Today, about 50% of India’s GDP contribution comes from the service sector. In 2021, India was among the top ten service-exporting countries, with its share in world commercial services exports increasing from 3% in 2015 to 4% in 2021.

India’s services exports remained resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic and amid geopolitical uncertainties driven by higher demand for digital support, cloud services, and infrastructure modernisation.

(Source: Economic Survey 2022:23 by Ministry of Finance)

These statistics illustrate the great importance of services in driving economic growth. In today's digital age, it is essential for service-based businesses to embrace digital marketing strategies to stay competitive and thrive.

Marketing, including digital marketing has been used for products for a long time now, with service marketing being a relatively new entrant. Also, unlike products, services cannot be stored, touched, tasted or tried. A service is an intangible offering and service marketing means promoting and selling this “intangibility” to customers. Hence, it would be useful to start off by comparing it with product marketing to understand it better.

Service Marketing Vs Product Marketing

● Product marketing uses features to communicate the benefits while service marketing uses the experiences that customers can get.

● Services can be highly customised to meet the specific needs of individual customers, while products are generally more standardised. This also requires a more nuanced and personalised marketing approach in terms of messaging compared to products.

● Website UI/UX matters more for services than products because services are intangible, and customers cannot physically inspect them before purchasing. A well-designed website with intuitive navigation, clear messaging, and easy-to-use features can help service providers establish credibility, build trust with potential customers, and differentiate their offerings from competitors. In case of products, the specifications and the features can sometimes compensate for an average UI/UX. Additionally, services often involve more complex decision-making processes, and a user-friendly website can make it easier for customers to understand the service and the value it provides, ultimately leading to higher conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

● Marketing qualified leads for products usually translate into quicker sales than for services since to sell services a more consultative approach is required to help customers navigate the decision-making process and identify the best solution for their needs.

● While packaging, delivery and customer service play an important role in products, it is the the overall customer experience that matters more for services as services are often consumed in real time.

Features of Service Marketing

1. The intangible nature of the services dictates the strategy.

2. Customer participation and advocacy are key to a successful campaign.

3. Relationship marketing is key to boosting customer engagement with the services.

4. High customisability of the services is the USP around which campaigns can be built.

Overall, the service marketing mix comprises 7Ps of marketing, out of which four belong to the product mix - Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. The remaining - People, Process and Physical evidence - combine with the product mix and make the service marketing mix of a total of 7Ps.

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