Service marketing is different from product marketing because service marketing is more focused on services like software, hospitality, and healthcare. You will learn about the special aspects of service marketing, what works, and how to use the 7P’s model to grow your business.

What is Service Marketing?

Service marketing is the planning, pricing, advertising, and marketing of immaterial services. Website hosting, CRM, SaaS, etc. are a few examples. The most important is gaining and keeping customers with the help of the services. In contrast to product marketing, which is a direct relationship with the products, service marketing is all about customer touch, quality, and experience.

Basis for Comparison	Product Marketing	Service Marketing
Tangibility	Products are tangible. You can see, touch, and own them.	Services are intangible. You cannot see, touch, or own them.
Returnability	You can return a product if you don’t like it.	You cannot return a service. You can only consume it.
Customization	Most products are standardized. You cannot customize them to your taste.	Services can be customized to your needs.
Customer Interaction	Limited customer interaction because the product is separate from the company.	High customer interaction as the service is inseparable from the provider.
Quality Measurement	You can easily measure the quality of a product and compare it to others.	Different people feel differently about a service. So, it’s hard to measure the service quality.

Why is Service Marketing Important?

Draw and Keep Customers:Service marketing explains intangible products’ value and delivers on customer satisfaction. One bad service is enough to turn consumers away: 61% of people will leave your business and try another company within a single bad service experience.

Position yourself as a differentiator:In highly competitive sectors, such as SaaS or hospitality, service marketing distinguishes you with your service personality, customer testimonials, and expert articles.

Create a Great Brand Reputation:Consumers usually select brands on the basis of their track record of providing high-quality services. Service marketing strengthens your brand with word-of-mouth and social proof (reviews and testimonials).

Key Characteristics of Service Marketing

In order to market your services, you have to know what makes them special.

1. Immateriality: You cannot touch and see services, unlike products.

2. Absence of silos: Services are generated and consumed concurrently. They are not to be solitary from their makers.

3. Discontinuity: Services may vary depending on the party that provides them, the situation, etc.

4. Service Is Staggered: You can’t store services for a while; they’re expiring.

5. Seasonal and Temporal Change in Demand: A service’s demand changes seasonally, during times, and so on.

6. Ownership Absence: Services are experiential. You don’t own them; you only live them.

7. Customer Engagement: As a customer, you will often be part of the service offering, which impacts the result.

8. Pricing Complexity: Pricing services is tricky as they are perishable, volatile, and non-material.

Types of Service Marketing

Internal Service Marketing:Aimed at the employees and promoting services so they are aware and capable of communicating the service’s value. Salesforce, for example, trains workers every now and then to make them aware of the upcoming functions of their CRM system.

Marketing Service to External Customers:Addresses prospects and existing clients. For instance, HubSpot teaches and nurtures leads through content marketing such as blogs, eBooks, case studies, etc.

Interactive service:Marketing targets employee-customer interaction during the service provision. Zendesk provides live product demos for better UX and conversions.

7 P’s of Service Marketing: The Service Marketing Mix

The 7 P’s of service marketing are product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence.

1. Product

Product: in service marketing, the product is the unphysical service being provided to customers. You have to get to know what your customers want and then offer them that great service.

For instance, Gusto is an online payroll and HR solutions company providing total HR services and management such as payroll, benefits, time tracking, etc. It is specifically for small and medium enterprises that wish to be able to take control of their HR operations.

2. Price

The right price to charge for a service is one that takes into account cost, competition, and value. Tiered pricing, discounts, and memberships are some ways to gain customers.

HubSpot, for instance, has different pricing structures for its different products like marketing, sales, operations, etc. It offers plans for people, professionals, small teams, and companies. This lets customers select the plan that is suitable for them and their budget.

3. Place

Place is the service accessibility. When it comes to a website or app, the most important part of an online transaction is ease and user engagement.

Like Monday.com for Project Management, this is a user-friendly app, available on any device with an internet connection. So, businesses and individuals can run their work anywhere, anytime, easily.

4. Promotion

Advertising, social media, and public relations are all ways of making people aware and interested. Straightforward messaging attracts and keeps customers engaged, creating an image.

Salesforce for instance is a CRM application, and its marketing methods include social media marketing, content marketing, and email marketing. They publish interesting content, testimonials, and other industry-related content to keep people curious and sign up.

5. People

It is especially the people, as they work with the customers directly. Trained, professional, and polite workers increase customer loyalty.

For instance, Zendesk’s support team helps users solve any issues they might have. They support you through chat, email, and live chat. They guarantee to their customers that they will get prompt and efficient support.

