convenient locations to ensure customers can easily get their hands on the product.

You want to make sure your product/service is available in places where customers can easily purchase it. This could include physical stores, online retailers, or even mobile apps.

Distribution channels can help you reach a larger audience and make it easier for customers to purchase your product. They could include wholesalers, distributors, or even third-party vendors.

If you have physical products, it's important to think about where and how they will be stored. Having the proper storage facilities will help you ensure products remain in good condition and are easily accessible.

The 4 Ps of marketing work best when they are all used in conjunction with one another. Ultimately, the goal is to create an effective marketing strategy that considers all four elements. This allows businesses to craft and execute an effective plan that takes into account the customer's needs, competitive landscape, and the company's resources.

Now that you know what the 4 Ps of marketing are, it's time to put them into action. Start by creating a strategy that takes into account each of the 4 Ps. Think about how each component can work together to create a unique approach that meets your customers' needs.

Once you've created your strategy, it's important to track its progress. Pay attention to customers' responses and make adjustments if necessary. This will help ensure that your strategy is as effective as possible.

• 1. Analyze: Conduct an analysis of your target market, competitors, and resources to determine what tactics will best meet customer needs.
• 2. Plan: Develop a plan that takes into account the 4 Ps of marketing and outlines how each will be used to achieve your goals.
• 3. Implement: Execute the plan by leveraging all of the 4 Ps and monitor customer response.
• 4. Measure: Track the performance of your marketing strategy and determine what tactics are working best.
• 5. Adjust: Make changes to the plan based on customer feedback and performance metrics.

By understanding the 4 Ps of marketing, businesses can create an effective strategy that meets customer needs and drives successful results. Utilizing these four components in your marketing plan can help ensure your business stands out from the competition.

Year-Over-Year Growth is an important metric for businesses to analyze this year’s performance compared to last year. Here’s how to calculate YOY Growth.

The 4 Ps of marketing can be used in various settings and industries, from B2B to B2C. Here are a few examples of how the 4 Ps can be used in practice:

• Product: Developing a unique product that stands out from competitors.
• Price: Offering discounts and incentives to encourage customers to purchase.
• Promotion: Running an advertising campaign to generate brand awareness.
• Place: Utilizing distribution channels to make the product available in convenient locations for customers.

The 4 Ps of marketing are often seen in action when businesses launch new products or services. Here are a few examples of how companies have utilized the 4 Ps of marketing:

• Product: Apple's iPhone brought a revolutionary product to the market and changed the way people interact with technology.
• Price: Amazon's Prime membership offers discounts and access to exclusive benefits, making it a popular choice for online shoppers.
• Promotion: Red Bull used creative and innovative marketing campaigns to become the leading energy drink on the market.
• Place: Starbucks opened outlets in convenient locations, allowing customers to easily access their coffee-based drinks and snacks.

The 4 Ps of social marketing are the same as those used in traditional marketing: product, price, promotion, and place. However, when it comes to social marketing, the focus is on how these elements work together to create a positive impact.

Rather than just targeting customers with a sales pitch, the goal of social marketing is to create a meaningful connection between the company and its target market that encourages positive attitudes and behaviors.

The fourth P of marketing, Place, is most closely related to a distribution strategy. Place involves how the product/service is distributed to customers and focuses on outlets, distribution channels, and storage facilities. It is vital to have an effective distribution system to ensure customers can easily purchase your product/service.

By understanding and properly executing the 4 Ps of marketing, businesses can develop an effective and comprehensive plan. Take time to consider each element and how it can help shape your marketing strategy. With an understanding of the 4 Ps, you will be able to create a unique approach that best suits your business's needs.

Hady has a passion for tech, marketing, and spreadsheets. Besides his Computer Science degree, he has vast experience in developing, launching, and scaling content marketing processes at SaaS startups.

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What Is a Business Plan?

Understanding business plans, how to write a business plan, common elements of a business plan, how often should a business plan be updated, the bottom line, business plan: what it is, what's included, and how to write one.

