Why is it that service-based businesses have low startup costs, but many people still struggle to scale? When it comes to marketing a service-based business, there are peculiar challenges experienced, unlike when compared to marketing product-based businesses.
For easier understanding, the difference often comes down to marketing strategies designed specifically for the intangible offerings of service businesses.
If you found this post, it means you need some answers. Let’s explore how you can position your service business for sustainable growth.
Why Service-Based Businesses Need Specialized Marketing Strategies
Unlike physical products, services cannot be seen, touched, or tested before purchase. Some of the day-to-day challenges faced by service-based businesses include:
- Demonstrating competence.
- Building trust with their clients.
- Singling themselves out among the competition by creating value.
Now, let’s explore seven powerful marketing strategies that can help service-based businesses overcome their marketing hurdles.
7 POWERFUL MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR SERVICE BUSINESSES
1. Content Marketing:
The aim of putting your content out there is to make your brand memorable to your audience. You have to be the obvious expert. By providing valuable, educational content, you position yourself as an expert while addressing the questions your prospects may have before it is asked.
Take, for example, Hubspot, whose brand reputation and credibility were established by offering free guides, templates, and blogs that help businesses improve their marketing strategies. In doing this, they were able to educate their audience on their brand and establish themselves as marketing masters.
2. Social Proof:
Since services are intangible, social proof acts as the evidence that helps to bridge the trust gap. Potential customers rely on others’ experiences to gauge credibility, so put it all out there! -those media features, celebrity endorsements, and social media reviews. It is this same strategy that gig apps such as Freelancer and Upwork use to attract new clients. A great way to do this is by having a portfolio either on your website or on platforms like Linktree.
3. Referral & Word-of-Mouth Marketing:
The cheapest way to market is by making sure your customers are satisfied, even though you might have to employ some marketing incentives such as freemiums, surprise rewards, and dual referral bonuses. Happy customers are indeed your best marketers.
4. Local Search Optimization:
Since the world is more open to using technology as a means of connecting with both local and global business industries, many service-based businesses (e.g., restaurants, hospitality, law firms, consultants, cleaning services) rely on being digitally visible to local prospects. Optimizing for search engines ensures you appear when potential clients are looking for your services. This can be achieved by optimizing Google My Business and local SEO keywords for your specific location, like “Dental clinics in Lekki, Lagos.”
5. Paid Advertising
Strategically placing paid ads (whether Facebook, Instagram, Google, or LinkedIn) is a way to fast-track your brand’s visibility. The key is to target your audience with compelling messaging to increase your ROI.
6. Networking and Collaboration
Collaborating with complementary businesses can expand your reach. Think of it as pooling together their loyal clients/audience and yours! Examples include an events organising center/a videographer, a gym fitness trainer/a nutritionist, a DJ/Master of Ceremonies.
At Biz Vital Signs, we can help you identify and facilitate strategic partnerships that align with your business goals!
7. Email Marketing
Email marketing remains one of the highest ROI marketing channels, especially for service businesses. Notable Nigerian brands use email sequences to nurture leads and increase conversions by a targeted percentage. Some email sequences that are highly converting include personalised welcome sequences, customer reactivation sequences, and educational sequences.
What’s Next
Although we have provided seven strategies for your service-based business, try not to do everything at once:
- First, audit your current marketing strategy
- Give the suggested strategies a trial
- Choose the strategies that work best for you and double down on them for a trial period
- Set measurable goals for your trial period
- Schedule a call with us to discover your business’s true potential
If you’re ready to scale your service business, let’s talk! Contact us now to speak with one of our advisors!