Marketing a product seems a no-brainer. After all, a product is tangible. But, marketing a service? How do you get people to buy into the invisible? If you cannot draw consumers with sight, touch, smell or sound, what’s left?
Marketing strategies for service companies take on a different look than those for products. Without appealing to the senses, you need to look at customers in a different way. Rather than what looks good or tastes good, you need to capitalize on customer success.
Why? How? Let’s talk about it.
Customer Success Reaches the Heart of the Matter
In product marketing, the appeal to the senses works to make an emotional connection between the customer and the product or brand. Even without a tangible product, marketing strategies for service companies make this connection as well.
To answer the question, “Why worry about emotion?’, consider a few statistics. Businesses which work to create an emotional connection see 85 percent sales growth over those who do not. And, greater than 50 percent of any human experience relies on emotions which drive decisions.
Customer success or customer-centric marketing drives business growth and profitability. And, focusing on consumer emotions fuels these efforts. Meeting customers at the intersection of their pain points and your solutions generates leads and nurtures existing clients.
A Great Customer Experience Yields Customer Success
The emotional connection proves valuable to customer success. And, the customer experience offers the primary vehicle for delivering an emotional connection. Marketing programs offer insight into your customer, automate lead generation and follow-up processes, and provide the intel to stand out to your new and current customers.
Emotionally connected consumers are more likely to recommend your service and re-purchase from you. Furthermore, they are less likely to check out your competitors and less sensitive to cost. The lure of other agencies only becomes a factor with a significant cost savings.
To create a great customer experience, you need to know your product, price point, place and promotion (just like marketing a product). However, you must also consider the people, physical evidence and process of marketing a service.
-
- People: The faces involved in selling and delivering your service add significant value to your marketing plan. How are face-to-face meetings with clients going? How is the voice that answers the phone received? Evaluating this component of your business is critical.
-
- Physical Evidence: Without a tangible product, communication and follow through become the evidence you share with your customers. How are leads nurtured? Are current clients kept informed? Do both feel valued? Communicating clearly and with the right frequency gets results.
-
- Process: How quickly does your website load? Can the consumer easily flow down the sales funnel? Organizing procedures and activities to run smoothly boosts customer trust and success.
Results Require Action: Marketing Programs for Professionals
As with any promotional effort, marketing strategies for service companies need time and attention. Marketing programs for professionals streamline the process and get results while removing the burden from you.
Experienced professionals understand website design and SEO as well as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to build your online presence. A great experience customer experience results. Print and television advertising speak to the pain points of your target audience with effective solutions.
Working with a professional agency helps you build a strong customer base quickly. While you can tackle your own marketing, a marketing program frees you to concentrate on the heart of your business. And, an agency which takes time to understand your unique services and target audience creates a just-for-you marketing strategy – promising customer success.
Contact us today to answer your questions about customer success marketing and discover the personalized solution which works for you.