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

A business plan is a document that details a company's goals and how it intends to achieve them. Business plans can be of benefit to both startups and well-established companies. For startups, a business plan can be essential for winning over potential lenders and investors. Established businesses can find one useful for staying on track and not losing sight of their goals. This article explains what an effective business plan needs to include and how to write one.

Key Takeaways

• A business plan is a document describing a company's business activities and how it plans to achieve its goals.
• Startup companies use business plans to get off the ground and attract outside investors.
• For established companies, a business plan can help keep the executive team focused on and working toward the company's short- and long-term objectives.
• There is no single format that a business plan must follow, but there are certain key elements that most companies will want to include.

Investopedia / Ryan Oakley

Any new business should have a business plan in place prior to beginning operations. In fact, banks and venture capital firms often want to see a business plan before they'll consider making a loan or providing capital to new businesses.

Even if a business isn't looking to raise additional money, a business plan can help it focus on its goals. A 2017 Harvard Business Review article reported that, "Entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than the otherwise identical nonplanning entrepreneurs."

Ideally, a business plan should be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect any goals that have been achieved or that may have changed. An established business that has decided to move in a new direction might create an entirely new business plan for itself.

There are numerous benefits to creating (and sticking to) a well-conceived business plan. These include being able to think through ideas before investing too much money in them and highlighting any potential obstacles to success. A company might also share its business plan with trusted outsiders to get their objective feedback. In addition, a business plan can help keep a company's executive team on the same page about strategic action items and priorities.

Business plans, even among competitors in the same industry, are rarely identical. However, they often have some of the same basic elements, as we describe below.

While it's a good idea to provide as much detail as necessary, it's also important that a business plan be concise enough to hold a reader's attention to the end.

While there are any number of templates that you can use to write a business plan, it's best to try to avoid producing a generic-looking one. Let your plan reflect the unique personality of your business.

Many business plans use some combination of the sections below, with varying levels of detail, depending on the company.

The length of a business plan can vary greatly from business to business. Regardless, it's best to fit the basic information into a 15- to 25-page document. Other crucial elements that take up a lot of space—such as applications for patents—can be referenced in the main document and attached as appendices.

These are some of the most common elements in many business plans:

• Executive summary: This section introduces the company and includes its mission statement along with relevant information about the company's leadership, employees, operations, and locations.
• Products and services: Here, the company should describe the products and services it offers or plans to introduce. That might include details on pricing, product lifespan, and unique benefits to the consumer. Other factors that could go into this section include production and manufacturing processes, any relevant patents the company may have, as well as proprietary technology . Information about research and development (R&D) can also be included here.
• Market analysis: A company needs to have a good handle on the current state of its industry and the existing competition. This section should explain where the company fits in, what types of customers it plans to target, and how easy or difficult it may be to take market share from incumbents.
• Marketing strategy: This section can describe how the company plans to attract and keep customers, including any anticipated advertising and marketing campaigns. It should also describe the distribution channel or channels it will use to get its products or services to consumers.
• Financial plans and projections: Established businesses can include financial statements, balance sheets, and other relevant financial information. New businesses can provide financial targets and estimates for the first few years. Your plan might also include any funding requests you're making.

The best business plans aren't generic ones created from easily accessed templates. A company should aim to entice readers with a plan that demonstrates its uniqueness and potential for success.

2 Types of Business Plans

Business plans can take many forms, but they are sometimes divided into two basic categories: traditional and lean startup. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) , the traditional business plan is the more common of the two.

• Traditional business plans : These plans tend to be much longer than lean startup plans and contain considerably more detail. As a result they require more work on the part of the business, but they can also be more persuasive (and reassuring) to potential investors.
• Lean startup business plans : These use an abbreviated structure that highlights key elements. These business plans are short—as short as one page—and provide only the most basic detail. If a company wants to use this kind of plan, it should be prepared to provide more detail if an investor or a lender requests it.

Why Do Business Plans Fail?

A business plan is not a surefire recipe for success. The plan may have been unrealistic in its assumptions and projections to begin with. Markets and the overall economy might change in ways that couldn't have been foreseen. A competitor might introduce a revolutionary new product or service. All of this calls for building some flexibility into your plan, so you can pivot to a new course if needed.

