What are the variables in a company’s marketing mix?

You have a killer product. The team is pumped. The launch campaign goes live, but the sales fall flat. What’s missing?

Most of the time, it’s because of misaligned marketing mix variables. It’s the foundation for turning awareness into action and action into revenue. When the core variables in the marketing mix aren’t working together, you’re wasting budget, confusing customers, and leaving sales revenue on the table.

What is a marketing mix?

The marketing mix is the combination of controllable variables a company uses to influence customer purchasing decisions. It’s often called the 4 Ps of marketing and includes elements like: 

1. Product 
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion

Originally coined by E. Jerome McCarthy in his book “Basic Marketing” in the 1960s, the marketing mix concept has evolved, especially for digital and service-based businesses, but the fundamentals still apply.

The marketing mix guides you to position your product and brand properly. Instead of just promoting something without any results, it helps you find the right product positioning, at the right price, through the right channels, with the right messaging.

Read more: The difference between marketing mix and marketing strategy

The 4 Ps of marketing mix

The four core variables in the marketing mix are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Let’s break down each element—and what you need to focus on.

Marketing mix variable	Definition	Key focus area	Example
Product	The item or service you bring to market to solve a customer’s need or want	Features, benefits, lifecycle, branding	Organic skincare line designed for sensitive skin
Price	The amount customers pay and what it communicates about the quality and value of your product	Value perception, pricing strategy	Subscription box priced at $29/month with bundled savings
Place	Where and how customers can find and purchase your product	Online/offline channels, logistics, accessibility	DTC ecommerce store with same-day delivery in select cities
Promotion	The ways you spread the word and persuade target customers to buy your product	Paid, owned, and earned media channels	Instagram influencer partnerships and retargeting ads on Facebook

1. Product: What are you selling?

Your product is what solves a problem for your target market. It can be a physical item, a digital service, software, or even an experience. Think about your product beyond its features. 

Key areas to consider when marketing a product

• Features and benefits: Highlight how your product solves customer pain points, not just what it does.
• Product lifecycle: Align your marketing strategy with the product’s stage: launch, growth, maturity, or decline.
• Brand and packaging: Create a strong branding strategy and polished packaging to influence consumer perception correctly.

Key product questions to ask

• Does the product deliver on its promise?
• Have you identified a clear value proposition?
• Are you positioning it in a way that highlights differentiation?
• Are you regularly gathering feedback to inform product updates?

Pro tip: Product marketing and demand generation work hand-in-hand. If your product doesn’t live up to the promise, no amount of promotion will save it.

2. Price: How much will customers pay?

The second marketing mix variable, Price, is a positioning tool. Your pricing strategy signals where you stand in the market, who your audience is, and what value they can expect. 

Price directly impacts conversions, perceived value, and brand equity. Getting the pricing wrong means you’ll either be leaving money on the table or scaring off potential buyers.

Pricing strategies you need to know

• Value-based pricing: Charge based on what your customer perceives as fair value. 
• Penetration pricing: Low prices to grab market share. This method works in crowded markets or when launching a new product for quick household penetration.
• Price skimming: Start high for early adopters, then lower over time. This type of pricing technique is common in tech or innovation-driven products.
• Competitive pricing: Match or beat competitors’ prices; often used in commoditized markets.

Pro tip: Test pricing elasticity. Use A/B testing to find the sweet spot between value perception and profitability. 

3. Place: Where do customers buy your products?

Place refers to the distribution channels you use to deliver your product or service to customers. To make your marketing mix successful, you need to focus on convenience and accessibility. If your target audience can’t find you where they are, they can’t buy from you.

Distribution has evolved from brick-and-mortar stores to a mix of online channels, apps, marketplaces, and direct-to-consumer marketing (DTC) platforms. 

You need to leverage unified marketing strategies to make shopping seamless for your audience. 

Distribution strategies to consider

• Online vs. offline distribution: Are you relying on DTC channels, ecommerce marketplaces, retail distribution, or a hybrid?
• Omnichannel marketing: Customers expect consistency across physical stores, websites, apps, and social media.
• Logistics and fulfillment: Slow delivery or bad service at the point of sale erodes trust—align your advertising flighting schedule with the ops teams.

Pro tip: Focus on reducing friction in the buyer’s journey. Is your checkout process optimized? Are customers dropping off at any point in the funnel? Collaborate with product and customer experience teams to tighten the journey.

4. Promotion: How do you communicate your product value?

Promotion is how you create awareness, generate interest, and persuade customers to take action. It includes every touchpoint where you communicate your offer. 

