Marketing for Service Businesses 101

For service-based businesses, marketing to the right audience on the most efficient platforms is an ongoing challenge, especially as the organization grows into new regions.

If you’re struggling to reach the right people, evaluate your budget and develop a cohesive strategy, welcome to your service business marketing crash course!

What Is a Service Business?

A service business performs work or provides expertise. Instead of selling a physical product, a service-based company solves a problem for the customer, be it with a hammer, a calculator or a document.

It’s important to note that service businesses can be consumer-facing, marketing to homeowners, for example, or business-to-business (B2B), marketing to entrepreneurs, mom-and-pop retailers and Fortune 500 corporations.

A few examples of service businesses are:

• Banking and financial services
• Consulting and research
• Legal services
• Home repair services
• Event planning

While product marketing may be more visible, the service sector is a far larger slice of the US economy. Also known as the tertiary sector, the service sector accounted for approximately 70% of the US GDP in 2023. Additionally, service-based revenue growth has outpaced manufacturing each quarter since 2020.  

That’s all to say that potential customers love – and need – services like those you offer!

Service Marketing vs. Product Marketing

As you’d expect, marketing a service differs from marketing a product. The main difference is the value proposition that’s emphasized – in other words, what separates product X from the alternative options.

Product Marketing: Special and Unique, Like Everybody Else

While many unique products are on the market, many (if not most) consumer goods are effectively commodities. There may be over 60,000 results for “shoes” on Amazon, and they may come in different sizes, shapes, colors, materials and price points, but they are all foot coverings.

Product marketing focuses on highlighting any features that make a tangible product different than similar products offered by competitors. The price of a product is based on input costs (including marketing!) and consumer demand. All other things being equal, a product is worth exactly what a consumer will pay.

Service Marketing: Call in the Experts

Service marketing is far more intangible – literally. With no physical object, the value proposition of most service businesses is expertise, specialization and customer experience. Services tend to solve problems consumers lack the time, expertise or resources to tackle. We hire an accountant because we don’t understand tax law; we call a cleaning company because we don’t have the time or physical capabilities to clean our home as often as we’d like. As a result, who comprises a brand is paramount because we can’t trust just anyone to dive into our homes or our finances.

How to Market a Service-Based Business

Effective marketing relies on a few basics: build a brand, determine your marketing budget and decide which marketing platforms make the most sense for your services. Businesses rarely have the time or resources to market everywhere – unless you have Coca-Cola’s $4 billion annual marketing purse – which makes efficiency as important as results. Here’s how to get started, starting with the basics.

1. Invest in your brand

Marketing a service-based business starts with establishing, maintaining and evolving your brand’s identity. Focus on building trust, understanding your audience and establishing clear lines of communication so prospects feel like they know you. For example, a big part of home service business marketing is putting a face to the brand so customers know what to expect. When customers call One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning, they know that the truck is yellow, the technician will have a white shirt and black slacks and that the company pledges to arrive on time. Expectations are set, and barriers are removed.

2. Make customer service a priority (and keep it visible)

Even if your business is large enough to have a big sales team or a call center, it’s a good idea to minimize repetitive customer service tasks while still making your customers feel special. Amplify your resources by addressing customer questions visibly so you only have to answer them once – and not manually. For example, use the FAQ section of Google Business Profile and reply to positive and negative reviews on Facebook and other platforms. Expand your service pages to include details your current customers have asked about. When you proactively address commonly asked questions, you show your audience that you’re transparent, engaged and eager to make them happy.

3. Quality over quantity

Because trust and authority are so important for service-focused companies, less (marketing content) is often more. Focus on the most effective marketing platforms (particularly those you control, like your website) and leave the others to simmer. The best way to market a service business is to stick to what works and what you have time to do well – or tag in an agency to help.

What Are the Best Marketing Strategies for a Service Business?

Every company is different, but most service businesses get the most out of email marketing, social media and sponsoring local events or organizations in the community. When you’re ready, paid search is a key differentiator for growing businesses in competitive markets, especially if your SEO game is not perfect.  

These marketing channels work because they focus on collecting contact information from qualified prospects. Email marketing is shaped by past customers or future clients proffering their emails – they’re interested in what you do! With the right email software and some basic automation, you can deliver the right message to the right subscriber at precisely the right time.

Social media is similar in that followers choose to follow your page, whether for education, entertainment or to keep an eye out for discounts and promotions. Like sponsoring local events, social media is a great way to grow your following or tribe and stay top-of-mind. Just make sure you’re doing social media right; consider a social media audit to gut-check your Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or other accounts.

We Know Service-Business Marketing …

… we’re a service business, after all. For more than 25 years, Oneupweb has helped service-oriented companies grow. Our fully integrated teams devise cost-effective and winning marketing strategies backed by all the pieces you need to make it work. No matter where your organization is today, let’s make tomorrow better. Get started with Oneupweb; reach out online or call (231) 922-9977 today to learn more!