6. Process

Process is the process of executing the service. Well-oiled customer-orientated functions boost customer retention.

Paybooks, for instance, a payroll software company, has stream-lined sign-up, pay-roll, and benefits processes. This makes the user interface seamless and fast.

7. Physical Evidence

The physical evidence is all that a business shows customers to show them that the service is good and stable. In SaaS cases, this would be the UI & UX design, the website or application, security and compliance, customer service, and brand alignment at all customer engagements. These are all vital in terms of trust and user experience.

Mailchimp has a neat and easy-to-understand interface. The overall brand is very solid and shows its value as a place to have a name and be sure of high-quality email marketing. Mailchimp also makes use of testimonials and case studies to prove that the service works and is reliable.

Strategies to Improve Your Service Marketing

1. Understand Your Audience

Knowing your customer is important to selling your products. It is about knowing who your customers are, what they need, and how they act. This data allows you to personalise your services and marketing to them in accordance with their specific requirements and preferences.

First things first, do market research like surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Settle on historical customer information to identify patterns and similarities. Develop comprehensive customer personas and segment your customers by common traits. And keep learning from customers’ comments and suggestions.
Xero is a small business accounting software that runs surveys and user interviews regularly to learn about what their customers are struggling with

2. Build Trust and Credibility

You can’t succeed in a service business if you aren’t building trust and credibility. Customers should trust that they can count on your brand to provide the best quality services all the time.

Don’t forget to get your brand message on all channels. Give high-quality service every time, and be upfront with your services, charges, and processes. And get involved in the community and be active online for added credibility.

And one more thing from uSERP founder and CEO Jeremy Moser:
Asana gains trust by consistently performing, keeping you up to date on product releases, and being relentlessly customer focused. They provide customer reviews and case studies as proof of efficacy.

3. Leverage Digital Marketing Channels

By using multiple digital marketing avenues, you are able to reach more and speak with them. All channels are different and can be applied to different marketing purposes.

Provide helpful content based on what your followers want and need; blog articles and videos are examples. Web optimisation: Make your website search engine friendly (SEO) so that it appears higher in search results. Create personalised email campaigns for each reader. Don’t neglect social media engagement with customers such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

The SEO, content marketing, and social media efforts of Slack drive traffic and conversion to make Slack one of the top communication channels for companies.

4. Personalization and Customization

Personalisation and customisation mean tailoring your products and marketing campaigns for different customers and preferences. It is a process that can dramatically increase customer loyalty.
Work with customer data to design experiences. Offer product/service customisations.

Adobe Creative Cloud has subscription options, and users get to choose what apps they use, so they can get a curated experience to fit your specific needs. Such customisation has been what has allowed Adobe to retain customers.

5. Effective Communication

‘Stadium messaging of value will avoid the feast-and-famine scenario that often accompanies service companies.’ Creative Life founder Matt Esson on the podcast For the Love of Marketing.

Create a powerful brand voice that stays the same across all channels. Storytelling to write stories that people will relate to. Do two-way communication. Listen to the customer and get back to them as soon as possible. Also, be transparent and authentic in your communication for trust.

Zendesk’s “Champions of Customer Service” campaign clearly communicates its support focus with concise and unified messaging across the various channels.

6. Create a Strong Brand Identity

The right brand identity distinguishes your services from the rest and leaves a positive impression with customers. It contains your brand’s vision, message, and design.

Develop your brand values and what exactly your brand stands for. Don’t forget to have your logo, colours, and design all the same on all the platforms. Create a brand narrative that speaks to your

vision and purpose.
Mailchimp is a fun company to work with, with its cartoons and approachable layout. It’s their individuality that helps them reach out deeply to users and stand out from the other email marketers.

7. Implement Referral Programs

Referral programs get you referring existing customers to your services. It is done using word-of-mouth advertising, which works great at establishing trust and authority.

Reward the referrer and new customer. Simplify referral to drive sign-ups. Promote your referral program through email, social media, and your website as well.

Dropbox’s referral program is another winner. They provided more storage space to the referrer and the new user, which doubled their user base. This is a simple and powerful method that allowed Dropbox to scale.

Change the Face of Service Marketing Right Now!

Now you have everything you need to really scale your service marketing. So just pick one, decide what you want to achieve, and measure. And as you notice results, add on other tactics to make your win even bigger.

It is tough out there, but if you keep these tried-and-true methods to hand, you will not only survive but thrive! So, why aren’t you? Get started today and watch your business skyrocket!