How frequently a business plan needs to be revised will depend on the nature of the business. A well-established business might want to review its plan once a year and make changes if necessary. A new or fast-growing business in a fiercely competitive market might want to revise it more often, such as quarterly.

What Does a Lean Startup Business Plan Include?

The lean startup business plan is an option when a company prefers to give a quick explanation of its business. For example, a brand-new company may feel that it doesn't have a lot of information to provide yet.

Sections can include: a value proposition ; the company's major activities and advantages; resources such as staff, intellectual property, and capital; a list of partnerships; customer segments; and revenue sources.

A business plan can be useful to companies of all kinds. But as a company grows and the world around it changes, so too should its business plan. So don't think of your business plan as carved in granite but as a living document designed to evolve with your business.

Harvard Business Review. " Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed ."

U.S. Small Business Administration. " Write Your Business Plan ."

• How to Start a Business: A Comprehensive Guide and Essential Steps 1 of 25
• How to Do Market Research, Types, and Example 2 of 25
• Marketing Strategy: What It Is, How It Works, and How to Create One 3 of 25
• Marketing in Business: Strategies and Types Explained 4 of 25
• What Is a Marketing Plan? Types and How to Write One 5 of 25
• Business Development: Definition, Strategies, Steps & Skills 6 of 25
• Business Plan: What It Is, What's Included, and How to Write One 7 of 25
• Small Business Development Center (SBDC): Meaning, Types, Impact 8 of 25
• How to Write a Business Plan for a Loan 9 of 25
• Business Startup Costs: It’s in the Details 10 of 25
• Startup Capital Definition, Types, and Risks 11 of 25
• Bootstrapping Definition, Strategies, and Pros/Cons 12 of 25
• Crowdfunding: What It Is, How It Works, and Popular Websites 13 of 25
• Starting a Business with No Money: How to Begin 14 of 25
• A Comprehensive Guide to Establishing Business Credit 15 of 25
• Equity Financing: What It Is, How It Works, Pros and Cons 16 of 25
• Best Startup Business Loans 17 of 25
• Sole Proprietorship: What It Is, Pros and Cons, and Differences From an LLC 18 of 25
• Partnership: Definition, How It Works, Taxation, and Types 19 of 25
• What Is an LLC? Limited Liability Company Structure and Benefits Defined 20 of 25
• Corporation: What It Is and How to Form One 21 of 25
• Starting a Small Business: Your Complete How-to Guide 22 of 25
• Starting an Online Business: A Step-by-Step Guide 23 of 25
• How to Start Your Own Bookkeeping Business: Essential Tips 24 of 25
• How to Start a Successful Dropshipping Business: A Comprehensive Guide 25 of 25

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Parts of Business Plan and Definition

The parts of business plan and definition refer to the governing document of your company and the elements it should include. 3 min read updated on February 01, 2023

The parts of business plan and definition refer to the governing document of your company and the elements it should include. The business plan thoroughly describes your company's purpose, structure, and goals for potential partners, stakeholders, and investors.

Purpose of a Business Plan

Your business plan will be informed by the specific goals for your business. The more complex your product or service, the more complex and detailed your business plan must be. If you are using the business plan to seek investors, you'll need to provide a thorough explanation of your concept and how it fits into your industry.

Once you've drafted a plan, show it to colleagues, partners, and mentors you trust. They can provide an objective view of the business plan and indicate areas where you may need to provide more thorough information.

Executive Summary

This is the first section of your business plan and provides a quick overview of what you want to accomplish with your company. This should comprise the mission statement followed by a description of the services and/or products you provide. Use this basic outline:

• Description of the business
• Products/services
• Market/competition
• Goals and objectives
• Owner and executive qualifications
• Funding information
• Cash and earnings projections

Company Description

A more involved company description should follow the executive summary. This section details the business's key information and examines the market segment you want to capture. The company description is the "meat" of your business plan and should include information about:

• The name of your business
• The business location
• The type of business entity (proprietorship, corporation, or limited liability company (LLC))
• How your company is different from its competition
• Growth and success factors
• How the products and services you offer will solve a problem or fill a need for your desired audience

This is also where you should include operational details such as your hiring plan for the first year or two in business with job classifications and duties. You should also indicate the type of facility you will need for operations and where it will be located.

