At present, marketing services represent the most important economic sector in both developed and developing countries that are progressively transforming from an agricultural or industrial economy to a more tertiary-based economy. For this reason, service marketing is indispensable for the growth of organizations.

In addition to tools and strategies that strengthen market share, it improves the user experience by offering value solutions.

What is service marketing?

Service marketing refers to the area of organizations that studies, analyses and offers effective mechanisms for the marketing of intangible products at a given time and place and for a specific customer segment.

Today, it is possible to find a wide variety of proposals based on services: from the design of a logo or a haircut to the granting of a credit or the enjoyment of a leisure service.

As you can imagine, each service has its own characteristics and therefore requires particular strategies to achieve the desired impact on the target customers.

In that context, service marketing not only serves a specific purpose during planning, but is also essential for organizing, directing and controlling the actions of the organization's staff and financial resources.

Marketing Services

Service marketing presents particular characteristics that differ from (physical) product marketing.

There can be many factors or qualities that differentiate one service from another and, above all, in this digital context, where creativity and innovation, make us think that there are no limits to create new services or improve those that are already available in the market.

Despite the above, we will present 8 general characteristics of the services with which you can understand why they require specific actions to improve the participation of companies in their respective markets:

1. Intangibility

The services are intangible since they cannot be” touched “or” displayed " as would traditionally happen with the products. For example: the acquisition of a life insurance policy.

2. Heterogeneity

In addition, the services are heterogeneous, that is, each service provided will depend on the actions of the provider or providers, so, despite the commitment and effort to maintain standardization, it is difficult to guarantee the same quality or the same level of satisfaction in all users. For example: the organization of a cultural event.

3. Immediate consumption

For the above reason, it is said that the provision of the service and the consumption of the service occur simultaneously and, in addition, it develops with a high degree of interaction with the user of that service. A very valid example would be the tour guide service.

Marketing Services channels explained

4. Direct marketing channels

This quality makes it necessary to adopt direct channels for the commercialization of the service, however, with technological support and new business models, it is possible to create alliances with intermediaries sometimes. For example: through the commission programs offered by some digital companies or franchise contracts that are so popular in fast food companies.

5. Perishable

Another characteristic of the services is the perishability since they cannot be stored, returned or “reused". For example: a face-to-face training course.

6. Price

Unlike physical products, many services have a changing or seasonal demand, which makes planning and estimating revenue complex. For example: hotel accommodation services.

This demand vulnerability also has an effect on the pricing of the price of the service, however, the drawback can be minimized with proper management of the cost accounting of the provision of each service.

As discussed above, services are indispensable for the economic growth of multiple sectors.

From a macroeconomic perspective, service providers create both direct and indirect sources of employment.

Additionally, they generate tax revenues either through fixed taxes such as Value Added Tax or variable taxes such as Income or Corporation Tax.

The competitive scene of the Marketing Services

In a competitive market, organizations are forced to innovate continuously. For this reason, services must continuously improve to achieve customer satisfaction and, with it, contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of citizens.

Nations that have specialized human capital in certain services tend to be more attractive for foreign investments that not only provide financing, but often strengthen the transfer of technology or so-called Know-How.

The increasing complexity of markets, in terms of the offer and characteristics of services, forces organizations to continuously improve. Otherwise, potential customers will choose other suppliers and, consequently, opportunities for financial growth will be limited.

For those reasons, it's convenient to understand how service marketing works and, in that way, take advantage of the tools, strategies and mechanisms we've offered you today.

In that context, the level of success will depend on the commitment shown to meet the needs of the public, continuously improve in terms of service design and, above all, take advantage of the technological resources that improve the effectiveness of marketing operations today.