Price, product, promotion and place (4Ps): social media.

The idea

Social media promotion uses online platforms where users create, share and interact with content, such as posts, images, videos, comments and messages. A business can use social media to build awareness, engage customers, show products, answer questions, run targeted paid advertising and encourage sharing. For example, a small bakery might post photographs of new products on a platform, reply to comments and pay to show an offer to users within a chosen distance. Social media belongs to promotion, one of the 4Ps, because it communicates with customers rather than setting price, creating the core product or moving goods to customers. Its strengths include low cost, wide reach, fast feedback and precise targeting; limitations include time needed to manage accounts, negative public comments, changing platform rules and difficulty proving that posts caused sales.

What earns the marks

• Defines social media promotion as the use of online platforms where users create, share and interact with content to communicate with customers.
• Places social media within the promotion element of the marketing mix, distinguishing it from price, product and place decisions.
• Explains methods such as organic posts, paid targeted advertising, influencer content, customer engagement and sharing, and links them to awareness, image or sales objectives.
• Uses a concrete example, such as a business posting product images, replying to comments or paying for a targeted advertisement, and identifies the intended audience and benefit.
• Evaluates social media by weighing low cost, reach, targeting and fast feedback against management time, negative comments, platform changes and difficulty measuring sales impact.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Treating social media as free with no ongoing cost.

  Put it right by recognising the staff time, content production and paid advertising that may be required.

• Assuming all followers or views become customers.

  Put it right by distinguishing reach and engagement from actual sales and by considering conversion.

• Ignoring negative comments or reputational risk.

  Put it right by explaining how public criticism can spread quickly and how a business should respond.

Exam tips

• Link each social media activity to a clear promotional purpose, such as awareness, engagement or a specific sales objective.
• Use case details such as the product, target audience and platform to justify why social media is or is not suitable.
• For evaluation, compare social media with another promotional method and reach a supported judgement using cost, reach, control and measurability.