Market Analysis

This section will demonstrate your understanding of your specific market as well as your industry as a whole. Include the following information:

• Description of your target market
• Overview of industry projection
• List of all competitors with business analysis of each

Product and Service Information

Describe the products and services your business will offer, providing enough detail for those who may be unfamiliar with your industry. Indicate whether you will need to patent your product idea and/or whether a patent application is pending. You should also indicate other steps you've taken to protect intellectual property such as your business name, product names, logo, and branding identity.

If you are manufacturing a product, include information about the materials you'll need and your suppliers for those materials as well as the production process.

Financial Projections

This section demonstrates your plan to make a profit using realistic numbers with a basis in research. Although your ideas are important, you'll also need to show that you will generate enough cash flow to capture a significant market share. Elements this section of your business plan should address include:

• Initial operating costs
• First-year cash flow and sales projects
• Personal expenses
• Start-up and growth financing
• Business bank accounts and/or credit lines
• Projected timeline to a positive cash flow

Management Information

A strong management team will inspire confidence in potential lenders, investors, and partners. The purpose of this section is to make your people shine by highlighting their unique strengths. This part of your business plan should include answers to these questions:

• Who are your company-level and department-level managers?
• What are their qualifications?
• How many full-time and part-time managers do you need?
• How many employees will each manage and what are their responsibilities?
• How will you fund wages and benefits?
• What are your plans for employee training and mentorship?

Additional Information

Complete your business plan with supplemental information that will strengthen your case. Finish with a summary that restates the highlights of your plan and indicates your determination to succeed as a business owner. Attach supporting documents such as licenses, permits, patents, product diagrams, building blueprints, and letters of support from consultants and/or your accountant and attorney.

If you need help with creating a business plan, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top five percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.

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Chapter 13: Marketing

Reading: the four ps of marketing, the four ps of marketing.

The traditional way of viewing the components of marketing is in terms of the four Ps:

• Product . Goods and services (creating offerings).
• Promotion . Communication.
• Place . Getting the product to a point at which the customer can purchase it (delivering).
• Price. The monetary amount charged for the product (exchanging).

Introduced in the early 1950s, the four Ps were called the marketing mix, and a typical marketing plan would include a mix of these four components. Getting the four Ps right for any given marketing effort depends first on identifying your target customer – who are you trying to sell to, and how will you provide value to them? Once you know who you’re targeting, you can refine decisions around product, promotion, place and price to ensure you are delivering something of value.

Recall the American Marketing Association’s current definition of marketing, which emphasizes the four activities of creating , communicating , delivering , and exchanging . You might be wondering why this definition shifts away from the four Ps. The answer is that they are not exactly the same. Product, price, place, and promotion are nouns . As such, these words fail to capture all the activities of marketing. For example, exchanging requires mechanisms for a transaction, which consist of more than simply a price or place. Exchanging requires, among other things, the transfer of ownership. For example, when you buy a car, you sign documents that transfer the car’s title from the seller to you. That’s part of the exchange process.

Even the term product , which seems pretty obvious, is limited. Does the product include services that come with your new car purchase (such as free maintenance for a certain period of time on some models)? Or does the product mean only the car itself? The following video expands upon the concept of the four Ps and explains its more dynamic use today.

Check Your Understanding

Answer the question(s) below to see how well you understand the topics covered in this section. This short quiz does not count toward your grade in the class, and you can retake it an unlimited number of times.

Use this quiz to check your understanding and decide whether to (1) study the previous section further or (2) move on to the next section.

• Adaptation and revision. Provided by : Lumen Learning and NGCC Team. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Marketing Principles. Authored by : Anonymous. Provided by : Anonymous. Located at : http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/marketing-principles-v2.0/s04-01-defining-marketing.html . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• A New Look at the 4Ps of Marketing. Authored by : firepolemarketing. Located at : https://youtu.be/JIirzTdaey4 . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube license

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No inflation here: affordable masters' menu still includes $1.50 pimento cheese sandwiches.

