Three Keys to Winning Marketing Strategy

The four P's of marketing are:

• Product
• Price
• Position (distribution)
• Promotion

Usually depicted in a ven diagram with four overlapping circles.

They were originally introduced by Harvard advertising professor Neil H. Borden in 1964 in his article The Concept of the Marketing Mix.

These four key elements have been at the core of marketing strategy since then.

Today, the four P's (alone) don't work.


The new mix for marketing strategy is:

1. Your secret sauce
2. Buyers' purchase decision process
3. Buyers' demands

1. Your Secret Sauce

Why do your current customers buy from you? Do you really know? We've found most companies get this wrong. They think it's product or price and it turns out to be speed, reliability or something else much deeper.

What your customer's value about you is your secret sauce. You must find out what this is and focus on promoting it.

2. Buyers' Demands

Buyers are in control. Still holding on? Think you can control the message? Get over it. You can't. What you must learn is what buyers are seeking. What do they want? For most, it's content. They want answers to important questions. If you provide the answers, buyers will find you.

3. Buyers' Purchase Decision Process

Finally, you must understand the buyers purchase decision process. It consists of:

1. Discovery
2. Information
3. Endorsement
4. Proof/Demo

Where does the buyer go for each stage of the process and what are they seeking? This process determines media channels and influences content.

Bringing All Together

Once you know your secret sauce, your buyers demands, and your buyers purchase decision process, you can know formulate a marketing strategy that will have a much higher success rate than if you simply used the four P's.