7 Tips for Marketing a Service Business

When you’re selling a product, it might feel like marketing comes easy. You create a campaign around what a product can do for its customers, execute it, and the product sells itself. But when you run a service-based business, selling the service requires a different approach. Instead of marketing product features, you have to market yourself and your team’s ability to get the job done. Marketing a sunny disposition and a history of great customer service is a bit tougher than plastering product specifications on a brochure.

Here are seven great techniques to market your service business.

1. Reel In Customers With Incentives – Everyone wants a deal, and special promotions are a great way to satisfy that want. While a successful promotion might cut into your profits, it could also bring new customers through your doors. Just remember to strike a balance between your pricing needs and your customer’s perception of a good deal.

2. Stay in Touch – It might seem obvious, but you should make efforts to keep in touch with your loyal clientele. Good service is worth talking about, and courteous customer service can build a great word-of-mouth following.

3. Make Use of Social Networking – In addition to creating a website for your business, consider creating business pages and profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and any other social networks you find suitable. Once your pages are all set up, make sure you stay on top of them by responding to customer inquiries and posting valuable and relevant updates. This will help you build a following. And even if the immediate recipient of your social media marketing isn’t buying what you’re selling, he or she can still easily share your offer with someone they know.

4. Stock Up on Business Cards – Business cards are still valuable. They can be an extremely fruitful means of marketing for small businesses. 4Business Group offers the best quality and unique designs for your next business cards.

5. Connect With the Community – Be kind to your neighbors, and don’t approach your community with the outdated “competitive advantage” business model. Other established local businesses have their own clientele. So if you treat these businesses with respect, and since they may be only able to handle a certain amount of clientele, they may just refer some clients to your services.

6. Get in the News – Sometimes, depending on the size of your community, simply putting up a new sign is enough to get you in the news. If not, you may need to do something more newsworthy, such as donating to a charity or holding a community event.

7. Compete Based on Value, Not Price – Competitive markets typically see contenders engaging in price wars. However, savvy service businesses know that lowering rates is a waste since customers usually opt for the provider that offers the most value for the price. As such, to achieve optimum value, consider a bundling strategy. An example of an industry that relies on bundling is fast food, which incorporates popular items into less-expensive meal combinations while still maintaining profits. In service businesses, since inventory costs are usually not your primary concern, you can bundle additional services and drastically enhance your offer.