Associated Press

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

A patron eats a pimento cheese sandwich during a practice round in preparation for the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jordan Janes knew when he arrived at the Masters for the first time a pimento cheese sandwich was a must-have.

He wanted to soak in the Augusta National experience, and that has long included the iconic staple on the affordable Masters menu.

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And no, Janes was not worrying about the 556 calories and 35 grams of fat the sandwich contains, according to MyFitnessPal.com .

“I'm a healthy guy and I dial it in when I'm at home,” said Janes, 42, from St. Louis. “But I'm going to let go a little while I'm here. And I've already done 17,000 steps today, so I'm not going to feel guilty about it for a minute. ... And it was worth it.”

Jimmy Murray, 32 from Minneapolis, also tried the pimento sandwich — which consists of shredded cheese, mayonnaise, diced pimentos, and various seasonings on two slices of white bread — as well as the egg salad sandwich for the first time.

“It's fantastic, actually,” Murray said of the pimento sandwich. “It has a really unique taste, and it's not something we have in the Midwest.”

You can't beat the price — $5 for a sandwich, chips and a soft drink.

Inflation may be driving up the food cost around the country, but patrons generally won’t see those increases at Augusta National. The prices here have mostly remained fixed for years. A club sandwich or barbeque sandwich still goes for $3, and can be topped off with a Georgia peach ice cream sandwich for $3.

The price of a beer did increase to $6 dollars this year, jumping up from $5 in 2023.

“I kind of knew about the prices from seeing it on social media," Murray said. “I've had about everything on menu I could eat and I think I paid $10.50.”

That menu includes:

Egg salad sandwich: $1.50

Pimento cheese: $1.50

Pork Bar-B-Que: $3

Masters club: $3

Chicken salad on honey wheat: $3

Classic chicken: $3

Chicken Biscuit: $3

Breakfast sandwich: $3

Fresh mixed fruit: $2

Soft drinks: $2

Iced tea: $2

Crow's Nest: $6

Domestic beer: $6

Imported beer: $6

White wine: $6

Chips plain/bbq: $1.50

Peanuts: $1.50

Southern cheese straws: $2

Cookies: $1.50

Georgia pecan caramel popcorn: $2

Georgia peach ice cream sandwich: $3

One thing still not on the menu are cell phones.

That unique aspect of Augusta National continues: cell phones are not allowed on the course. While some may find that annoying, others view it as a relief.

“It's great,” Janes said. “I waited 45 minutes in line for some merchandise and I just talked (with people). It brings you back to the simple life and how life used to be," he said. "You're not checking your phone every five minutes."

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The rise and fall of Allbirds: The sneaker company whose stock went from IPO darling to trading below $1

• Allbirds was founded in 2015 and soared to prominence with its iconic wool sneaker.
• The company went public in November 2021. Shares rose 90% on the opening day of trading.
• Sales have since slowed significantly. The company reported a 14.7% decline in revenue for 2023.

Allbirds' struggles continue to mount.

The shoemaker reported another quarter of disappointing earnings in March, wrapping up a dismal fiscal year that saw a net loss of $152.5 million.

Then, in April, the company received notice that its stock is at risk of delisting from the Nasdaq exchange for trading below $1 for 30 consecutive days.

Here's a history of Allbirds and how it went from a buzzy sustainable footwear brand worn by tech bros and VCs to a company on the brink.

Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger cofounded Allbirds in 2015 as a sustainable-footwear company

According to its initial filing with the SEC , Allbirds' mission was to "make better things in a better way, through nature." 

Zwillinger previously worked as a vice president of industrial products at a biotechnology company

Brown's background included serving as the vice-captain of New Zealand's soccer team.

Allbirds roared to life in 2016 with a Kickstarter campaign that hit its $30,000 goal in five days.

The company ended up raising nearly $120,000 to make a wool running shoe designed to make a lighter environmental impact than traditional athletic shoes.

In 2016, Allbirds received B Corp certification, a designation given to companies that work to advance environmental and social causes, and shareholder concerns.

For Allbirds, the designation codified, "how we take into account the impact our actions have on all of our stakeholders, including the environment, our flock of employees, communities, consumers, and investors."

In only its second year in business, Allbirds gained the title of world's most comfortable shoe.

