The difference between marketing a product and a service

Marketing any type of product or service presents its own unique group of challenges. Both types of marketing can be very successful, but both require you to gain sufficient knowledge in your field before you can expect to find success. So before you start marketing your product or service, you should learn the difference between marketing a product or service.

When you market a service instead of a product, you should realize that services are intangible , and therefore may be a bit more difficult to market. When you buy a product, you have something that you can actually put your hand on, something that you can physically see and even test out before you commit to buying it. You can purchase a product, pay for it and expect to have it within a few days. Services, on the other hand, are much more customized. They are more tailored to your customers' needs. You may have to make adjustments to your service, depending on the needs and wants of your customers. With a service, your customer may make an agreement with you to get certain things, and then ask you to fix a problem that was not originally included in your agreement. Services can have an adjustable amount of profit and can last for many years.

When marketing a product, you realize that you can sell a product to basically anyone. Yes, you need to be sure that you have the correct demographic group, but after that point, anyone who can afford to buy your product can be included in your marketing group. But with a service, you must be more selective when choosing your potential customers. A service may be more expensive for customers in the long run because it can be used over time. This means that you need to market to a select group of potential customers who will be able and willing to afford your service. Plus, you will have to realize that you're going to be working on a close basis with these people, so you should choose a group that you feel you can work well with.
Services require you to build a relationship with people and continue to develop it. When marketing products, you don't have to get to know your customer. As long as you know the basic demographics of your customer base, you're probably good to go. Chances are fairly high that once a person has purchased a product from you, you'll never have to see them again (well, hopefully they'll continue to buy your products, but you'll never have to develop a relationship with them). You don't need to have many conversations with your customers. But when marketing a service, you must come in contact with your clients and customers. In order to keep your customers, you need to continue marketing and interacting with those people. If a customer decides s/he doesn't personally like you or your company, you may lose that customer. But with a product, a customer doesn't usually make strong decisions about you or your company. They just buy your product. With a service, you always have to be working at improving your relationship with your customers.
Finally, when marketing a product, you can usually pick a set budget and stick to it. It's usually pretty easy to calculate. But with a service, you may have to re-negotiate your marketing costs. In general, services are more difficult to price and so in the initial stages of your marketing campaign you will need to spend extra time and money determining just how you're going to divide up the prices of your service.
Marketing a service is not a difficult thing. But it does require a slightly different set of marketing ideas. Learning these differences can make marketing your service a hundred times easier in the long run.

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