MARKETING OF SERVICES: CHARACTERISTICS, STRATEGIES AND EXAMPLES - DUDAS - 2025

The marketing services is a broad category of marketing strategies focused on selling anything different to a physical product. It includes everything from personal services, such as spa treatments and medical care, to vehicle rentals, and experiences such as dance classes and concerts.

Any method that is capable of communicating the benefits and attractiveness of a service to customers is a valid avenue, including informational content, advertisements, promotional offers and many other kinds of marketing materials.

The world economy today is increasingly characterized as a service economy. This is mainly due to the growing importance and participation of the service sector in the economies of developing and more developed countries.

The development of the services sector has been described as an indicator of the economic progress of a country. It includes the commercialization of services such as financial services, telecommunications, all types of hospitality, leisure and entertainment tourism, car rental, health, professional and commercial services.

History

Service marketing is a relatively new phenomenon in the marketing domain, having gained prominence as a discipline towards the end of the 20th century.

It came to the fore in the 1980s, when it began to be debated whether marketing for services was significantly different from marketing for products, to be classified as a separate discipline.

Before this, services were considered only as an aid to the production and marketing of goods and therefore were not considered to have their own relevance separately.

However, the 1980s saw a change in this thinking. As the service sector began to grow in importance and emerged as a major employer and contributor to GDP, academics and marketing professionals began to view service marketing in a new light.

By the mid-1990s, service marketing was firmly entrenched as a significant sub-discipline of marketing. It had its own empirical research and data, and growing importance in the increasingly service-dominated economies of the new millennium.

characteristics

The services are complex, multidimensional and multi-layered. Not only are there multiple benefits, but there is also a multiplicity of interactions between customers and organizations, as well as between customers and other customers.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the so-called unique features of services dominated much of the literature. The four most commonly cited characteristics of services are:

Intangibility

All services are intangible and do not have a physical existence. Therefore, they do not interact with any of our senses in a conventional way. Services cannot be held, touched, tasted, or cast.

This is the most defining characteristic of a service and it is what mainly differentiates it from a product. In addition, it represents a unique challenge for those involved in service marketing. This is because they need to add tangible qualities to an offer that is intangible.

Since ownership of the service cannot be transferred, its value results from consumption or experience. Its quality is difficult to evaluate before being consumed or bought.

Inseparability

It refers to the fact that services are generated and consumed within the same period of time.

For example, a haircut is delivered and consumed by a customer instantly, in contrast to a take-out hamburger, which could be consumed by the customer even after a few hours after purchasing.

It is very difficult to separate a service from the service provider. For example, the barber is part of the haircut service that he is delivering to his client.

Production and consumption cannot be separated, compared to goods, where production and consumption are completely different processes.

Perishable

Services cannot be stored, saved, returned or resold once they have been used. Once delivered to one customer, the service is completely consumed and cannot be delivered to a different customer.

For example, a customer who is dissatisfied with the barber's services will not be able to return the haircut service that was provided. At most, you can decide not to visit that particular barber in the future.

Although demand is subject to wide fluctuations, there is no inventory to serve as a buffer between supply and demand. Unused capacity cannot be reserved, generating a high opportunity cost of idle capacity.

Heterogeneity / variability

Each service offering is unique and cannot be exactly repeated even by the same service provider. While products can be mass-produced and homogeneous, the same is not true for services.

For example, all hamburgers of a particular flavor at McDonalds are almost identical. However, the same does not happen with the service provided by the same staff to two consecutive clients.

Services involve processes delivered by staff, therefore they are subject to human variation. Service quality is difficult to manage, as there are fewer opportunities to standardize service delivery.

Service marketing strategies

When service companies think of marketing strategies, they generally consider direct techniques. That is, in messages that are sent directly to potential customers.

The goal is to be persuasive and convincing so that the audience responds and commits to the service offered.

Market research

Research is the foundation of all current marketing efforts. From market research to brand research, scientific studies can help you make more informed decisions.

Research helps to better understand customers. It gives an idea about how the business processes are being carried out.

It will be known in which aspects the company is performing well and which marketing strategy in the service sectors needs to be improved.

Niche strategy

One of the most important business considerations for service marketing is niche targeting and specialization.

Research has shown that some of the fastest growing service companies are specialists in a carefully selected niche.

The niche should be an industry sector that is thoroughly understood. It must be a space where the company can become an undisputed leader and expert.

Specialization can make a difference in marketing efforts. It defines what the company does exactly and distinguishes it from the competition.

Web page

The company's website will be one of the most important assets. It is more than just a digital billboard, as many companies believed in the past.

It is an important tool to increase the visibility of the brand. Potential clients often search online for service providers.

