Because services are not touchable, marketing communications for services do more than market services. Communications make services more tangible, and present prospects something firm to evaluate.

As a result, marketing communications for most services haul around a heavier load than communications for products. A bright red Porsche 911 convertible, for example, chants 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 solicitors and web designers will do more than necessary, and charge more than is warranted. We are concerned that the latest weight loss service will be useless, just like the two we have tried before. 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 engage 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/