A marketing mix is a set of marketing tools that a firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in a target market. At the inception of this idea, a marketing mix was considered to consist of four “Ps”: Price, Product, Promotion, and Place. In the years that followed this original conception, other Ps have come to be considered crucial elements in a marketing mix, such as Packaging, Positioning, People, Politics, Performance, and more. There are also more customer-driven concepts of a marketing mix that have developed in more recent history, consisting of four “Cs”: “consumer, cost, convenience, and communication,” as well as “commodity, cost, channel, and communication.” However, you choose to look at it, whether you are evaluating along Ps or Cs, a marketing mix is an attempt to break down and formulate a marketing strategy into factors that will affect a business and the performance of its product in its intended marketplace. While it may seem daunting to have to evaluate your strategy across so many criteria, the principle itself makes a great deal of sense. Operating a business or bringing a product to market is not a guaranteed success. Whether you are adhering to Ps, Cs, or your own metrics, it would be unwise to move forward without some sort of calculated plan. While you may be tempted to go it alone on your marketing journey, you stand a much better chance of success with marketing expertise in your corner. We at Marketing.com have made “marketing” our name for a reason. Our partners trust us every day to help them devise effective strategies, and we would love to do the same for you.