Service Advertising
Whether you’re selling a tangible good or an intangible service, the driving
force behind any marketing plan or advertising campaign is to increase sales.
However, there are a few basic and fundamental differences to keep in mind between
promoting a service versus a physical good. A series of guidelines should be
followed when dealing with service advertising. While there is a wide range
of various services, just as there are physical goods, these basic guidelines
can apply to most service industries.
Making Your Service Understood
Often, because a service is something you can’t see or touch, it’s
difficult for people to understand just what they’re purchasing. One way
to effectively advertise a service is to put a physical description on it. Writing
an effective description of the service to make it more easily understood can
lead to a greater interest and increased sales of your service.
One industry does this effectively is the insurance industry. They have made it easier for consumers to understand what is being sold by associating the intangibility of an insurance policy with more relevant, tangible objects that are understand by the average consumer. A classic example is Allstate Insurance Company. Their tagline, “You are in good hands with Allstate,” effectively communicates hands taking care of you. Prudential Insurance always incorporated the tagline, “Get a piece of the rock.” Again, implying a rock solid service and relationship that better defines the service.
Taking Advantage of Word-of-Mouth
Many consumers seek referrals on services from people they know and trust. Good
examples of this include hair stylists, restaurants, doctors, lawyers, or real
estate agents. The importance we, as consumers have placed on listening to our
peers, have caused advertisers to take advantage of word-of-mouth promotions
and advertising in their campaigns.
Simply stated, people like to do business with other people they perceive as being the same, or similar to themselves. Making a conscious effort to leverage word-of-mouth can be done two ways. The first involves recruiting satisfied customers to let others know what they have experienced and why it was so great. These people are known as referrals. Potential customers are invited to call current customers to talk about their experiences. This puts a personal touch on a service.
The other way is to actually use real customers in a series of testimonial advertising. While this type of campaign is common, it can still be quite effective when done for the first time by the advertiser. Law firms can effectively use this testimonial style of advertising. Previous clients talk about how well they were treated and explain the process they went through.
Providing Tangible Clues
Consumers perceive service purchases to have a higher risk of dissatisfaction
and possible unpleasant personal experience than tangible goods. Therefore,
just like wordof- mouth, consumers look for tangible clues in the advertising
to first learn more about the quality of the service. An example of a tangible
clue is the facility in which the service is rendered. Advertising materials
often go to great lengths in describing the actual facility and its features,
whether it’s a hotel, convention center or other structure. As these descriptions
are combined with well-written statements about the benefits of the service,
they begin to provide a very compelling statement to potential customers.
Another type of tangible clue is the use of well-known spokespersons. The cell phone industry provides a good example. T-Mobile used Jamie Lee Curtis, than more recently used Catherine Zeta-Jones. The intent is to provide instant tangibility and credibility to the service in the minds of the consumers.
Creating Buy-In From Your Employees
A good is an object, and a service is a performance. When the performance is
peoplebased, such as real estate sales, the quality of the service becomes intertwined
with the service provider. A rude or slow waiter can completely ruin an otherwise
excellent meal in a fine dining establishment.
When the advertising describes the excellent staff, the services they provide and the benefits consumers can expect, it is important that these very same staff members live up to the advertising. Well-conceived advertising can have a positive effect on employees. One example used often in the banking industry is to feature one or more employees. Their face and own words are used in the advertising. Based on this, other employees take notice and begin to internalize the importance of providing the best possible service in every circumstance.
Consistent Advertising
Service firms have a difficult time differentiating themselves from their competition
due to the very intangibleness of their service. After all, a service has no
physical appearance, and one hotel is the same as another. While differentiation
is difficult to attain in the minds of the consumer, it is not impossible as
long as your advertising is consistent. Consistency comes in the form of advertising
and promoting the same distinctive symbols or taglines, formats or themes to
build and reinforce an image. Advertising continuity gives a service company
recognition and credibility in the eyes of the consumer. Oftentimes, this comes
later rather than sooner.
Promising What is Possible
At the end of the day, the most important thing for a service company to keep
in mind is to only promise what they can deliver upon the majority of the time.
These guidelines listed here are based on the fact that services are performances
rather than tangible goods and these performances are often labor intensive.
Make a checklist of service considerations when designing the most effective
advertising campaigns.
• Does the advertising make the service easily understood?
• Does the advertising take advantage of word-of-mouth?
• Does the advertising provide tangible clues?
• Does the advertising have a positive effect on the employees?
• Is the advertising continuous and consistent?
• Finally, does the advertising promise what is possible?