Service marketing communication

Marketing communications between the service firm and its customers can take many forms, some of them highly creative. In a competitive environment, effective communications play a vital role in marketing strategy, moving new customers through the purchase-decision process and helping to reinforce brand preference among existing customers.

Services marketing Versus physical goods marketing

The nine points that distinguishes the characteristics of services marketing from physical goods marketing are: Customers do not obtain ownership of services, Intangible elements dominate value creation, greater involvement of customers in production process, other people may form part of product experience, greater variability in operational inputs and outputs, many services are difficult for customers to evaluate, service products are ephemeral and cannot be inventoried, time factor is more important, delivery systems include electronic and physical channels.

Service MACOM different from product MACOM

Developing a communications strategy for intangible services differs in important respects from advertising and promoting physical goods.

Valued Customer

Customers

Customers are Ignoring You

Guidelines for action need to reflect the special characteristics of services. Many of the differences distinguishing services from goods have important implications for marketing communications. The six most relevant differences are: Intangible nature of service performance, Customer involvement in production, Services are harder for customers to evaluate, need to balance supply and demand, Importance of customer-contact personnel, reduced role for intermediaries.

Intangible Nature of Service performances.

Recognizing that service is a performance rather than an object means that ways have to be found to make the service more concrete and to clarify what the performance can do for the customer. Service providers should use tangible cues whenever possible in their advertising campaigns, especially for low-contact services, which involve a few tangible elements.

At a very basic level, some companies have succeeded in creating a tangible, recognizable symbol to associate with their corporate brand names. For instance, many...