5 Marketing Strategies to Create a Killer Service Sector Brand

Marketing a service can be complex but it is good to remember it still takes the tools and strategies many top branded products employ. The service sector really has the upper hand with customer loyalty because they are providing the service while it is being consumed, meaning they are face-to-face with the customer. With a service, gauging customer satisfaction can be more easily done because you have the ability to make sure the customer walks away satisfied.

However, along with customer satisfaction are the basics of marketing that if done correctly can define your position, escalate your brand awareness, and create preference amongst the customer segments you serve. There are lessons to be learned from some of the most well loved brands – use them!

Define your Brand

Great marketing starts with great research and a clear understanding of your customer. Uncover the meaning of your services in the mind of the customer and define your brand position. What do your services do for the customer? A brand is the sum of experiences. What do your customers experience?

Apple is consistent with the user experience whether it be product offerings, in-store, or on-line. Apple customers want innovation and Apple continues to be at the forefront of innovation and in demand by legions of fanatical customers.

Create and Maintain Your Value Proposition

What are you offering that your customers can’t get anywhere else? No matter what industry you’re in, your customer has choices. Competition is everywhere and in order to win in the market place you have to do something differently? What do you have that no one else has?

In the service sector your value is in the people who provide the service. Perhaps it’s a unique skill set, superior education, superior process, or differentiated pricing structure. Create a value proposition as to why customers should choose you. Don’t be the same as … be different than.

Through their secret formula, Coca-Cola offers refreshment. Customers ask for the refreshment by name because they know they can rely on the taste of Coca-Cola.

Be Where Your Customers Are

Know your customer. What are their media habits? What are their touch points? How do you get their attention in a crowded marketplace? If you are going to be at the top of mind in their consideration set you have to know exactly how to reach them. At 9:00 in the evening, are they watching Game of Thrones or are they scrolling through Facebook on their mobile phone?

Nike wants the sports enthusiast, so they show up to the sporting events. They are the sports apparel for many a top athlete. They know where to find their customers.

Showcase Your Expertise

Whatever it is that makes you different – flaunt it. The success of a service organization is based on how well the service is provided. If you are a law firm and you have a winning trial record, let people know. Create the information that showcases why you are the best at what you do. Find the thing you do better than anyone else and showcase it to your customers.

Louis Vuitton is expert at luxury. If you want one of the world’s best made handbags Louis Vuitton has been making them for over 100 years – their craftsmanship is legendary.

Set The Experience

What is the ideal experience for your customers? Walk in their shoes as they encounter your service. Understand the experience continuum. Know what you do well and what is lacking. Figure out what is most crucial and important to your customers. Make the experience exceptional and continually strive to improve it.

Microsoft, Google, Apple, BMW, they all have continuous improvement and new models. If you aren’t making the experience better someone else will.

Whatever your service – build your brand, guard it – make it stand for something extraordinary.

Marketing 101: What Every Business Needs to Know

Whether you are a start-up or a 100-year-old company, there are some basic principles of marketing that every business needs to know. Marketing tactics may change but the principles are tried and true.

Many companies are doing an amazing job and others are trying really hard. Marketing isn’t rocket science but it is part art and part science. It does require a certain amount of business savvy and a whole lot of knowledge about the marketplace. Get the foundation right and you are doing better than most.

Marketing is not sales and it is definitely not advertising. Both of these promotional elements are critical to marketing but the sooner you realize they are not marketing the more quickly you will be able to identify and incorporate functional “marketing” strategies.  Many promotional elements happen sooner than they should. If you haven’t laid the groundwork, chances are good your promotional elements are costing you far too much in both $’s invested and lost opportunities. Promotion – advertising, sales, direct marketing, public relations, social media – are all intended to educate and engage your customers, not “misinform or misguide” them!  Make sure you’re getting the right information to the right people in the right way that will resonate with them.

Know your customers. Good marketing starts with a very clear understanding of your customer. Knowing your customer is the essence of providing good products, great service, ideal delivery, spot-on pricing, and a message that will get a response. One of the best ways of gaining this invaluable information is through market research. Too often companies get off track by incorporating “their own opinions” on their prospective customer wants and needs. A measured, unbiased and relevant research sampling from your targeted prospects is an absolute essential but often overlooked step. Having no information about your customers but trying to connect with them is like trying to date someone you’ve never seen, never talked with and don’t even know their name. All your efforts will fall flat.

I’m working with a business in a new development. The person they hired to do the marketing lives several hours away and has little or no relevant research data, which is proving to be a major barrier to the development of effective marketing. Without customers there is no product and therefore nothing to market. Know your customers and you have the keys to creating an effective and efficient marketing strategy that will produce results.

Develop a Compelling Brand. Just the other day I had a conversation with a gentleman claiming to be a branding expert. As he was telling me that branding is marketing and that branding drives marketing, I began to fear for the customers he had already fooled with his “expertise”. Branding is a component of marketing and all good branding should come as a result of carefully developed marketing. Your brand is the sum of experiences a customer encounters when doing business with you. The brand is developed through great marketing strategy. How does your marketing strategy help to set and define your brand? How does your brand deliver in the market and against your competition?

Be Easy for Your Customers. I think everybody has heard it said in real estate…location, location, location. Well, it also applies to marketing. How does your delivery of the product help your customers to buy from you? Are you easy to access? This goes for everything. In a world that is 24/7 how do you serve your customers? Are you where they want you to be? You may need multiple options for your market segments. As an example, Colleges and Universities are approaching this ideal with both online and on-campus options for the populations they serve. This represents a real change in traditional thinking – especially for an industry very deep in culture. What do your customers want?

Know Your Costs and Your Price Threshold. One of my first marketing jobs was working for a lady looking to make it big in the toy industry. Unfortunately she didn’t understand this marketing basic about cost and price. Her costs were high but her customer price threshold was low – she was operating in the toy industry, not too many parents want to spend a lot on a toy that will be discarded after a couple of weeks. Sometimes you may have a good idea but if it can’t be implemented it may forever be just a good idea. The implementation will come when there is a big enough market that demands your product and is willing to pay the price that will actually provide you with enough profit to be viable. Understand the market when setting your price.

Obviously these basics can run deep, but understanding and knowing of their existence will help you avoid high costs with low results. Operating your business with these “basics of marketing” will save you money, time and avoided heartache down the road.

Make It Rain! Get the Most From Your Marketing

Is your marketing all about advertising and sales? Successful marketing needs a more comprehensive plan founded on good insights.

When I speak on marketing I always ask my audience the most basic question, “What is Marketing?” The answers are always the same – Sales or Advertising. And unfortunately for many people that is their marketing. But they probably aren’t getting the results they want and need by only looking at one tiny aspect of what should be a much bigger program.

To keep things simple, lets look at marketing as a big umbrella. Under the umbrella are your customers, products, distribution, pricing, and the promotions. The handle that holds up the umbrella is the research needed to determine the best mix of all the marketing variables

Understanding your customers through solid market research will take the guesswork out of determining the marketing variables. When you know and understand your customer you can achieve much more targeted and effective marketing through strategies that work. It’s easy to come up with great ideas but great ideas with a positive return on investment don’t just happen.

I always love the question, “What do you think I should do?” This is usually prefaced with a very cursory overview of a marketing conundrum. This is similar to asking your accountant how much tax you owe without giving them your financials. Or asking your physician to give a diagnosis without running any tests.

With marketing we have a lot of strategies and tactics, but wouldn’t you rather use the right strategies and tactics to achieve your marketing goals? This is only done through good research, insightful planning, and measured results.

Marketing is part art and part science. Do it correctly and make it rain without getting all wet!