Time magazine said Allbirds' hero product, the Wool Runner, was the "World's Most Comfortable Shoes."

By 2017, Allbirds, Warby Parker, and Casper were considered among the "DTC pioneers" shaking up their respective industries — sneakers, eyeglasses, and mattresses.

By 2018, direct-to-consumer business plans proliferated. In 2018, Inc. reported that more than 400 startups were trying to "become the next Warby Parker."

Allbirds sneakers became synonymous with Silicon Valley dressing

In August 2017, Allbirds got another shot of national publicity when The New York Times described Wool Runners as part of the Silicon Valley uniform.

A month later, Allbirds opened its first store,

The 1,450-square-foot store is located in New York City's Soho neighborhood. In 2022, the company operated 58 stores.

By 2020, Allbirds' popularity had spread well beyond Silicon Valley. President Barack Obama was spotted wearing Wool Runners repeatedly.

But the shoe started to fall out of favor with the trendsetters and the press, with GQ even lamenting the sight of Obama wearing them . "Can't someone send him a pair of Jordans?" the magazine wrote.

Allbirds launched the Dasher in 2020.

With the success of Wool Runners waning, Allbirds launched its first performance-running shoe, called the Dasher, in May 2020. Gear Patrol called it "shockingly good."

Also in 2020, Allbirds partnered with Adidas to make a low-carbon shoe, another sign of the company's willingness to disrupt industry norms.

Large footwear brands are typically reluctant to partner with one another. The shoe, called the Adizero x Allbirds 2.94 kg CO2e, had the lowest carbon footprint of any Adidas or Allbirds sneaker.

In August 2021, ahead of a public offering, Allbirds disclosed growing annual sales, but also mounting losses.

Sales increased from $193.7 million in 2019 to $219.3 million in 2020, but losses also increased , growing from $14.5 million in 2019 to $25.9 million in 2020. 

Allbirds went public in 2021.

A little more than 2,100 days after it launched its Kickstarter campaign, Allbirds went public on November 3, 2021. Shares soared 90% on the opening day of trading, CNBC reported, a sign of Wall Street's bullish outlook for the company.

Allbirds dropped claims about being the first "sustainable" IPO.

After the Securities and Exchange Commission objected, Allbirds dropped claims about being the first "sustainable" IPO, the Financia l Times reported in November 2021.

Allbirds launched wholesale in 2022.

Although it was launched as a direct-to-consumer company, in May 2022, Allbirds announced its first wholesale partners , Zalando and Public Lands, then Nordstrom — a signal that DTC sales would not be enough to get the company to profitability.

As Allbirds started to add wholesale partners, the backlash started to build against DTC companies.

"It's the de-DTC era," said Simeon Siegel, the managing director for equity research at BMO Capital Markets. Analysts, such as Siegel, said the benefits of direct sales were often overstated.

As DTC companies started to fall out of favor, and investors started to pay more attention to profitability, Allbirds stock started to drop.

Allbirds shares, which hit $28.64 on the company's first day of trading, had fallen to under $5 fewer than eight months later . Stock pickers said the company needed to expand beyond Wool Runners.

In 2022, Allbirds officially lost its novelty in Silicon Valley wardrobes.

Roughly five years after The New York Times christened Wool Runners part of the Silicon Valley uniform, The Wall Street Journal in December 2022 said that "tech bros" had moved on.

In March 2023, Allbirds shares plummeted 47% after a disastrous earnings report that included a $101 million annual loss.

On a call with stock analysts, executives announced a sweeping four-part reorganization , including slowing the pace of store openings, adding more wholesale partners , and working to "reignite product and brand." Co-CEO Joey Zwillinger also said some of the company's marketing veered too far away from what Allbirds consumers want, including marketing for the Tree Flyers, above, which focused on its technical-performance attributes.

Allbirds began to rethink its big bet on DTC.

As part of the reorganization plan, Zwillinger said the company was considering adding more wholesale partners . By then, the company's wholesale partners included Nordstrom, REI, Scheels, and Dick's.

