The best marketing strategies for service businesses
The best marketing strategies are the ones that resonate with your clients BUT that’s not to say there aren’t some general themes and activities you should be doing.
Service businesses are evolving and how we market to them needs to keep up. Gone are the days of professional “business” talk and now we’re in a more people-centric space.
The importance of marketing
I’m not going to patronise you here. We all know that marketing is the backbone of a service business (even if leadership doesn't always agree).
The truth is that for any business that wants to push boundaries, achieve goals and make an impact there has to be a strong, consistent marketing strategy at work. You might have the best service in the world, it might be dialled into your client’s needs and challenges, but if you aren’t telling people about it, if you aren’t marketing it to them no one will ever know.
What’s new in service based marketing
Often when we talk about marketing we divide it neatly into B2B and B2C. I’d like to challenge that preconception. Right now, what we’re seeing in marketing is H2H - human to human.
The old adage that people buy from people has never been truer. People want to feel noticed and important. That’s easily done in traditional B2C marketing. A business is selling to a consumer, usually one person - it’s easy to personalise things and add some personality.
Traditional B2B businesses find this much harder. I want you to think of it this way though. You’re selling your service to a person, who just happens to work at a business you want to connect with. That person is an individual, a human - that means that all the tactics used for personalisation in B2C can be used in your B2B marketing, culminating in H2H marketing.
That’s what we need to prioritise.
Marketing strategies you should be using
Marketing should be as personalised as your own wardrobe. With the exact strategies, campaigns and messaging that your individual audience will love. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some common themes running through your marketing.
These are the top 4 marketing strategies that you should be executing to perfection.
A website (that works)
The caveat is important, so don’t overlook it! We all know that you need a website in this day and age. I know if I’m looking for a service and they don’t have a website, I dismiss them and keep searching.
Your website is your 24/7 shop window, it’s selling while you’re sleeping and that’s exactly why we need a website that’s fully fit for purpose and working properly.
When I say working properly I mean that’s fast, that’s mobile responsive, that’s set up for technical and on-page SEO, the links work, the images load - you get the picture.
A website isn’t a quick, one-off job. It requires constant updating, checking, testing. If you aren’t prepared to do that, then you’re failing before you begin.
You want your website to provide all the information your client is looking for - if you aren’t sure what that is then you need to ask them and do some more research. Make sure it’s easy to navigate and everything is up-to-date.
The only thing worse than not having a website, is having one where all the information is wrong.
Social media
If you’re reading this and not on social then I’ll eat my hat.
We all know the importance of being on social media but it’s not just being present that counts, it’s being active, engaging and being on the right channels.
Every 2 seconds a new channel pops up and we’re expected to incorporate it into our already bursting marketing team. But you don’t have to be on every channel. It’s better to do fewer channels and absolutely kill it than to spread yourself too thinly and miss the mark everywhere.
It’s also important to research where your clients are and if you’re targeting them in the best place. There’s no point spending hours creating elaborate Tik Toks only to find that all of your clients are over on LinkedIn.
The one marketing strategy that service businesses can learn from their B2C counterparts is the importance of UGC and social proof. UGC or user generated content, is created by the end consumer or client and might be a review of their service or a result. You can then repurpose that for your own channels.
Social proof, particularly if it’s UGC, is such a powerful tool to give you a stamp of approval. If you aren’t doing this already, start thinking about how you can build out your social proof and encourage your clients to do some of your work for you.
Email marketing
Let’s start with one of my favourite stats, email marketing generates a $42 return for every $1 spent.
No other marketing channel can do that. Most don’t even come close.
That’s why email marketing is such a powerful tool. Now, I understand that it can be a bit scary. The thought of dropping into people’s inboxes can leave you scratching your head about where to start.
The beauty of email marketing is it can help move people through your marketing funnel, taking them from unaware to a client….and you’re fully in control of it.
If you haven’t done it before then start small. Get yourself a CRM with your clients details and start emailing them regularly, once a week, twice a week - whatever you can do over the long haul and give it a go.
Once you’ve started, you’ll find your groove and you can start segmenting your audiences and running different campaigns. The other great thing you can do is run upsell campaigns for previous clients - reminding them you exist and getting them hooked onto a new service that you’re offering.
Blogs
You didn’t think we were going to go a whole blog without mentioning blogs did you?
The reason blogs are one of the best marketing strategies for service businesses is simply because they’re so versatile.
They boost your SEO
They provide you with new website content
They can be shared on social media
They can be sent in emails
They target different stages of your funnel
They build your authority
I’m not sure what other tool out there can hit all of those boxes in one hit. Not only can blogs help with lead generation in the first place, but they can also convert traffic into leads and be repurposed until the cows come home.
I’m going to put this in bold for all you scan readers out there.
If you aren’t blogging, you’re missing a really easy trick.
Every marketing strategy should be tweaked and bespoke to your audience, your service and your goals but there are common strategies that every service business should use to guarantee marketing success.
I know plenty of people who can help with the first few strategies and I’m always happy to make introductions and recommendations if you’re stuck. That’s because if you don’t know how to get going on something or you don’t have the time to roll out a new campaign or activity then it’s time to bring in an expert.
The same goes for blogging. I work with service businesses day in, day out to create strong content strategies and blogs that convert and give you an ROI. Sound like something you need? Get in touch and let’s get to work.