But promotion isn’t just about getting loud. It’s also about delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time. According to Proxima research, companies waste 40-60% of their digital marketing budget due to poor ad placements. So, make sure you’re meeting your customers where they are.

Marketing mix channels to keep in your promotion plan

Popular marketing channel mix includes:

• Paid media: PPC, display ads, and paid social
• Owned media: Content marketing, SEO, email marketing
• Earned media: PR, reviews, user-generated content, and influencer marketing
• Personal selling: Demos, consultations, direct outreach, and relationship building 
• Sales promotions: Discounts, bundles, referral programs

Modern promotion strategy requirements

• Data-driven marketing: Segment your audience based on behavior, demographics, and intent.
• Personalization: Increase brand engagement with tailored messaging. But make sure you’re not taking personalization too far. 
• Cross-channel integration: Create a seamless experience across email, social, search, and beyond.
• Specific percentage discounts: A study published in Harvard Business Review found that offering precise discounts like 6.8% instead of 7% increased consumers’ purchase intentions by 13% to 21%. This strategy makes promotions feel more tailored and credible, nudging hesitant buyers toward conversion.

Pro tip: Don’t spray and pray when selecting the right distribution channel. 

Use marketing attribution models to measure which channels and campaigns deliver incremental lift. This is where a tool like Keen’s AI-powered MMM platform helps you understand what works and where to double down.

Alt text: Selecting the right promotional channel with marketing mix modeling platform (MMM), Keen.

The 7 Ps of marketing mix

The 4 Ps cover the basic elements of the marketing mix. If you’re in service-based or digital industries, you need to consider three more variables. These are referred to as the 7 Ps of marketing and include: People, Process, and Physical evidence.

5. People

Your employees, customer service reps, and even AI chatbots represent your brand.

How to create the best customer interaction experience

• Train your team on brand messaging.
• Highlight customer success stories and testimonials.
• Leverage advocacy programs to turn happy customers into promoters.

6. Process

Process is the delivery system for your product or service to the customer. Every workflow, whether it’s an automated onboarding flow or how you handle refunds, affects customer satisfaction and, ultimately, retention. 

How to improve your processes

• Map the customer journey and remove bottlenecks.
• Work with ops and product teams to create smooth onboarding and support experiences.
• Automate where it makes sense, but keep it personal when it matters.

7. Physical evidence

Physical evidence is the proof that allows customers to trust you. The problem is: customers can’t “see” the product when it comes to services. 

How to create physical evidence

• Use tangible cues like case studies, testimonials, or even a well-designed website to build trust. In fact, having just five reviews can make a big difference. Products with five or more reviews are 270% more likely to be bought, according to a 2024 study by Medill Spiegel Research Center.
• Make your website and collateral look polished and professional.
• Offer demo videos or free trials to build confidence.

Why you need to balance the marketing mix with the right variables

The 4 Ps of marketing (and sometimes 7 Ps) aren’t standalone strategies. They work together to create a consistent customer experience. The entire strategy will fall apart if even one variable is out of sync. For example:

• Great promotion won’t save a bad product.
• Distribution won’t deliver if you’re targeting the wrong audience.
• Pricing too low for a premium product undermines your brand positioning.
• Poor distribution (Place) cancels out strong messaging.

How to use marketing mix modeling for optimization

When your entire sales engine depends on the 4 Ps of marketing, you can’t afford to rely on marketing guesswork to create the perfect marketing mix balance. 

That’s where marketing mix modeling (MMM) comes in.

With MMM optimization, you can:

• Measure how each variable, such as product features, price points, channels, and marketing campaigns, impacts revenue.
• Make data-backed marketing decisions on where to invest more or pull back.
• Understand the marketing incrementality of your promotions, pricing changes, and distribution strategies.

For example, Keen’s MMM platform helps you build smarter, data-driven strategies. You can test out different scenarios and know exactly how your marketing mix will perform based on your variables. 

Read more: What do marketing mix models show advertisers?

Create your perfect marketing mix combination with Keen

The difference between an underperforming marketing mix strategy and a high-impact plan often comes down to clarity and data. 

Even if you understand variables in a company’s marketing mix, you need data-backed insights to get them right. As a result, you’ll drive demand, improve customer experiences, and maximize your return on investment (ROI).

At Keen, we give you the tools to fine-tune the marketing mix variables in a matter of minutes. Understand exactly where to allocate budget, which channels are driving incremental growth, and how each variable in your mix impacts revenue.

Ready to make smarter decisions and build a marketing mix that delivers measurable results? Book a demo to see how our MMM platform can transform your strategy.