FOR many years, marketers have applied the 4Ps of marketing—place, price, product and promotion—into their programs and strategies, at times with much success.
It is said that E. Jerome McCarthy was the first to suggest the 4Ps in the 1960s, and this has since been used by marketing companies, branding agencies, and Web design companies as a guideline.
While the 4Ps today still hold weight, the marketing landscape has been undergoing drastic changes, especially with the advent of technology.
With several high-profile data breaches causing consumer trust to sink to an all- time low, marketers must struggle to win their confidence in the wake of the new onslaught of privacy regulations.
In an article in marketingprofs.com, Judd Marcello introduces us to The New 4Ps of Marketing. These are privacy, permission, personalization and performance, which he calls “the way forward for marketers to earn consumer trust and loyalty.”
Here’s a look into the new 4Ps, and how “brands that quickly evolve and embrace the new 4Ps of marketing” can gain a competitive edge:
1 Privacy. Trust and transparency are now top of mind for consumers, says Marcello. With scandals like 2018’s Cambridge Analytica and one data breach, consumers have become cautious and concerned about their privacy.
In the US, new legislation to address privacy issues like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) force brands “to take a hard look on how they collect, use and secure data. More than not, they have to make significant changes or face consequences, such as heavy penalties, fines and customer churn.”
With this, marketers have to be aware of new privacy laws and restrictions when they collect data or plan new strategies.
For one thing, Marcello says that the cookie, which has served as the king of digital marketing, “is on its way out. Google announced changes to its Chrome browser that would offer users additional insight [on] how they are tracked across the world through cookies.”
“Marketers have long relied on cookies to track consumer interests and behavior,” adds Marcello, “but we will have to find new and improved ways of collecting data in a post-cookie world.”
2 Personalization matters more. With customers receiving an overload of marketing messages each day, it becomes harder for brands to stand out.
With this, Marcello says that “the best way to make an impression and cut through all the noise is through the use of personalization. Messages that are customized based on consumer behavior and preference insights have a much better chance of being noticed and offer significant ROI.”
3 Permission is a prerequisite. In today’s world where consumers know their worth, Marcello says that “brands offering interactive experiences that are both engaging and entertaining have a leg up the competition. Questionnaires, polls, quizzes and social stories are just a few ways marketers can improve the customer experience while conducting research and collecting op-ins.”
That’s because, “third-party data is unreliable and often incomplete, and it hurts consumer trust.”
How to address this? “Striking a balance between privacy and personalization requires the implementation of a permission-based data strategy—When brands seek out advanced consent, consumers anticipate receiving information from a brand and receive marketing messages that are both personal and relevant.”
4 Performance (ROI)—KPIs, KPIs, KPIs. Measurement is what sets successful marketers apart from the pack. “Knowing how your campaigns perform and using that data to inform future marketing campaigns is the key to making progress—and revenue,” says Marcello.
But which key performance indicators (KPIs) matter most? Marcello says that though “site traffic, click rates, and annual revenue are important, metrics that deliver actionable insights about your customers have the most influence on your business decisions.”
He then goes on to list his top 3 marketing KPIs:
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) By allowing you to “predict what your customers are likely to spend, CLV offers a glimpse into future profits, allowing you to target customers with the highest level of engagement and spending potential.”
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) Used to gauge the loyalty of a brand’s customer relationships, the Net Promoter Score offers critical insight into our customer experience performance.
• Customer Repeat Rate Do your customers come back again and again? Marcello says that this KPI “informs your strategy for increasing consumer loyalty and delivering a world-class customer experience worth repeating.”
In an ever-changing world, the Ps of marketing have evolved. And adding privacy, permission, personalization and performance into the mix will enhance the traditional place, price, product and promotion in earning consumer trust and loyalty.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for marketing and communications of SM, is the former local chairman.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.
Image credits: Iamnee | Dreamstime.com
1 comment
Hi ,
This is very nice article and useful . keep doing good work. Thank you so much for sharing this amazing post and helpful information.