The website will show the experience of the company and thus obtain a better acceptance in the market. The Internet has become the most common source of all information.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

The target audience must be able to land on the website without any problem. The site must be effective that way. And this is how SEO comes into play.

Its importance in the marketing of online services is that SEO is considered by high-growth companies as one of the most important strategies available to manage traffic.

Social networks

More than 60% of buyers consult new service providers through the social network. This makes it one of the most widely used sources of information.

A recent marketing study found that nearly 17% of all experience-based referrals are made with interactions on social media.

These act as an accelerator to achieve experience, reputation and content for the target customers. Helps connect with influencers and valuable contacts.

Advertising

Advertising doesn't just promote service marketing. It also plays an important role in content downloads, increasing visibility and experience.

It is important to use the various forms of advertising that are best suited to professional service. Networks like LinkedIn and others geared towards the service industry often work best.

References

The nature of professional services referrals has changed over the years. This has greatly impacted the service marketing strategy. It has been found that more than 81% of service providers have received referrals from people who were never customers.

But where do all these references come from? Most of them come from the experience or reputation of the company.

Analysis and reports

It is important to analyze the appropriate indicators to measure results effectively. But you must have the tools in place to collect the accurate data. This includes social media, website, and SEO.

Google Analytics is a crucial tool for measuring and analyzing the traffic coming to the website. SEO results can be improved with MOZ. Hootsuite and other similar tools provide detailed analysis of social networks.

Importance

Given the intangibility of services, marketing them becomes a particularly challenging and yet extremely important task.

Key differentiator

Due to the increasing homogeneity in product offerings, support services are emerging as a key differentiator in the minds of consumers.

For example: in the case of two fast food chains that serve a similar product (Pizza Hut and Domino), more than the product, it is the quality of the service that distinguishes the two brands from each other.

Thus, marketers can take advantage of the service offering to differentiate themselves from the competition and attract consumers.

Importance of relationships

Relationships are a key factor when it comes to service marketing. Since the product is intangible, a large part of the customer's purchase decision will depend on the degree of trust they have with the seller.

Therefore, it is extremely important to listen to the customer's needs and satisfy them through a suitable service offer. This builds a lasting relationship that leads to repeat sales and word of mouth recommendation.

Client retention

Given today's highly competitive landscape, where multiple vendors compete for a limited pool of customers, retaining customers is far more important than attracting new ones.

Since services are generated and consumed at the same time, they actually involve the customer in the service delivery process, taking into account their requirements and comments.

Therefore, they offer more space for customization according to customer requirements. Thus, they offer greater satisfaction that leads to greater customer retention.

Real examples

For example, most 5-star hotels maintain customer databases, which detail their guests' room order options.

Therefore, if a guest has requested that an orange juice be kept in their room's minibar, the next time they make a hotel reservation, the staff will make sure the juice is already in the room.

These little gestures go a long way in making customers feel important and in delighting the customer.

Another novel way to exceed guest expectations is demonstrated by travel agencies. Since they usually have details with their clients' birthdays, they often send an email greeting to their clients to congratulate them.

This not only has an impact on the customer, but also helps the company maintain a "mental reminder" with its guest.

Tourism campaign

The most successful tourism campaigns do not sell products, but experiences. Consider the "What Happens Here Stays" campaign by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (ACVLV).

This body is responsible for bringing millions of people to the city each year and "What Happens Here" is its most successful ad campaign to date. Launched in 2004, it preceded a record visitor rate of 37.4 million people to Las Vegas in just one year.

The emotional bond between Las Vegas and its customers was freedom, the R&R marketing agency noted, after conducting extensive research.

The campaign may not sell a product, but it promises consumers that they will get something to take home: a unique experience in the city of Las Vegas.

In the case of this campaign, ACVLV was selling the experience of visiting Las Vegas, trying to generate clients for hotels, restaurants and other local businesses.

The campaign consisted of a wide variety of materials, such as television commercials, magazine ads, Internet ads, billboards, and other marketing materials, which consistently communicated the campaign message.

References

1. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2018). Marketing services. Taken from: en.wikipedia.org.
2. Marketing-Schools (2018). Marketing services. Taken from: marketing-schools.org.
3. Prachi Juneja (2018). Services Marketing - Definition and Characteristics. Management Study Guide. Taken from: managementstudyguide.com.
4. Prachi Juneja (2018). Services Marketing - Definition and its Importance. Management Study Guide. Taken from: managementstudyguide.com.
5. Educba (2018). 10 Powerful Service Marketing Strategies (Valuable). Taken from: educba.com.
6. Gerald Hanks (2018). Marketing Strategies for a Service Firms Chapter. Small Business - Chron.com. Taken from: smallbusiness.chron.com.