Because services are intangible, marketing messages for services do more than sell services. Communications render services more tangible, and give prospects something firm to consider.

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

We implicitly give trust to most products. We trust that our new tyres won’t blow out, 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 lawyers and auto mechanics will toil on our behalf more than necessary, and bill more than is warranted. We are concerned that the latest weight loss service will be useless, just like the five before it. We worry that our home renovators will extend their budget and complete the job weeks after they agreed to. We worry that the collection agency we hire for our service will badger our customers 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 reduce risk for 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/