In 2022, while still based in San Francisco, Allbirds quietly opened an office in Portland, Oregon, to take advantage of the city's talented-footwear workforce. Nike is based in a Portland suburb, and Adidas has its North American headquarters in the city.

Allbirds hired several Nike and Adidas veterans to run the office, including Ashley Comeaux, who spent more than 10 years at Nike before becoming Allbirds' vice president of product design.

In early 2023, Allbirds released a string of products designed and developed by Comeaux and her team, including Risers, Pacers, and SuperLights, which lack a Strobel board, a manufacturing innovation designed to reduce carbon emissions and improve comfort.

Risers and Pacers have already gotten strong reviews from Insider.  Although the new products have been well-received, shares of the company remain well below the $15 IPO price, trading for $1.23.

In March, Allbirds announced disappointing earnings and Zwillinger told analysts that the company had lost focus on its core.

Since then, the company has focused on its best-sellers, the Wool Runner and Tree Dasher, while it discontinued underperforming products like much of its apparel, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

In June, the company released what it said was the world's first carbon-negative shoe , which it calls the M0.0NSHOT.

In May, Allbirds announced a leadership shakeup, as co-founder Tim Brown said in an analyst call he would no longer be co-CEO of the company.

Brown said he would be stepping into the role of chief innovation officer of the company, leaving fellow co-founder Joey Zwillinger as the sole CEO of the company.

The company also laid off 21 employees globally in May, it said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The shoe company generally had a disappointing start to 2023. The company reported a 13% decline in year-over-year revenue in the first quarter.

'As we've tried to expand and grow the brand, we created products that haven't quite met the mark,' Brown told The Wall Street Journal.

In a July article, Brown and Zwillinger told the Wall Street Journal that their attempts to appeal to customers younger than its 30- to 40-year-old base didn't go over well. The Tree Flyer was one of those attempts that missed the mark. 

The company reported second-quarter earnings were above expectations. Sales fell 10% compared to a projected 18%.  

"We laid out a road map for our strategic transformation back in March, and now two quarters into our work, we have gained traction and are solidly on track to drive toward profitability expectations," Zwillinger said in an August earnings call. 

In November, Allbirds released an updated version of its first Wool Runner.

The Wool Runner 2 has been updated with a new version of its SweetFoam midsole and improved durability, Retail Dive reported. 

Full-year earnings for 2023 were dismal indeed, with sales down 14.7% and a net loss of $152.5 million for the year.

The company also promoted COO Joe Vernachio to CEO, with Zwillinger stepping down to serve as a special advisor and remaining on the board of directors.

In April 2024, the company received notice that its stock faces possible delisting on the Nasdaq exchange. It has 180 days to improve the share price.

In a statement , Allbirds said its stock must trade above $1 for at least 10 consecutive days in the next six months in order to stay in Nasdaq's good graces.

Matthew Kish, Ben Tobin, and Jennifer Ortakales-Dawkins contributed to earlier versions of this article.

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How One Family Lost $900,000 in a Timeshare Scam

A mexican drug cartel is targeting seniors and their timeshares..

Hosted by Katrin Bennhold

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Warning: this episode contains descriptions of violence.

A massive scam targeting older Americans who own timeshare properties has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars sent to Mexico.

Maria Abi-Habib, an investigative correspondent for The Times, tells the story of a victim who lost everything, and of the criminal group making the scam calls — Jalisco New Generation, one of Mexico’s most violent cartels.

On today’s episode

Maria Abi-Habib , an investigative correspondent for The New York Times based in Mexico City.

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How a brutal Mexican drug cartel came to target seniors and their timeshares .

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Katrin Bennhold is the Berlin bureau chief. A former Nieman fellow at Harvard University, she previously reported from London and Paris, covering a range of topics from the rise of populism to gender. More about Katrin Bennhold

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What to know about Biden’s new student loan forgiveness plan

President Biden is forging a new path to reduce or eliminate federal student loan balances for tens of millions of borrowers, holding firm to a campaign promise to ease the burden of college debt.

The proposed forgiveness plan announced Monday is an alternative to the sweeping $400 billion debt relief program that Biden announced in 2022 and the Supreme Court blocked last summer. Since that court defeat, the Biden administration has worked through a negotiated rulemaking process to craft a regulation that achieves large-scale debt cancellation, albeit with a much more targeted approach than the last plan.

