While marketing strategies are very much the same across both product- and service-based organizations, there are some minor differences that can make the task of marketing for service organizations a bit more challenging. Most notably, the difference between marketing a tangible product compared to an often intangible service, and the many issues related to the broad variety of people impacts of service delivery. Still, the 4 "P's" of marketing (product, price, place and promotion) apply.
Product
Service organizations sell products that are intangible. Services are experienced by consumers quite differently from tangible products. They may be experienced over time and through interactions with multiple individuals or touchpoints. Consider health care, for instance. A health care service experience involves contact with reception staff, clinical staff, billing staff and potentially others. A clinic visit, for instance, encompasses everything that occurs from finding a parking spot, to waiting in the reception area, to interacting with the physician, to potentially filling a prescription. The challenge for service marketers involves ensuring a consistent experience across these multiple touchpoints as they impact the consumer perception of quality. This is much different from the challenge faced in manufacturing environments.
Price
Because of the ephemeral nature of services, pricing can present a marketing challenge. In both product and service environments, marketers attempt to assign a price based on consumer value and select a price point that reflects their perception of that value that is viewed to be competitive when compared to other alternatives. Obviously, it is more difficult to compare apples to apples when offering consulting services, for instance, than when selling widgets. This can make it more complex both to evaluate and compare competitive offerings based on price and to adequately provide messages to consumers to support the selected price points for service offerings.
Place
Place refers to both physical location and access to a product or service. With product marketing, marketers are concerned about the availability of their product on store shelves, for instance. With service marketing, issues of access become more complex. Looking at health care again, access would involve the availability of an appointment and the ability to schedule an appointment at a convenient time, as well as accessibility of parking, convenience of finding the right department and provider, and wait time in the waiting and exam rooms. Far different from access to a product that is found on a grocery shelf.
Promotion
Promotion is probably the part of the marketing mix that is most common across service and product marketing. But, while the goal is the same -- communicating key messages to a desired market segment using the most appropriate tools -- the ability to thoroughly and adequately convey all of the details of the service experience may be more challenging than what is involved in communicating about a tangible product.
Tags: health care, access product, different from, more challenging, more complex, product marketing, product service