You might be building a product using cutting edge technologies, writing a bestseller book or breaking into a new market withholding great potential. No matter what you are doing, it is all in vain if the product is not brought to the notice of your target audience. The need for a killer marketing strategy is extremely important for the success of your product or service. 


Even Though the process of rolling out a product in the market seems straightforward, it is not so in reality. Having a product in the market does not solely entail serving a group of people, informing them about the existence of your product and pricing it at a value that is acceptable to them. It is much more than that. 


It is important to have a solid marketing strategy which takes into consideration detailed account of 
* **WHO** your customers are?
* **WHAT** are the **NEEDS & DESIRES** of your customer?
* **WHAT** are the **SOLUTIONS** used by your customer currently to solve their problem and the **CHALLENGES** faced by them while using that solution?
* In case the customer faces challenges, **WHAT** can be done to help them **OVERCOME those CHALLENGES**?
* **HOW** do you **DISTINGUISH** yourself from the competition?
* **HOW** does your consumer **INTERACT** with the product?
You can only have a marketing strategy on the road to success once the answers to these questions are researched in detail.


If you don’t identify your customers, their needs from the product you are offering and the price they are willing to pay for your product, you might see your sales declining even before they pick up. An example would be selling a luxury item at a low price so that more people can buy it. However, by pricing a luxury item too low and making it accessible to a mass audience, it would lose its target customers who would want to buy the product for the status symbol associated with the product. The 4 Ps of marketing is a great tool to avoid such mistakes.


The key factors that are to be taken into account while positioning your product or service in the market and influencing customers to buy your product are - 

* `Product`
* `Price`
* `Place`
* `Promotion`


![4 P's of Marketing](https://i.imgur.com/kzkZqb5.png "")

#### PRODUCT

* A product or a service that solves the problem or need of a consumer. It can be a book in a bookstore, SaaS like Slack or Salesforce or even a service like a club membership.
* The product should have a USP (Unique Selling Point) or so to say a competitive edge over your competitors. 
* There has to be a differentiating factor between your product and what your competitor is selling for your product to stand out and your customers to choose your product.


#### PRICE

* The monetary value the customer pays for the product
* It is very important to determine the right price for your product in order to get enough profit for your product
* Pricing decides the customers that will come to your brand. A higher priced product would attract customers who want status value attached to the product and a lower priced product would attract customers who don’t care as much about the status as about getting their problem solved at an economical price.
* Pricing should also be determined by the kind of market your product will be operating in and the pricing your competitors offer for their product. If it's a newly discovered market you can charge a premium amount for the product. However if the market space is already saturated, the product is best sold at a cheaper price.


#### PLACE

* To bring the product to the notice of your target audience , it is essential to define **WHERE** the product will be 
		- `marketed (email, website, social media, hoardings, etc)` 
		- `sold (Online or offline)`
* If your targeted users prefer online shopping over visiting stores, the more viable option would be to sell the product or service online.
* It is important to research the demographics of your customer as well as where your competitor operates. Asking the following questions can help - 
		- `Where are the customers and where do they usually look for your 	service or product (online/ offline)?` 
		- `Is the product sold to businesses or directly to customers?` 
		- `Where are the competitors based? Can you operate away from them?` 


#### PROMOTION

* This factor defines how to reach out to the target audience and inform them about your product or service.
* It includes the strategies you use to bring your product to the notice of your customers. Some ways to promote your product include Direct emails, Influencer marketing, TV, Magazines, Billboards, Blogs, etc.
* Instead of going for all the possible promotion strategies , it is more useful to identify the strategies that will work the best for your target audience. For example - Promoting your product via a mailing list won’t be a viable strategy if your target audience is not tech savvy. 
* Every business should have its own promotion strategy tailored according to the target audience.

 
 

### How to use the 4 P's of Marketing?

1. Know your product inside out - It is important to know about the WHY behind every feature that your product offers or the service that you provide. 


2. Research about the customers, competition and the market before going through the 4 P’s in a detailed manner. 


3. Ask questions while deciding about the 4 P’s and keep asking these questions till you are satisfied with the facts and figures related to the product. 
	- **_Does the product meet the needs of the target audience?_** 
	- **_How different is your product from your competitors? What is its unique selling point?_** 
	- **_What will your target audience think about the price of the product?_** 
	- **_Will you position the product as a luxury product or an economical budget friendly product?_** 
	- **_Where will your customers shop for the product? How is the product going to reach them?_** 
	- **_How will your customers get to know about the product? What will be the most effective promotion strategies for your target audience?_** 


4. Review the marketing mix regularly as the market may change as the product matures.

 
 

While the 4 P’s of Marketing might look like a theoretical concept only to be read in books and articles, it provides a great insight while developing a marketing strategy for your product or service and differentes your business from that of your competitors.

4 P's of Marketing

The most crucial aspect of SaaS marketing is to understand who your customers are and to focus on their problems. However situations may arise where the product caters to the needs of the identified target group, but the product does not generate outputs or perform as expected. 

