Oct 12, 2016 - College in Makassar namely process and services variables. Keywords: education, the services marketing mix, education institution.
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Marketing a service differs from promoting a tangible product because consumers often need to be educated about a service. Service marketing often requires more explanation as to why the customer needs the product, how it works and why you are the best entity to deliver the service. If you're a solo entrepreneur, selling a unique skill you have, you're even more under the gun to explain what you do. Using a multi-pronged educational approach for marketing a service will be your best bet to boost sales.
Referrals
One of the best ways to market an intangible is through word of mouth. A happy customer will not wait to be asked about a service from friends and will often want to share her experience and tell people why she likes the service. Some service providers use referral programs as an integral part of their marketing. You can offer clients a cash bonus for each referral they send to you, offer them a free service for each lead or offer their friends a reduced rate on service if they mention the customer.
Education
Another way to market a service is to provide customer education. You can do this by offering free seminars, lunch-and-learns or other educational meetings. You can write articles for magazines and newspapers and give talks at trade shows and conferences. With an educational marketing strategy, you do not emphasize your product features or prices, but the benefits of using the service. For example, if you own a dog grooming business, you might write articles for local newspapers discussing the effects of pet ticks and fleas on a family’s health and a pet’s well-being, showing how regular grooming can alleviate these problems.
Demonstrations
Customers might be gun shy about trying a service if they aren’t sure what they are getting. Offering free demonstrations helps ease their concerns and can result in immediate sales. For example, if you offer personal training, you might contact a large company with a wellness program and offer to give an employee talk and free exercise class. If you offer public relations services, you might offer meet with a business owner, discuss his current marketing strategy and suggest PR initiatives he could try and outline the cost to do so.
Social Media
Social media are hard to escape, with millions of people sending texts and emails to friends when they see interesting items they want to share. They can also be an inexpensive way for smaller businesses with few advertising dollars to make an impact. A social media marketing strategy lets service providers take advantage of free tools such as Facebook and Twitter to educate consumers and get them to spread the word to their network of contacts. With Facebook, for example, you can create a free business page that lets you detail your service. Put customer testimonials and case histories on your page or run contests offering a cash prize or a free session or visit. Place place Facebook 'Like' buttons on your website pages to encourage visitors to share what they find with friends. Send Twitter messages that give customers free tips. For example, a landscaper might tweet, 'Watering your lawn more than once per week isn't necessary. Once a week for 30 minutes is all you need.'
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About the Author
Sam Ashe-Edmunds has been writing and lecturing for decades. He has worked in the corporate and nonprofit arenas as a C-Suite executive, serving on several nonprofit boards. He is an internationally traveled sport science writer and lecturer. He has been published in print publications such as Entrepreneur, Tennis, SI for Kids, Chicago Tribune, Sacramento Bee, and on websites such Smart-Healthy-Living.net, SmartyCents and Youthletic. Edmunds has a bachelor's degree in journalism.
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Organizations rely on strategic marketing to identify, analyze and evaluate needs and opportunities in the marketplace. By establishing a clear direction and establishing a unified purpose for growth, a five-step strategic marketing plan helps businesses small and large create impact, brand attachment and customer loyalty.
Mission Identification is Key
The first step in strategic marketing is to articulate the reason why the enterprise exists and how it can benefit target consumers over the long term. In particular, this mission statement is intended to anticipate the future and describe an ongoing role for the organization's product, service or expertise. For example, the mission of an aerospace firm might be to provide continuing innovation in global transportation. A hospital could state a mission to take the lead in improving public health and education.
Analyze the Situation
Organizations conduct a situation analysis, also known as a SWOT, to evaluate and prioritize their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This second step in the strategic marketing process helps managers understand the resources they can build on and the challenges they will encounter. Strengths and weaknesses are considered internal factors, under the firm's control.
For example, a good image in the fashion press would be a key strength for a dress manufacturer, while a poorly maintained relationship with clothing retailers would be considered a weakness. Opportunities and threats arise from the external environment, such as a strong economy or a new payroll tax.
Specify Your Marketing Objectives
The third step in strategic marketing is to set marketing objectives. These are clear, measurable goals that give decision makers a basis for making choices and assessing progress. Objectives are typically expressed in terms of one or more quantitative targets like revenue, profit, sales or market share. Importantly, each objective must be achievable within a fixed period of time. For example, aiming for a five-percent increase in profits might be realistic within a year, but probably not within one quarter.
Develop the Strategy
The fourth step in strategic marketing is strategy development. This involves selecting a target market, or a distinct group of consumers who are more than likely to buy the firm's product or service. Marketing planners must also choose implementation tactics, specifically, effective ways to use the marketing mix tools of product, promotion, price and distribution to reach and influence prospective buyers.
Plan Your Evaluation
The fifth step, evaluation, means specifying how, when and by whom these tactics are to be monitored and assessed over time. Unless you have metrics for the public's interaction with your marketing materials, as well as their subsequent responses, it will be difficult to determine the success of your efforts. Online marketers, for example, routinely assess performance by measuring click-thru rates for ads and actions such as purchases or requests for additional information.
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About the Author
Amy Handlin has been writing about government, business and politics since 1999. She is the author of 'Be Your Own Lobbyist' and 'Government Grief: How to Help Your Small Business Survive Mindless Regulation, Political Corruption and Red Tape.' She is also a state legislator and associate professor. Handlin graduated from Harvard and holds advanced degrees in marketing from Columbia and New York University.
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