Because services are not touchable, marketing messages for services do more than market services. Communications make services more tangible, and offer prospects something firm to consider.

As a result, marketing communications for most services drag around a heavier load than communications for products. A bright red Porsche 911 convertible, for example, shouts loudly and beautifully for itself. Very few services speak for themselves at all.

We implicitly give trust to most products. We trust that our new tyres won’t explode, our brown sugar will taste sweet, and our aspirin will reduce our headaches without bad side effects. But we are far less trusting and certain about most services.

We worry that our solicitors and web designers will toil on our behalf more than necessary, and charge more than is warranted. We worry that the latest weight loss service will fail, just like the five we have tried before. We worry that our builders will exceed their budget and finish weeks after they promise. We worry that the collection agency we hire for our service will harass our clients worth keeping and collect only a small part of our outstanding receivables.

So unlike communicating about products, communicating about services must make the service more tangible and real, and must soothe the worried prospect. It’s not like selling Porsche automobiles.

For more information about services marketing and making services more concrete, visit Rob Johnson’s Twitter page. Sponsored by Rob Johnson of http://seocairns.seovoodoo.com.au/