The Education Department will release a draft rule on the forgiveness plan to solicit public comment in the coming months. But the Biden administration is releasing more details of how the proposal will accomplish the president’s goal of sweeping debt reduction.

Here’s what we know.

What does Biden’s student loan relief plan do?

The new plan will expand federal student loan relief to several categories of borrowers. It will eliminate up to $20,000 in accrued interest for borrowers who owe far more than they originally borrowed because of unpaid interest. Borrowers could get all of their interest wiped away if they are enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan and have an annual income under $120,000 for an individual or under $240,000 for couples. The White House estimates that 25 million people will benefit from this feature of the new plan, including 23 million who could have their unpaid interest completely forgiven.

Once the plan is finalized, another 2 million borrowers could automatically have their loans canceled because they’re eligible for existing forgiveness programs, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness , but never applied. The proposed plan will also automatically cancel the loans of people who have been in repayment on undergraduate loans for at least 20 years, and graduate loans for 25 years or more. It would also forgive the debt of borrowers who attended career training programs that led to high debt loads or low earnings.

A fifth category of borrowers would receive debt relief if they are facing hardships , such as high medical debt or child-care expenses, that prevent them from repaying their student loans. The specific terms of each category will be fleshed out in the formal rule due out soon.

The administration plans to roll out the interest education feature this fall, and the remaining features could be implemented next summer.

Who is eligible for student loan forgiveness?

The majority of Americans with federally held student loans will qualify for some level of relief under the new plan. People with privately held federal loans originated through the defunct Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program would also benefit from some aspects of the proposal.

Those commercial FFEL borrowers would receive forgiveness if they entered repayment on or before July 1, 2000, or are eligible but have not yet applied for a closed school discharge — a form of debt cancellation for borrowers whose schools abruptly close. Such borrowers would also be eligible for debt relief if they have loans associated with a college that lost access to federal student aid because of high loan default rates, according to the Education Department.

Do I need to apply for this loan forgiveness?

While the specifics of the plan are still being hashed out at the Education Department, the Biden administration said the goal is for the vast majority of the relief to be automatic.

I was approved for loan forgiveness in the old plan. Will I qualify this time?

It depends on whether you fit any of the five categories for loan forgiveness.

How is this different from the plan rejected by the Supreme Court?

Biden’s 2022 student loan forgiveness plan relied on the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (Heroes) Act of 2003, which lets the secretary of education “alleviate the hardship that federal student loan recipients may suffer as a result of national emergencies.” The president argued that the coronavirus pandemic created economic hardship for borrowers that required government intervention of up to $20,000 in loan cancellation for 40 million borrowers. But in striking down the debt plan , a majority of Supreme Court justices said the Heroes statute was not designed for policy with such a “staggering” economic impact.

This time, instead of the 2003 law, the Biden administration anchored its new plan with authority in the 1965 Higher Education Act, which allows the education secretary to compromise, waive or release loans under certain circumstances. Critics of Biden’s plan question whether the 1965 law permits expansive debt relief envisioned by the administration, and note that Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said in his opinion last year that the act can be used to cancel debt in “certain limited circumstances.”

The Biden administration said the new plan is composed of interventions that address specific circumstances in ways that are covered by the Higher Education Act. The president is confident he is acting within the scope of the law, according to the White House.

Are private loans eligible?

Loans originated and held by banks and other private entities are not eligible for the new forgiveness plan. But federal loans held by private companies are eligible for some components.

Student loans

The impact of student loan repayments : A technical loophole is helping some parents lower their student loan payments . The ending of the student loan payment pause has left some borrowers anxious and confused .

What are my student loan repayment options? Personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary shares what to focus on as student loan payments resume and why she says President Biden’s new SAVE student loan income-driven plan is a game changer .

What’s next for student loan debt relief? Biden is forging ahead on a new path to narrower student loan relief after the Supreme Court rejected his earlier loan forgiveness plan . Meanwhile, conservative groups sued to block Biden’s effort to provide $39 billion in forgiveness to longtime borrowers.