subject: Products & Services Do They Need To Be Marketed Any Differently? [print this page] Businesses are all about the sale and purchase of products and services. This is what makes the world go round and the cash flowing. Businesses can be classified into two broad categories depending of whether they sell (i) products or (ii) services. Of course there are some that sell both! But are marketing strategies the same for both products and services?
No!
Products and services are different animals with different characteristics. And, therefore, they need very different marketing strategies as well.
Let us examine some basic characteristics that differ between products and services:
Tangibility
Products are tangible (i.e. you can touch and feel them and examine them). Marketing them becomes easier because customers can see exactly what they will get when they spend their money.
Services are intangible and cannot be possessed. In the absence of this tangibility, it sometimes becomes more difficult to persuade customers to buy services. Therefore, service providers need to develop strategies in order to inform customers about the service process and the final result that they will get and the quality thereof.
Expiry
In the case of products, they can be stored and sold. You can determine the amount of their production and can create an inventory of products on hand. Likewise, you can market your products as and when you like. For example, you can identify key times when demand for your products may rise and create a marketing campaign around the same in order to derive maximum results. Even if you are left with unsold items, you can often retain them for the next season.
However, services cannot be stored for future use like products. This is because, unlike products, services rely on real time to provide them. If you provide virtual secretarial services to your client, you cannot buy back the time in the event you missed the appointment. . After the relevant time passes, the value of the service that could have been provided during that time diminishes to zero. Moreover, service providers may find it increasingly challenging to maintain the same consistency in case of any fluctuation in the demand cycle.
Quality Differences
The quality of a product remains the same, unless, of course, there has been a change in the materials or components used in their manufacture. The variability factor is, therefore, highly minimized.
However, in case of services, their quality and consistency depends on the people delivering them. This can create a wide margin of variability and quality difference. Services are based on people and, therefore, the quality is greatly influenced by a variety of factors like the time of the day when they are more energetic, their experience and expertise of the task, attitude towards work, general knowledge and so on.
Because of these key differences, marketing for products and services should be treated totally differently. You need to develop a marketing strategy in view of these characteristics so that your marketing plan fares well with your potential audience and brings in the desired results.
Disclaimer : Sabra Easterday is the owner and founder of MatchB2B (matchb2b.net). Sabra is also a lawyer with a special interest in business issues and e-marketplaces. Notwithstanding that Sabra Easterday is a lawyer, nothing in this article and no services of MatchB2B or its website are legal services and no attorney-client relationship exists between any reader of this article or user, customer or potential customer of MatchB2B, and MatchB2B, its website or Sabra Easterday.
by: Sabra Easterday
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