The answer to this uncanny behavior of getting unexpected results despite following the checklist lies in understanding the Product Adoption Curve. It is important to understand that the consumers won’t adopt the product at the same time. The reason to use the product may differ for each one of them. The driving force behind using the product depends on what phase of its life cycle the product is in. 

The Product Adoption Curve depicts a model which simplifies how and when to target specific groups from the consumer base. 
Customers lie in one of the categories described in the product adoption curve namely 

- **Innovators**
- **Early Adopters**
- **Early Majority**
- **Late Majority**
- **Laggards**
 
 

### Stages of Product Adoption Process

![5 Stages of Product Adoption Process](https://i.imgur.com/KPN0AOU.png "5 Stages of Product Adoption Process")

`THE INNOVATORS`
 
This is a relatively small group of people and will be one of the first ones to invest in your product. They are not looking for a solution to any problem but are interested in technology. They are open to taking risks and trying new products. 
This group is instrumental in giving a lot of feedback on the product. The product doesn’t need to be perfect before rolling it out to them and instead can be used to improvise based on the feedback received from these customers. 
This group does not want to spend a lot of money on your product. A freemium model can be used in this stage to gather feedback for your product. It is important to determine what improvements in the product should be made for better market penetration at later stages.
 
 
`THE EARLY ADOPTERS`
 
This is a comparatively larger group of customers who are keen on trying new products. They not only use your products to test waters but also because they have a problem that the product solves. 
These people might not mind paying a price for your product but will expect some level of customisation and a solution to their problem. 
They will give importance not only to the diverse features that the product offers but also to the customer problems that the product solves. 
Reviews and testimonials from these customers can be used in later stages of the curve to entice new customers. Additionally the suggestions provided by these customers can be used to improve the product.
 
 
`THE EARLY MAJORITY`
 
A third of the users belong to this group. This is the stage which offers maximum market size and potential to grow. Reaching this stage signifies that the product has a place in the market. The sales of your product is good from the previous two phases and after various iterations and improvements the product is also stable. 
The customers in this phase are open to change and innovation provided their pain points get solved through the solution that the product offers. They can be motivated to use the product with the help of case studies and testimonials from the customers of the previous two stages. These people would like to use the products which have been thoroughly tested and have provided value to other people. They are not very tolerant of technical issues with the product.
 

![Chasm in Product Adoption Curve](https://i.imgur.com/zj7c9ay.png "src : https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Technology-Adoption-Lifecycle.png")
> While crossing from the **Early Adopters** stage to the **Early Majority** stage , there is a divide between the two stages which is to be crossed for the product to establish its roots concretely in the mainstream market. This divide is called a **CHASM** and exists mainly because of the gap in expectations between the customers of the two stages. 
> The most integral part of crossing the chasm is Product positioning. The product has to go from being marketed to visionaries and technology enthusiasts to users who will use the product to solve their problems. The perspective has to change from higlighting all the cool new exciting features the product offers to highlighting how the features of the product solve the problems of the customers. 
> This can be achieved by using testimonials collected in the previous two stages (**Innovator & Early Adopter**), showcasing the success other people have had with the product and highlighting the features that solve the problems of this user base. The feedback received from the first two groups becomes very integral to improvise the product, so that it becomes fit for the non technical users to use.


`THE LATE MAJORITY`
 
This stage sees as many users as the Early Majority stage. However these users are more hesitant in opting for new solutions and technologies and only start considering your product once the product has managed to create a name for itself in the market. They want to be sure that the product is tried and tested before using it themselves. 
They will use your product not out of curiosity but out of need. They will not want to miss out on an opportunity to use a product that their competitors (from the Early Majority stage) might already be using. 
It is somewhere between the early majority and late majority phases where the sales of the product will be at its highest. It is very important to showcase to the consumers how the product solves their problem and the advantages that the product will provide them over the competitor product. 
 
 
`THE LAGGARDS`
 
The size of this group is considerably large,, making it an important stage for the success of the product. This group of people will be the last to buy your product. They are opposed to change and feel threatened by it. They are skeptical about your product and only start considering using your product once all of the buzz about the product is starting to quiet down. The popularity of the product does not convince them to adopt it and they only do so once things start becoming difficult for them by not using the product and are forced to adopt it.
 
 

### Conclusion

The product life cycle starts at a stage where no one or a very few people know about the product and may gradually reach a stage where everyone knows about it. As the product ages , the way it is promoted to the customers should also change. The message that you put forward at every stage should change according to the customer. **Innovators and Early adopters** will seek **uniqueness** whereas the **Early Majority** would want to know **what others think about your product.** 
The Innovators and Early Adopters are showcased the features of the product and the benefits it offers. On the other hand for the later stages, testimonials and reviews can be used to appeal to the customers and end their skepticism towards the product. 
Product Adoption Curve is a difficult concept to implement in your product lifecycle but can be very rewarding if mastered. If you pay attention to `WHICH customer needs WHAT and WHEN`, you can create an awesome product which is adopted by different customers at different stages. The key is to know who your customers are and what they want from your product.

Anvi Puri

Hi! I am Anvi Puri

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