---
title: "The marketing cycle and marketing mix"
course: "MKTG 120 · Grow an audience online"
unit: "Digital marketing foundations and market research"
lesson: 2 of 41
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/grow-an-audience-online/the-marketing-cycle-and-marketing-mix
publisher: Maestro College
---

# The marketing cycle and marketing mix

Lesson 2 of 41 in **Grow an audience online** (MKTG 120), unit "Digital marketing foundations and market research". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Explain the marketing mix / 4Ps: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.
- Map 4Ps decisions to stages of the Research → Plan → Create → Measure → Optimize (RPCMO) workflow.
- Use a simple RPCMO × 4Ps matrix to analyze marketing decisions.

## Teaching notes
Do not reteach RPCMO from scratch; use a concise transition from prior lessons and focus on how the 4Ps operate inside the RPCMO workflow. Represent the RPCMO × 4Ps relationship as a matrix, table, or equivalent visual artifact, and keep explanations compact.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 2 complete: The marketing cycle and marketing mix."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Understanding markets, segmentation, and targeting" (lesson 3 of 41), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/grow-an-audience-online/understanding-markets-segmentation-and-targeting.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Marketing as strategic decision-making
Next lesson: Understanding markets, segmentation, and targeting