Every business school teaches The Four P’s in their basic marketing class. The Four P’s are Product, Price, Place and Promotion. There have been attempts to expand the P’s but in the end, these four areas completely encompass the basics of any business or ministry. By the end of this article, you will be equipped to “wow” your Baptist preacher friends this four point “P” business sermon.
PRODUCT is the mix of things you offer. For musicians, the obvious products are songs and albums, but those are not your only options. Songs can generate royalties from publishing and cash from Download/Memory Stick/CD/Vinyl sales. What about other product options? Concerts are a product option. What song is connecting the most with your audience? Those song lyrics can be turned into art you can sell: art to hang on the wall or wear on the body. We have frequently turned song lyrics into bestselling shirts for our Extra Mile Merch clients. Songs or lyrics can also become jewelry. Your VIP fan club could be a product in your mix providing extra music and discounts or special meet and greet time with you. Another product that has become very popular for artists is the charity they promote like OneVerse or World Vision.
PRICE is your pricing and offers structure for all that product. Sometimes your price may be free. Free is definitely a price. Most of the time, your price structure will vary based on the intersection between your cost and what people are ready, willing and able to pay.
PLACE is the stretch word in our sermon… Place means distribution methods for your products. For most of your products, distribution will certainly start with the trunk of your car, and will also likely include your web site. It may include your church, local Christian stores, and other churches you’ve served. Online options for music could include retailers like iTunes, or music subscription services like Rhapsody. It may include music licensing through a service like CCLI. Your lyrics may one day be something you can license to someone else just like VeggieTales has done with their entire brand. Aligning yourself with other organizations or events can provide another place for distribution.
PROMOTION, simply put, is getting the word out. This is the area we will dive most deeply into in future columns. Social media, public relations, radio, advertising, promotions, online, offline, word of mouth, point of purchase… all of these are Promotion. With all of the new technologies from the last two decades, promotion on a large scale has become much more complex as you try to sift through the multitude of options that now exist.
Don’t worry about all that complexity if you are following my thoughts on God’s Growth Strategy as outlined in my previous column. When you are working on those concentric circles of growth, promotion is much more manageable. The basics of each area of promotion are easy to pick up and learn. As we progress through the various promotional options, I’ll also have a handful of No-Brainers for you.
So far in the MAP, we’ve talked about your Mission, Fan Development, the Non-Profit option, God’s Growth Strategy and the basics of the Four P’s. Next time we’ll start to go deeper into Promotion with Social Media. Until then… 🙂
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You’ll find Scott’s regular column in Worship Musician! magazine: “Ministry + Artistry = Profitability? Creating your MAP”. Scott has led classes for us at NAMM and the Christian Musician Summit. He has been featured in Adweek and is the CEO of FrontGate Media, the #1 culture-engage media group reaching the Christian audience (www.FrontGateMedia.com) and is the co-founder of Creator Worship: online radio for worship leaders (www.CreatorWorship.com). Email your comments or questions to Scott@CreatorLeadershipNetwork.com.